Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1981)
1081.
The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo EN
JapanDescription:
The 3rd stand-alone in Japan's most popular murder mystery series—after The Honjin Murders and The Inugami Curse—is another fiendish classic featuring investigator Kosuke Kindaichi Translated into English for the first time Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the Sixteenth Century eight samurais, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village. Centuries later a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a sp... continue
1082.
The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo EN
Description:
A fiendish classic murder mystery, from one of Japan's greatest crime writers, featuring the country's best-loved detective In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami clan dies, and his family eagerly await the reading of the will. But no sooner are its strange details revealed than a series of bizarre, gruesome murders begins. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan's terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and hidden identities to find the murderer, and lift the curse wreaking its bloody revenge on the Inugamis. The Inugami Curse is a fiendish, intricately plotted c... continue
1083.
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo EN
Description:
One of Japan's greatest classic murder mysteries, introducing their best loved detective, translated into English for the first time In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village. Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leav... continue
1084.
Description:
In this thriller from the best-selling Japanese author, a widower stages an open casting call with his filmmaker friend to attract the perfect wife and is taken in by a striking young ballerina with a mysterious past. Original.
1085.
Beautiful Star by Yukio Mishima EN
Description:
The Osugi family have come to a realization. Each of them hails from a different planet. Father from Mars, mother from Jupiter, son from Mercury and daughter from Venus. Already seen as oddballs in their small Japanese town in the 1960s, this extra-terrestrial knowledge brings them closer together; they climb mountains to wait for UFOs, study at home together and regard their human neighbours with a kindly benevolence. But Father, Juichiro, is worried about the bomb. He writes letters to Khrushchev, trying to warn everyone he can of the terrible threat. After all, humans may be terribly flawed... continue
1086.
Description:
A tale of twisted love from Yoko Ogawa—author of The Diving Pool and The Housekeeper and the Professor. In a crumbling seaside hotel on the coast of Japan, quiet seventeen-year-old Mari works the front desk as her mother tends to the off-season customers. When one night they are forced to expel a middle-aged man and a prostitute from their room, Mari finds herself drawn to the man's voice, in what will become the first gesture of a single long seduction. In spite of her provincial surroundings, and her cool but controlling mother, Mari is a sophisticated observer of human desire, and she sees ... continue
1087.
Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda, G. G. Rowley EN
Description:
A geisha describes her sale to a geisha house at the age of six, her traditional training, her debut in 1940 at the age of sixteen, and her work at a hot-springs resort, where the realities of everyday life were far removed from the more recognized glamorous geisha quarter of Japan.
1088.
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura EN
Description:
For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You Are Looking for Is In the Library, and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop comes an enchanting novel that will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned.
1089.
La sud de graniță, la vest de soare by Haruki Murakami RO
Description:
Romanul exploreaza adincimile sufletului uman, concentrindu-se asupra metamorfozelor prin care trece sentimentul iubirii de la adolescenta pina la maturitate. Personajul principal, Hajime, proprietarul unui bar din Tokyo (autorul transfera asupra personajului propria experienta de viata), duce o existenta aparent linistita si indestulatoare, dar in fapt tulburata de amintirea unei povesti de dragoste din tinerete. Ceea ce il obsedeaza insa pe erou nu e neaparat imaginea iubitelor din trecut, ci caracterul unic si irepetabil al relatiei dintre doi oameni si convingerea ca destinul uman e o prob... continue
1090.
On Love and Barley : Haiku of Basho by Matsuo Basho EN
Description:
Basho, one of the greatest of Japanese poets and the master of haiku, was also a Buddhist monk and a life-long traveller. His poems combine 'karumi', or lightness of touch, with the Zen ideal of oneness with creation. Each poem evokes the natural world - the cherry blossom, the leaping frog, the summer moon or the winter snow - suggesting the smallness of human life in comparison to the vastness and drama of nature. Basho himself enjoyed solitude and a life free from possessions, and his haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the b... continue