July AuthorCAT: Asian Authors

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Welcome to JULY's Author Challenge of Asian Writers!

Asia actually encompasses more of the globe than I had thought! In the West, Istanbul (Turkey) actually straddles the European and Asian continents (though Cape Baba is the Westernmost point); Russia claims two extreme cardinal points on the compass with the most Northernmost Asian place at Cape Chelyuskin and the most Easternmost at Cape Dezhnev; In the South, the boundary is marked by Tanjung Piai, Malaysia. While many tend to think of East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan) as the heart of "The East", the cultural identities and influences are far more reaching.

There are a remarkable number of authors writing across every genre and extending back to before 1021 CE with The Tale of Genji (by Murasaki Shikibu)-- arguably the world's first novel-- so there's plenty to choose from!
https://www.librarything.com/tag/asian+authors

Please don't forget to add to the Wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2022_AuthorCAT#July:_Asian_Authors_-_hos...

After listening to The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa last year for my book club, I knew I want to read The Memory Police by the same author. (which I took as a BB a while ago) I think I will probably do this as an audio too. I'll need to see if it's the same narrator.

I'm hoping to read The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo, a South Korean author. But I'm #6 in my library queue right now, so we'll see!

Tentatively I'm going to read The Housekeeper and the Professor which is on my ebook TBR.

I've stacked Silence (by Shūsaku Endō; translated from the Japanese by William Johnson). I bought the book from City Lights in San Francisco a few years ago and; have seen the movie directed by Martin Scorsese (starring Adam Driver & Liam Neeson); but am eager to now delve into the story as written :-)

>5 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I've not seen the movie, but read the book. It was quite impactful and still haunts me, at times!

I am hoping to read Real World by Natsuo Kirino, I read Out by this Japanese author a number of years ago really liked it.

I'm planning on reading The End of Imagination, a set of essays by Indian author Arundhati Roy.

My most likely choices for this areGrotesque by Natsuo Kirino(Japan) and The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine (Lebanon)

06/17/2022 —
I’ve started Amitav Ghosh’s River of Smoke (Ibis Trilogy #2) - In the first book in the series, Sea of Poppies, Indian author Amitav Ghosh introduces the reader to nine indentured servants aboard the Ibis, bound to China. In this follow-up, tensions are rising between a England and China over trade, particularly that of opium and; the destinies/fates of the nine play out against this backdrop. Sometimes, the specialized and untranslated language of the Eastern sailors and seafarers gets in the way, but the reader can get the idea of what’s what from context. Anyway, engaging read; but not a fast one— so I expect to finish this one in early July.

06/30/2022 —
I finished a bit early! At first, I was little unhappy by the rather artless kluging of research in the first parts; but by the end I was won over by the exposition of the political dynamics in play on the eve of the First Opium War and; the underscoring of themes from the first-in-series, Sea of Poppies.

I read a collection of manga, Fruits Basket Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya.

I read The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa This was a slow, quiet, gentle story of friendship. The professor only has a 80 minute memory time due to an accident. I was disappointed in that I had wanted/expected more in the way of Japanese culture; but the story could have taken place in any setting. Nothing really special here for me. Don't read if you don't like math or baseball. There were pages of numeric formulas and numbers. 197 pages

I finished The End of Imagination, a collection of speeches and long-form essays by Indian author Arundhati Roy. They were all originally published between 1998 and 2004. Lots about Indian politics, and a fair bit about American (and other) imperialism too.

I have read so many books by Asian authors. I don't happen to be reading any right now. But I thought I would mention this children's book that I was previewing this month for my grandchildren. It is beautiful in writing style, storyline and character. The illustrations are inspired.



Watercress

>14 beebeereads: I always thought of watercress as being so "English" that this surprised me! I'll have to go take a look... :-)

I'm about halfway through Nine Continents so far and it is very interesting, sad shocking, informative, the author grew up in a small fishing village in China in the 80's and 90's, after her parents gave her away to a childless couple, who then gave her away to her grandparents to raise after they could not afford to feed her any more, and it's a gripping story. She eventually reunites with her parents, and earns a place at the college level in the Beijing Film Academy to fulfill her dreams of becoming some type of artist, instead of a factory worker. Ultimately she ends up in Great Britain but I am not that far yet in the book. It was published in 2017, so it's timely as well.

She is half South Asian

They Said This Would be Fun / Eternity Martis
3 stars

The author grew up in the diverse Canadian city of Toronto, but decided to move to the smaller city of London, Ontario for university. Unfortunately, London was not so diverse. As a woman of “mixed” race – her mother was Pakistani and her father (whom she did not have a relationship with) from the Caribbean – she stuck out and had a hard time at her new school. University was supposed to be fun – full of friends and parties. Though she did go to London with a friend, they grew apart during their time there. And Eternity had a number of toxic relationships, and was treated to many microaggressions and abuses.

As someone who went to university about 30 years ago, and even then, wasn’t “into” partying or drinking, I enjoyed her chapters about her family and relationships more than the partying/drinking/campus/student life. The book (though I listened to the audio) read sort of like essays. Obviously as a middle-aged white woman, I am not the target audience! Of course, Eternity brought in some stats to go along with her own experiences. I found the stats easier to swallow, and of course, she went through what she went through, but I questioned some of her generalizations about white people; many of the “stereotypes” or generalizations (about white or black people) she mentioned were things I had never heard of. That’s not to say they aren’t stereotypes, but if they are, I hadn’t heard of (many of) them before.

I feel badly for this kind of review. I hate to criticize, as I know she wrote what she did experience. Am I being a “defensive” white person? I’d like to think not, but I don’t know. The author read the audio herself and did a fine job.

I read Points and Lines, a detective novel by deceased Japanese author Matsumoto Seichō.

Completed Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress published 2000. Author was born China and educated in the cultural revolution. Went to France. He writes in French. Lives in France.

I just finished Aunty Lee's Delights, a cozy mystery by Singaporean author Ovidia Yu.

I'm reading The Inugami Curse, a fascinating Japanese detective novel from 1951. It's by Seishi Yokomizo and is a brilliant Kindle bargain at less than $2.

I just bought the audio version of We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, by Simu Liu, which I read and enjoyed very much in print.

The August AuthorCat is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342887

Years ago, I visited City Lights Booksellers in San Francisco and, in a small room off to the right (?), discovered a few shelves dedicated to translation. This weekend, I’m finally starting one of the books from that haul, Silence (by Shūsaku Endō)!
I saw the Martin Scorsese movie a couple years ago and was underwhelmed; but I think the book should be better. #FingersCrossed

Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng
3.25 stars

Photographer Mia and her 15-year old daughter, Pearl, move around a lot. When they rent from the Richardsons, the two families initially seem to get along, especially Pearl with the Richardson’s son, Moody, but also Pearl with the other Richardson kids. Things take a turn when secrets start coming out after the two families become quite entwined.

I listened to the audio. The first half didn’t really catch my attention all that much; it was pretty slow moving as the two families really just got to know one another. It picked up in the second half, though, when a friend of the Richardsons adopted a Chinese baby who had been abandoned (along with a few other storylines as secrets abounded). I really did not like Mia. I’m not sure there were any characters I liked, actually. I would have rated the first half “ok” at 3 stars, and wanted to up it to 3.5 stars due to the second half, but I dropped my rating just a touch as I was very unhappy with one of the things that happened near the end.

I finished reading Silence (by Shūsaku Endō) and while I haven’t written a review yet, I did include this note to my sister to whom I am forwarding my copy:

“… I think you’ll like this one owing to your past interest in Japanese culture and your current deep commitment to Roman Catholicism. Endō is considered to be a “Japanese Graham Greene”… Do read the translator’s introduction; but Do Not watch the movie!”

In all fairness, the movie has some strong visuals cinematically speaking (Scorsese); but the acting (Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Ewan MacGregor…) is pretty lackluster and the pacing of the whole is off. A significant part of the book is interior monologue which just couldn’t be translated to film.

>26 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, nice review of Silence. I think the pacing would be everything in that one.

Starting The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao, a Chinese Indonesian, born in the US, grew up in Singapore and Indonesia, and now living in Australia.

I have finished Les quatre vies du saule by Shan Sa who was born in China, won prizes for her poetry at a very young age and then moved to France and now writes in French about China.
This is hard to sum up: we follow four young people during different eras in Chinese history as they miss out on love.

I just finished Real World by Natsuo Kirino. The author draws the reader into the minds of four Japanese teenage girls and sets the story against the backdrop of a murder by a young man with whom the girls assist to evad the police. I didn't love this story, but I did appreciate the author's writing ability.

I finished 2 books by Asian authors this month:

Typical American by Gish Jen (1991). This is the story of the Chang family who have immigrated from China to America post WWII. The author was born in the U.S., but both of her parents were born in China. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the last. The writing is witty and sharp.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989). An English butler looks back on his life and service during Britain between the wars. Ishiguro was born in Japan, but immigrated to Britain at age 9. This was outstanding, and I'm not sure what took me so long to read it! Ishiguro explores the idea of the unreliable narrator/unreliable memory in various ways. I have a couple other of his books on the shelf here, and plan to get to them sooner rather than later.

>31 kac522: I've read The Remains of the Day in print and listened to it in audio (narrated by Simon Prebble) and; both times, I was surprised at how the revelations unfurled so subtly and yet powerfully-- sort of like a rip tide (I know, lame metaphor, but I can't think of a better one at the moment)! I read Nocturnes; but was oddly disappointed with it--- loosely connected short stories with music as a common element running through them. Still, I look forward to Never Let Me go and Klara and the Sun which have been in my stacks for far too long!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I can also recommend An Artist of the Floating World, a short book that is set in Japan in the aftermath of WWII. It has an elegiac tone similar to The Remains of the Day.

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, >33 pamelad: Yes, it definitely deserves a re-read...I have the DVD with Hopkins & Thompson lined up to watch, but I want the book to settle in for a day or two before I watch the movie.

The only other book of his that I read was A Pale View of Hills, in which I loved the writing, but didn't click with the story. I have both Never Let Me Go and When We Were Orphans on my shelves.

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Sorry that Nocturnes was disappointing...that's one I am curious about. I may still try a story or two, and see how it goes.

>33 pamelad: And I didn't even know about An Artist of the Floating World until I saw it listed as one of his prior books in my copy (I have a 1990 paperback of Remains of the Day...pre-movie-tie-in!), so thanks for the recommendation.

>31 kac522: - I've read Remains of the Day, Never Let me Go, and Klara and the Sun and hope to read others by him. They're different - yet there's a sameness.

COMPLETED The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

I am reading The Graveyard Apartment by Japanese author Mariko Koike.

I also read The Love Wife by Gish Jen this month. Almost forgot to include that here.

How to Pronounce Knife / Souvankham Thammavongsa
3.5 stars

This is a book of short stories. She is a Lao-Canadian author, so the stories focus on Lao immigrants’ experiences.

I enjoyed the stories as I read them, so I’m giving this a “good” rating, but like with the majority of short stories I read, I forget them. Even by the end of the (short) book, I have forgotten most of the stories. I give plenty of short story collections an “ok” rating, since I usually find they vary – I like some, but not others – but these (even listening on audio) were almost all ones I liked. I’m not sure if the author meant to set the stories in Canada or the US. I initially assumed Canada, since she is Canadian, but one of the stories referred to all the money being green, so that would be the US. I guess it doesn’t matter, overall.

>39 LibraryCin: I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this problem with short stories.

>40 Robertgreaves: For that reason, I don't read short stories often. But I grew up in a small town with Lao refugees who came when I was in grade 2, so this one particularly interested me.

I've finished listening to the audio of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder.

Picked up one more: Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love by author Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel. Saw this on my library's new book shelf and grabbed it on a lark.

Known for his vast jazz record collection and devotion to running, this is a fun little book featuring some examples of Haruki Murakami's T-shirt collection. Most of them he picks up in thrift shops all over the world and most he doesn't even wear. The book is grouped into themes of T-shirts (food, beer, animals, music, books, sports, etc.) with photos and a short paragraph about each shirt.

Probably his most famous T-shirt, "Tony Takitani House D", inspired Murakami to write a short story, based on his musings of who "Tony" might be (turns out, Tony was a candidate for public office--and lost). I'd say my favorites were the book-themed t-shirts. Delightful little book to read in an evening.

>43 kac522: That sounds like a fun book. If I see that one at my library I would grab it too.

Just read Kim's Convenience, by Ins Choi, the stage play that was the basis of the TV series.

>44 Kristelh: Yep, put a smile on my face.

I got a preview copy of The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean and I enjoyed the last half of it. It jumped around a lot in the beginning and was hard to keep track, but then things got more cohesive.

I read another manga, Yotsuba&! Vol. 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma.

I managed to squeeze in The Old Woman with the Knife at the end of the month, and I quite enjoyed it! The author, Gu Byeong-mo, is Korean.

Thank you for reading for this month's challenge! I did a quick breakdown from the Wiki listing:

Arundhati Roy - Indian
Natsuki Takaya - Japanese
Mariko Koike - Japanese
Sun-mi Hwang - South Korean
Yoko Ogawa - Japanese
Souvankham Thammavongsa - Laotian Canadian
Celeste Ng - Chinese-descent
Shan Sa - Chinese-French
Tiffany Tsao - Chinese-Indonesian descent
Gu Byeong-mo - South Korean
Natsuo Kirino - Japanese
Mariko Koike - Japanese
Amitav Ghosh - Indian
Shūsaku Endō - Japanese
Eternity Martis - Pakistani descent
Kiyohiko Azuma - Japanese
Ovidia Yu - Sinagporean
Seishi Yokomizo - Japanese
Thanhha Lai - Vietnamese-American

Japanese = 8
Chinese-descent, Chinese-French, & Chinese-Indonesian = 3
Indian = 2
South Korean = 2
Laotian = 1
Pakistani = 1
Singaporean = 1
Vietnamese-American = 1

I hope you had fun and, again thank you! :-)

I managed to finish two more for this month:
Listen, Slowly by Vietnamese author Thanhha Lai
The Honjin Murders by Japanese author Seishi Yokomizo.

>50 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Oooh, thanks for that! That is interesting.