Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1972)
1741.
Butterfly : From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph by Yusra Mardini EN
SyriaDescription:
"Being a refugee is not a choice. Our choice is to die at home or risk death trying to escape." - Yusra MardiniYusra Mardini fled her native Syria to the Turkish coast in 2015 and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat's engine cut out, it began to sink. Yusra, her sister and two others took to the water, pushing the boat for three and a half hours in open water until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard. This is the story of that remarkable woman, whose journey started in a war-torn suburb of Damascu... continue
1742.
Komm dahin, wo es still ist : Eine Erkundung by Vanessa Vu, Ahmad Katlesh DE
Description:
Die Lebenswege des Schriftstellers Ahmad Katlesh und der Journalistin Vanessa Vu sind geprägt, aber nicht bestimmt von Kriegen, Flucht und Migration. Katlesh floh aus Syrien und lebte mehrere Jahre in Jordanien, bevor er 2017 nach Deutschland kam. Vu ist in Deutschland geboren und lebte die ersten Jahre in einem Asylbewerberheim in Niederbayern, ihre Eltern kamen aus Vietnam. Im Tanz lernten beide sich kennen, in den darauffolgenden E-Mails näherten sie sich einander an. Sie entdecken trotz unterschiedlicher Migrationsbiografien parallele Erfahrungen, schlagen Brücken entlang ve... continue
1744.
We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria by Wendy Pearlman EN
Description:
LONG-LISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL Reminiscent of the work of Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, an astonishing collection of intimate wartime testimonies and poetic fragments from a cross-section of Syrians whose lives have been transformed by revolution, war, and flight. Against the backdrop of the wave of demonstrations known as the Arab Spring, in 2011 hundreds of thousands of Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom, democracy and human rights. The government’s ferocious response, and the refusal of the demonstrators to back down, sparked a brutal civil war that over the past fi... continue
1745.
Adonis : Selected Poems by Adūnīs EN
Description:
"Frontispiece: Poem and calligraphy by Adonis, XXXX. Translated by Bassam Frangieh" --T.p. verso.
1746.
Freedom Hospital: A Syrian Story by Hamid Sulaiman EN
Description:
It is spring 2012 and 40,000 people have died since the start of the Syrian Arab Spring. In the wake of this, Yasmin has set up a clandestine hospital in the north of the country. The town that she lives in is controlled by Assad’s brutal regime, but is relatively stable. However, as the months pass, the situation becomes increasingly complex and violent. Told in stark, beautiful black-and-white imagery, Freedom Hospital illuminates a complicated situation with gut-wrenching detail and very dark humour. The story of Syria is one of the most devastating narratives of our age and Freedom Hospita... continue
1747.
Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek EN
Description:
"Brave, rebellious and passionate ... Yazbek is no ordinary Syrian dissident." --Financial Times "The Syrian writer Samar Yazbek evokes the horror of civil war with gripping lucidity." --Le Monde Rima, a young girl from Damascus, longs to walk, to be free to follow the will of her feet, but instead is perpetually constrained. Rima finds refuge in a fantasy world full of colored crayons, secret planets, and The Little Prince, reciting passages of the Qur'an like a mantra as everything and everyone around her is blown to bits. Since Rima hardly ever speaks, people think she's crazy, but she is n... continue
1748.
A Woman in the Crossfire : Diaries of the Syrian Revolution by Samar Yazbek EN
Description:
A well-known novelist and journalist from the coastal city of Jableh, Samar Yazbek witnessed the beginning four months of the uprising first-hand and actively participated in a variety of public actions and budding social movements. Throughout this period she kept a diary of personal reflections on, and observations of, this historic time. Because of the outspoken views she published in print and online, Yazbek quickly attracted the attention and fury of the regime, vicious rumours started to spread about her disloyalty to the homeland and the Alawite community to which she belongs. The lyrica... continue
1749.
La Marcheuse by Samar Yazbek FR
Description:
Rima aime les livres, surtout Le Petit Prince et Alice au pays des merveilles, le dessin et... marcher. La jeune fille, qui ne parle pas, souffre d’une étrangeté : ses jambes fonctionnent indépendamment de sa volonté, dès qu’elle se met à marcher elle ne peut plus s’arrêter. Un jour d’août 2013, alors qu’elle traverse Damas en bus, un soldat ouvre le feu à un check-point. Sa mère succombe sous les balles et Rima, blessée, est emmenée dans un hôpital pénitencier avant que son frère ne la conduise dans la zone assiégée de la Ghouta. Et c’est là, dans cet enfer sur terre, qu’elle écrit son histoi... continue
1750.
Les portes du néant by Samar Yazbek FR
Description:
Figure de l'opposition au régime de Bachar al-Assad, Samar Yazbek a dû quitter son pays tant aimé en juin 2011. Depuis son exil, elle ressent l'urgence de témoigner. Au mépris du danger, elle est retournée trois fois dans son pays, clandestinement, où elle a connu de l'intérieur l'horreur de la guerre civile, aux côtés des activistes. Des premières manifestations pacifiques pour la démocratie jusqu'à l'émergence de l'Etat islamique, elle décrit le quotidien des combattants, des enfants, des hommes et des femmes ordinaire qui luttent pour survivre à l'une des plus grandes tragédies du XXIe sièc... continue