Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1981)
Lebanon1192.
De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage EN
Description:
In this explosive, captivating portrait of life in a war zone, two young men must choose their futures: to stay in the war-torn Beirut and consolidate power through crime, or to go into exile abroad, alienated from the only existence they have known.
1193.
An Unsafe Haven by Nada A. Jarrar EN
Description:
'Captivating ...There's a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon and of what is unique and precious about the Arab world' Helen Dunmore Hannah has deep roots in her hometown of Beirut, where she lives with her American husband, Peter. Just when they thought they had gotten used to the upheavals in Lebanon, the war in neighbouring Syria enters its fifth year, and the region's increasingly fragile state throws their daily lives into chaos. A chance meeting with a Syrian woman and her son in a busy street forces Hannah to face the worsening refug... continue
1194.
The Occasional Virgin : A Novel by Hanan al-Shaykh EN
Description:
On a sunny beach on the Italian Riviera, two thirtysomething women, Yvonne and Huda, relax by the sparkling sea. But despite the setting, as their vacation unfolds, their complicated pasts seep through to the idyllic present. Both women spent their childhoods in Lebanon—Yvonne raised in a Christian family, Huda in a Muslim one—and they now find themselves torn between the traditional worlds they were born into and the successful professional identities they’ve created. Three months later, when Huda (a theater director from Toronto) visits Yvonne (an advertising executive) in London, a chance e... continue
1195.
Late for Tea at the Deer Palace: The Lost Dreams of My Iraqi Family by Tamara Chalabi EN
Description:
Just ten days after Baghdad’s fall in 2003, Tamara Chalabi arrived in the city after a lifetime in exile—finally entering the homeland she’d known only through stories and her own imagination. Investigating four generations of her family’s history at the forefront of Iraqi society, Chalabi offers a rich portrait of Middle Eastern life and a provocative look at a lost Iraq. Unforgettable characters provide glimpses of the end of the Ottoman Empire, the birth of the Iraqi state, the flowering of “the Paris of the Middle East,” and Iraq’s descent into chaos. At once intimate and magisterial, Chal... continue
1196.
Glaring Through Oblivion by Serj Tankian EN
Description:
From Serj Tankian—Grammy Award–winning lead singer of System Of A Down, songwriter, activist, and poet. Following his critically acclaimed debut poetry book, Cool Gardens, comes this new collection of stunning and original poems of darkness and light. Complemented by the transformative illustrations of the noted artist Roger Kupelian.
1197.
Flight Against Time by Emily Nasrallah EN
Description:
Flight against time is a moving story about the immigrant experience. An elderly couple leaves their village in Lebanon to visit their children and grandchildren now living in the new world: Prince Edward Island, Canada. They find a world of peace and great comfort, but despite the war back home, the old man longs for his small village and a way of life deeply etched in his heart.Nasrallah skillfully weaves truth and imagination to create a story rich in human emotion and psychological insight. The novel stands as witness to a time and its people, a mirror of the whole culture and historical m... continue
1198.
1199.
The Illusion of Return : A Novel by Samir El-Youssef EN
Description:
The nameless narrator of this startling novella believed himself to be under no illusion: a Palestinian refugee, he had escaped the deadly tumult of Lebanon, the roving militias and endlessly complicated religious violence, by having long ago fled to London. He knew he could never go back. But then one day an old friend, who had also escaped, calls him and asks to meet at the airport on a stop-over on his way back to Lebanon. For the narrator, it summons up everything he thought he had suppressed, both the yearning to go home and the secret reason he can't. Thus the reunion with his old friend... continue
1200.
Women of Sand and Myrrh: A Novel by Ḥanān Shaykh EN
Description:
Little is known of what life is like for contemporary Arab women living in the Middle East. One of the few literary voices speaking out from that still closed society is Hanan al-Shaykh, whose novel The Story of Zahra was banned in most Arab countries. Now available for the first time in the U.S. is her newest novel, a story of four women treated to every luxury but freedom.