Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1972)
1761.
LAS PLUMAS by Salim Barakat ES
SyriaDescription:
Una epopeya kurda. El joven Mem, un kurdo de Siria, es enviado por su padre a Chipre, donde debe ponerse en contacto con un enigmático personaje, el Gran Hombre. Seis años después, todavía no ha conseguido cumplir su misión. Fatigado por una búsqueda incierta y presa de los tormentos del exilio, planea quitarse la vida. Pero la repentina aparición de una inquietante pluma entre sus ropas desencadena un desfile de recuerdos en su memoria que lo disuaden de ello: los días vividos en su ciudad natal, las vivas anécdotas familiares, la... continue
1762.
1763.
Divan of Rudaki by Rudaki, translated by Paul Smith EN
Country: Asia / 
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Description:
DIVAN of RUDAKITranslation & Introduction Paul SmithAbu 'Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad Rudaki (858-941) the 'father of Persian Poetry' and possibly the ruba'i, was born in the village of Rudak near Samarkand. First a wandering 'dervish' poet/minstrel he later served at the court of the Samanids of Bokhara. Nasr ibn Ahmad summoned him to his court and he prospered there amassing great wealth. He had 200 slaves in his retinue... and 400 camels carried his belongings when he travelled. In 937 he fell out of favour at court (and was blinded at this time as some commentators suggest) after the deat... continue
1765.
1766.
Vida e insólitas aventuras del soldado Iván Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovitch ES
Country: Asia / Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Description:
En vísperas del estallido de la segunda guerra mundial, un avión del Ejército Rojo realiza un aterrizaje forzoso en una remota aldea rusa. El soldado Iván Chonkin un campesino desmañado e ingenuo, dotado de un peculiar sentido común, considerado el miembro más prescindible de su regimiento, e s enviado allí con órdenes de custodiar el aparato. Olvidado rápidamente por sus superiores, Chonkin se integra en la peculiar vida del pueblo, donde protagoniza un sinfín de escenas hilarantes en compañía de sus estrafalarios vecinos, como el presidente del koljós, obsesionado por la amenaza de su hipoté... continue
1767.
Bangkok Wakes to Rain : A Novel by Pitchaya Sudbanthad EN
ThailandDescription:
"A house in the center of Bangkok becomes the point of confluence where lives are shaped by upheaval, memory, and the lure of home. Witness to two centuries' flux in one of the world's most restless cities, a house plays host to longings and losses past, present, and future. A nineteenth-century missionary doctor pines for the comforts of New England even as he finds the vibrant foreign chaos of Siam increasingly difficult to resist. A post-war society woman marries, mothers, and holds court, little suspecting the course of her future. A jazz pianist is summoned in the 1970s to conjure music t... continue
1768.
Description:
"Explores the quality of human resilience through the adventures of Kampol Changsamran, a young boy left behind by his parents after their break-up"--
1769.
How to Pronounce Knife : Stories by Souvankham Thammavongsa EN
Description:
WINNER OF THE 2020 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2021 TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, the PEN AMERICA OPEN BOOK AWARD, and the DANUTA GLEED AWARD #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Named one of Time's Must-Read Books of 2020, and featuring stories that have appeared in Harper's, Granta, The Atlantic, and The Paris Review, this revelatory book of fiction from O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa establishes her as an essential new voice in Canadian and world literature. Told with compassion and wry humour, these stories honour characters strugg... continue
