Popular Asian Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (132)
111.
The Life of a Stupid Man by Ryunosuke Akutagawa EN
JapanDescription:
'What is the life of a human being - a drop of dew, a flash of lightning? This is so sad, so sad.' Autobiographical stories from one of Japan's masters of modernist story-telling. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems e... continue
112.
The Pianist of Yarmouk by Aeham Ahmad EN
SyriaDescription:
'Ahmad has created a moving and visceral account of conflict, hope and the power of music' Hannah Beckerman, Observer The incredible and inspirational true story of one young man's struggle to find peace during war, and the power of music to bring hope to a desperate nation. ____________ One morning in war-torn Damascus, a starving man drags a piano into a rubbled street. Everything he once knew has been destroyed by war. Amidst ruin and despair, he begins to play. He plays of love and hope, he plays for his family and his fellow Syrians. He plays even though he could be killed for doing so. A... continue
113.
The Prisoner : A Memoir by Hwang Sok-yong EN
ChinaDescription:
A sweeping account of imprisonment--in time, in language, and in a divided country--from Korea's most acclaimed novelist In 1993, writer and democracy activist Hwang Sok-yong was sentenced to five years in the Seoul Detention Center upon his return to South Korea from North Korea, the country he had fled with his family as a child at the start of the Korean War. Already a dissident writer well-known for his part in the democracy movement of the 1980s, Hwang's imprisonment forced him to consider the many prisons to which he was subject--of thought, of writing, of Cold War nations, of the heart.... continue
114.
The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret EN
IsraelDescription:
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2015 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS ‘BEST HUMOUR’ A brilliant, hilarious memoir from a master storyteller Over the last seven years, Etgar Keret has had plenty of reasons to worry. His son, Lev, was born during a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. His father became sick. And he has been constantly tormented by nightmarish visions of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, anti-Semitic remarks both real and imagined, and, perhaps most worrisome of all, a dogged telemarketer who seems likely to chase him to the grave. Emerging from these darkly absurd circumstances is a series of fu... continue
115.
The Spy Who Couldn't Spell : A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee EN
IndiaDescription:
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The thrilling, true-life account of the FBI’s hunt for the ingenious traitor Brian Regan—known as the Spy Who Couldn’t Spell. Before Edward Snowden’s infamous data breach, the largest theft of government secrets was committed by an ingenious traitor whose intricate espionage scheme and complex system of coded messages were made even more baffling by his dyslexia. His name is Brian Regan, but he came to be known as The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell. In December of 2000, FBI Special Agent Steven Carr of the bureau’s Washington, D.C., office received a package from FBI New Yo... continue
116.
The Stoning of Soraya M. by Freidoune Sahebjam EN
IranDescription:
The true story of an innocent woman stoned to death in modern Iran--only one of over 100 such barbaric executions that still occur there every year, sanctioned by Islamic law. Already an international bestseller, this book eloquently reveals the ever-growing disparity between the fundamentalist rights of men and women in Muslim society.
117.
The Tears of My Soul by Hyŏn-hŭi Kim EN
Country: Asia / 
North Korea
North Korea
Description:
Kim Hyun Hee was trained by the North Korean Army to be one of the deadliest espionage agents on the face of the Earth. This is the true story of her terrorist acts and her lifelong repentance.
118.
The Wind in My Hair by Masih Alinejad EN
Description:
Death and memory -- Beloved roots -- The disaster -- Surviving disaster -- With the wind in my hair -- Men and women -- My mother -- Desire for freedom -- Kuwait -- Women -- Italy -- Motherhood -- About the intifada.
119.
Tomorrow I'm Dead : How a Seventeen-year-old Killing Field Survivor Became the Cambodian Freedom Army's Greatest Soldier by Bun Yom EN
CambodiaDescription:
In 1975, US troops had withdrawn from Cambodia, leaving the people defenseless against Pol Pot’s army, the Khmer Rouge. As the army took over Cambodia, thousands of innocent people were ordered out of their homes. In April 1975, fourteen-year-old Bun Yom was forced at gunpoint, along with his family, to march toward the steaming jungle. After a soldier separated Yom from his family, he had no idea he would not see them again for nine years. In his account of his involuntary journey from a normal childhood to enslavement in conditions so inhumane it seemed only death could free him, Yom shares ... continue
120.
Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyonagi EN
Description:
This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. This unusual school had old railroad cars for classrooms, and it was run by an extraordinary man-its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi--who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity. In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan's most popular television personalities--Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster. The charm of this account has w... continue