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Theme: ASIA AND DOWN UNDER 2015

During the last visit here, we read books about Japan, a fabulous reading year with books such as The Tale of Genji. All together Asia and Oceania extend across two continents. In 2015, we will choose one or some of those many Asian-Oceanian literatures. In the Reading Challenges are many ways to celebrate those cultures in prose or poetry. Besides individual Challenges, the year's Currently Reading topics pinpoint books about the South Pacific and Southeast Asia.


BOOK CHALLENGES :

THE NARROW ROAD (Jan-Dec)

Four works of fiction by Richard Flanagan*

RENDANG STEW (Jan-Dec)

One about each of these -- Russia, West Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania --

OR

Six about a single region, or about a few regions.

O KHAYYAM (Apr-June)

Poetry collection.

Examples: Puna Wai Korero by Robert Sullivan; Earth Hour by David Malouf; The Best 100 Poems of Gwen Harwood by Gwen Harwood; &c.

SILKS AND SPICES (July-Sept)

Short story collection.

Examples: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien; Bearded Ladies by Kate Grenville; A Red Woman Was Crying by Don Mitchell; The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands by Somerset Maugham; Return to Paradise by James Michener; &c.

OCEANS (Oct-Dec)

The Pacific or the Southern Oceans, including Antarctica.

Examples: Pacific Lady: The First Woman to Sail Solo across the World's Largest Ocean by Sharon S. Adams; Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt; Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life or Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas by Herman Melville; The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge; &c.

BOOKS FOR CURRENTLY READING

Jan 1 Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea by Kira Salak, 300+p.

*Jan 22 Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan, 300+p.

Feb 12 The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead, 500+p. Australia

*Mar 19 The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan 400+p.

Apr 16 Dusk by F. Sionil José, 300+p. Philippines

*May 7 Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish by Richard Flanagan, 400+p--Discussion leader Manu

Jun 4 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, 800+p. New Zealand

*July 30 The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan, 300+p.

Aug 20 The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill, 200+p. Laos

*Sep 3 Wanting by Richard Flanagan, 200+p.

Sep 17 This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 300+p. Indonesia--Discussion leader Don

*Oct 8 The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, 300+p. Possibly relevant is Matsuo Basho's The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches.

Oct 29 The Secret River by Kate Grenville, 300+p. Australia

Nov 19 The Garden of Evening Mists by Twan Eng Tan, 300+p. Malaysia--Discussion leader Maggie

Dec 10 The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout, 200+p. Indonesia--Discussion leader Asma

Dec 24 Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood, 100+p. Australia--Discussion leader Ema

Discussion leaders are welcome. I'll be glad to include someone who wants to guide one or more of the above readings.

I'll start the conversational ball rolling with the region of South Asia (e.g. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan).

That's excellent, Cynthia. The poll is open to click on your favorite region.

It would have helped to have a bit more information on the places, Asma. You included China in the mix, but if you map those areas China is not one of the countries which is mentioned. It would have helped to have you give us the countries you felt fell within each area so that we knew exactly what we were voting for. For instance, mapping-wise Australasia doesn't really exist, but I can make a jump in logic and guess. Is my guess right? Maybe not.

Here are some book ideas for this area of the world

Southeast Asia

Burma/Myanmar:
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey

Indonesia:
The Ten Thousand Things
This Earth of Mankind and the other three books in the quartet

Thailand:
Sightseeing


Oceania (I think this is what is meant by Australasia on the poll)

Australia:
Cocaine Blues and all the Phryne Fisher books
Death of a River Guide

New Zealand
One Whale, Singing: And Other Stories From New Zealand

Papua New Guina
Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea
Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression

Maggie wrote: "It would have helped to have a bit more information on the places, Asma. You included China in the mix, but if you map those areas China is not one of the countries which is mentioned. It would h..."

Maggie, I understand where you are coming from. You are right. China generally is part of East Asia. I've attempted to define the regions in the poll comments. Anyway, the whole purpose of the poll is to find out where you want to read from and to engage you in discussion about it. In some previous years, I've included most/all the topics of the poll in the year's readings.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Here are some book ideas for this area of the world]..."

Jenny, I've looked through the summaries, very interesting. I'll look forward to reading some of them.

As an Australian, Australasia and Oceania usually mean different areas.

Sorry to be a pain, but it may help to make that clearer. If you are talking about Aus/NZ/Pacific Islands, Oceania is the term to use. (Or really, we would say the Pacific, but Oceania would be the commonly used term around the world).

Australasia is what we use when we are trying to include ourselves in Asia (sneaking in as SE Asia) for whatever reason at the time (usually economic), and doesn't include Pacific nations, and usually not even NZ.

Also, sorry I haven't joined in much in 2014. But hoping I can participate much more in 2015.

Rusalka wrote: "As an Australian, Australasia and Oceania usually mean different areas..."

Rusalka, your definition is the one I found on a Wiki. Australasia is just Australia and New Zealand; Oceania is both of those and the Pacific islands of Micronesia, Polynesia...Surprised to learn that Australia and New Zealand are not part of the same continent.

Rusalka wrote: "Also, sorry I haven't joined in much in 2014. But hoping I can participate much more in 2015."

It looks like that reading in Asia/Oceania will be educational and fun.

Asma wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "As an Australian, Australasia and Oceania usually mean different areas..."

Rusalka, your definition is the one I found on a Wiki. Australasia is just Australia and New Zealand; Oce..."

Cool, thanks for defining for us. As long as we all know what the terms mean here, that's the important thing.

Interesting Wiki's definition is not what it means in practice for us who live in this part of the world though. Not overly surprised, but still interesting.

Rusalka wrote: "...Interesting Wiki's definition is not what it means in practice for us who live in this part of the world though. Not overly surprised, but still interesting."

Rusalka, thank you for mentioning the definition of Australasia from how an Australian views the term, the country's being unique from Asia and New Zealand.

What I meant earlier about the geographical separateness of Australia and New Zealand is that the latter apparently is the tip of a once-larger continent which lies submerged. That was way back when Ma years ago.

From Australia, may I offer Kate Grenville for consideration? Her Bearded Ladies is a highly regarded work concerning gender issues, I gather, and I have been hoping to get to it for a while now and would value a group discussion.

Does both the author and the setting have to be from the chosen country?

Australia
I'm asking caused i noticed that the author of Schindler's List is australian. Classic

The Man Who Loved Children. Classic

The Narrow Road to the Deep North . Booker nominee 2014

New Zealand
The Bone People -Magical realism / booker prize winner 1984

Don wrote: "From Australia, may I offer Kate Grenville for consideration? Her Bearded Ladies ..."

Definitely, Don. The Secret River is waiting for me, too. Bearded Ladies sounds intriguing and discussable.

Asma wrote: The Secret River is waiting for me, too. [book:Bear..."

Great. Thanks Asma. Same here - I think Secret River may be her most well known work to date. Bearded Ladies I think was her first. Either would be fine with me.

Mekki wrote: "Does both the author and the setting have to be from the chosen country?..."

No, either the setting or the author are fine. During the year in Brazil, an epic of that country was written by a non-Brazilian Errol Lincoln Uys. The Brazilian Paulo Coelho writes books set in France, Africa,...

I checked into all of your book suggestions. Thank you, Mekki.

Don wrote: "Great. Thanks Asma. Same here..."

You're welcome, Don.

Mekki wrote: "...The Narrow Road to the Deep North . Booker nominee 2014..."

The book & its author just won the Man Booker Prize 2014.

2015 is the year I plan to read a lot more Japanese novels. I have been an Icelandophile for a number of years and it's time to branch out...by which time some more English translations of Icelandic works should have been released :)

Andrew wrote: "2015 is the year I plan to read a lot more Japanese novels. I have been an Icelandophile for a number of years and it's time to branch out...by which time some more English translations of Iceland..."

The Strange Library is coming in December. Japan is a choice with many reads even in English if necessary.

After browsing about in the library and on Amazon, I've come up with more authors on the ongoing list of southeastern Asian and Oceanic literature:

The Buru Tetralogy of Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer;

The Dr. Siri mystery series set in Laos by Colin Cotterill;

The Malaysian author Twan Eng Tan;

The Rosales Saga books of Filipino author F. Sionil José;

The novel Ilustrado by the Filipino author Miguel Syjuco;

From Australia, Christina Stead's novels;

From Australia & Dalkey Archive, Inland by Gerard Murnane;

Derek Hansen's New Zealand-set novel Remember Me.

I have read both of Twan Eng Tan's books. They're both lyrical and wonderful.

From Cambodia I've read In the Shadow of the Banyan, which was wonderful and enlightening and was written by one of the members of the Imperial family.

From Burma I've read The Lizard Cage and The Piano Tuner. Both very good.

From Vietnam I've read The Things They Carried (an excellent group of short stories about the Vietnam War from the US soldier's perspective), Monkey Bridge (gives a view of the Vietnamese during the war, but also escape and assimilation in the US), The North China Lover (Maguerite Duras' book about the years in Vietnam before the US joined the war and the affair between a French school girl and a wealthy Vietnamese man), and Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (the memoir of a young Vietnamese American who returns to Vietnam on his bicycle).

Updated - right now Tan's The Gift of Rain is $1.99 on Kindle.

Maggie wrote: "I have read both of Twan Eng Tan's books. They're both lyrical and wonderful.

From Cambodia I've read In the Shadow of the Banyan, which was wonderful and enlightening and was w..."

A great selection of recommended titles, Maggie. Everyone of them appears a wonderful read. Thank you.

More from my memo list is:

Javaid Qazi's Well Met in Cyprus (sounds good but in the Mediterranean!);

Tasmanian Richard Flanagan's novels, some of which Jenny(ReadingEnvy) and Mekki included in their comments. Six of his works I'm seriously considering for our featured author of 2015. I'll be sending out a poll about that.

Flanagan's The Sound of One Hand Clapping is currently 1.99 on Kindle.

Maggie, The Sound of One Hand Clapping has more than 400 pages, that can be another factor for some readers who like ebooks.

True enough. I'm reading a history just now which is more than 800 pages. I own it in paper, but am reading it on my Kindle because the Kindle weighs nothing. I keep the paper book close by so I can see pictures or check the notes more easily, but even notes are generally easy on the Kindle.

Maggie wrote: "Updated - right now Tan's The Gift of Rain is $1.99 on Kindle."

And The Garden of Evening Mists. That's the later one I'm adding to the schedule.

Andrew wrote: "2015 is the year I plan to read a lot more Japanese novels. I have been an Icelandophile for a number of years and it's time to branch out...by which time some more English translations of Iceland..."

You should definitely check out our list and discussion from a few years back. We had a wide range both in time period and region.

Asma wrote: "The Strange Library is coming in December. Japan is a choice with many reads even in English if necessary. ..."
I just listened to a review copy if the audiobook. It's a short story and decent but not my favorite Murakami.

Looking forward to Oceania and South Pacific and Southeast Asia, however we group it, although in response to a few comments I think China should warrant its own year.

Jenny, there's quite a number of authors for reading in Oceania and southeastern Asia. That might not even incorporate southern Asia, Russia, western Asia, China, Japan, or Korea this year (2015). The readings are from/about the countries of

Papua New Guinea
Australia
Malaysia
New Zealand
Laos
Philippines
Indonesia.

I think we'll be able to even do some poetry this time around. David Malouf comes to mind but I am sure there are others! He is Australian.

Revolving Days: Selected Poems
Earth Hour

etc....

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I think we'll be able to even do some poetry this time around. David Malouf comes to mind but I am sure there are others! He is Australian.

Revolving Days: Selected Poems
[book:Eart..."

The anticipated list leans towards novels. There's no reason why poetry or even drama might not have its season.

Asma wrote: "

Theme: ASIA AND DOWN UNDER 2015



During the last visit here, we read books about Japan, a fabulous reading year with books such as The Tale of Genji. All together Asia and Oceania exten..."

Awesome! Thanks! Looking forward to a great year of reading!

You're welcome, Don. Your participation boosts the caliber of the book discussions. Thank you.

I just ordered some Papua New Guinea coffee to get ready!

Jenny that's a great idea for a way to get 'in the mood.'

As much as I love a good cup of coffee, I collected some teas from Japan, Turkey, China, Egypt, and India. I read that Papua New Guinea grows tea for domestic consumption and coffee for a top export.

Tea works for me, too, Asma. There's a newish tea shop here and I'm having lunch near there on Sunday. I'll have to stop by and see what I can pick up.

The coffee in PNG comes largely from the Jamaican Blue Mtn coffee, but was planted in PNG in the 1930s. Much like Jamaica then where most locals don't drink coffee!

I've been exploring the food cultures of our new region and there will be some fun things to try!

Nicola wrote: "I must admit to still being somewhat in a muddle regarding a definitive list of the countries we will be covering. Do I understand that we have now removed Russia from the list? It would certainl..."

I'm not sure on the definitive list but in my head it is New Zealand up into southeast Asia, so not CJK or Russia or the Middle East.

Another thing i know- I'm not going to read all that Flanagan! Instead I'll focus in the countries from this region I haven't read anything from. I think that taking the challenge and running with it is encouraged, so please share what you read.

Here is a list of more PNG books.

The large-scale topic in 2015 is Asia-Oceania. The Challenges in Message #1 are created so someone can create their personal reads across those vast continents. The small-scale topic is focused on Indonesia and on Pacific islands, being the readings featured throughout 2015.

Regarding New Zealand and Fiji, James Morcan's books came across as possible reads if someone is interested in the Challenges.

Nicola wrote: "I must admit to still being somewhat in a muddle regarding a definitive list of the countries we will be covering. Do I understand that we have now removed Russia from the list? It would certainl..."

I just finished Euphoria by Lily King which is set in New Guinea in the 1930s along the Sepik River. It was a novel based loosely on events in Margaret Mead's life. It is also long listed for the Tournament of Books. I really enjoyed it.

Jayme wrote: "I just finished Euphoria by Lily King which is set in New Guinea in the 1930s...a novel based loosely on events in Margaret Mead's life..."

The at Amazon has an Author Update about her coming up with the idea of Euphoria.

Another book really worth reading along the lines of Euphoria is The People in the Trees, set in Palau, somewhat.

For those with Kindles or the Amazon Reading App, The Luminaries is $2.99 today.

Glad to see that Euphoria, The People in the Trees, and The Luminaries are published in a choice of formats.

Glad to see that those novels are published in multiple formats. The messages in this topic offer good suggestions for Indonesia and the Pacific.