Michael A. Orthofer is one of the most interesting voices in modern literary criticism. I have followed his website "the complete review" for many years, and through it I have been exposed to a wealth of quality literary fiction. One thing differentiating Orthofer from his peers, outside of his internet presence and meticulous cataloging, is his focus on international work in translation—and when I say international I truly mean international. The wealth of translated fiction comes from western Europe, and Orthofer is certainly no slouch in his analysis of literature from these regions, but I have seen few who are so willing to branch out and read authors from those languages that slip through the cracks, works from Africa, south Asia, and nations as small as the Faroe Islands.

This book serves as a compliment to the website and the website serves as a compliment to this book. The website is a continuously updated catalog of snapshots into the literary imagination that has ballooned into the thousands. It is something to sift through, looking for bits of gold. This book, on the other hand, is more of a direct survey by country of post-ww2 literature. It paints a more comprehensive picture, but a less detailed one. It's hard for me to imagine someone with an interest in the subject not coming away from this book with a few names to add to their list or a further appreciation for the creative potential of all the world's peoples.

I like to think I am an eclectic reader, I read widely across genres, a mix of fiction and non fiction, but the truth is I read very little other than English speaking writers from Australia, UK and America. It’s the primary reason I participate in at least one challenge each year that requires I read world fiction.

In an effort to expand my reading horizons, I was interested in browsing through this reference book.

A short introduction speaks to the traditional challenges that affect the publication of translated fiction. These include political, cultural and economic forces, however the phenomenon globalisation, the ubiquitous influence of the internet, and the resulting digital book market, is contributing to its accessibility.

Organised geographically, the Guide then identifies fiction from the mid 1950’s or so, providing brief descriptions about each regions noteworthy authors and their works that are available in English translation. A few titles might be familiar, but likely most will not.

For the curious reader looking to broaden their fiction experience The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction is an excellent resource, which can be supplemented and expanded upon by the authors website complete-review.com.

interesting guide - great to get a sample of world literature/to start your literary travels around the world

http://www.themodernnovelblog.com/2016/03/28/the-complete-review-guide-to-contemporary-world-fiction/