Reading Olympics

A General Theory of Oblivion

Reading a book from every country of the world: Angola

Adele Arbi
Curious Compass
Published in
5 min readSep 21, 2024

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Photo by Beth Jnr on Unsplash

Each book is a journey, a new mystery waiting to be discovered. In this series, I am on an adventure of reading a book from every country of the world.

I think that storytelling is such an interesting craft. If we only read books written originally in our native language and by people from the same country as us, we don’t get to experience the full scope of what storytelling can be.

Reading books in translation, reading books from around the world, is introducing me to so many ways of telling stories. Most importantly, it is opening my horizons on cultures, traditions, and perspectives.

It’s like travelling the world without leaving my armchair, expanding my understanding of humanity and fostering empathy. These stories are windows into different souls, teaching me about the richness and complexity of human life.

For this leg of our literary journey, we’ll get transported to Angola, through José Eduardo Agualusa’s A General Theory of Oblivion. This novel is a unique exploration of isolation, memory, and the history of this country.

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Adele Arbi
Curious Compass

A curious soul pondering and documenting life. Quran Student, Memoirist, Bibliophile, Explorer. 100% of my Medium earnings go to charity.