Think global … think local, no? It feels strange to write it because of course, everything on our planet is interdependent: our oceans, weather systems, knowledge systems, politics, certainly people. So, the idea that we should categorise anything as global literature seems counterintuitive; as if everything is not at once local and global. In my novel, How to Be a Revolutionary, I seek out interconnectedness, testing and pulling at the idea of nationhood. The following are 10 books that view the world in a similar way, giving meaning and shape to what it means to be human.
1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Few can cross the centuries, bending genres and language, so that it works effortlessly on the page. From the South Pacific in the mid-19th century to a dystopian, ultimately consumerist future Korea, Cloud Atlas presents a case for the universality of human nature. It’s a joyful, poignant re-read, 18 years after the novel was first published and especially when this notion of what binds us appears to be in question again.
