A rojak* of items that caught my eye this
week…
Out now: The Asia Literary
Review's Autumn Issue
The current issue of Asia Literary Review (ALR) offers an eclectic collection of writing including contributions from Paul French, bestselling author of
Midnight in Peking, and Korea's Eungjun Lee, author of Private Life of a
Nation, Night Cello, and All About My Romance.
It also offers: the poignant
story of a young Chinese girl's search for comfort and identity through cartoon characters and a Russian matryoshka doll; a profile of a doomsday rocker and
sex-toy purveyor in Beijing; a poem and an essay that provide different views
on the unfinished business of finding a way to perceive the Vietnam War; an
extract from a new novel written by two authors exploring an interracial love story from alternate points of view; and odes to
that most Asian of staple foods - rice. Plus much more…
I asked the editor, Martin
Alexander, what was the best thing about editing the current issue, number 29? “It's the same with
every issue. We read a huge amount, start our selection with the seed of an
idea, discover unexpected pleasures in the writing of new and established
writers, and watch the collection take its subtle and distinctive shape. And
then the editing - it's such a privilege to work closely and intensely with
each of the writers to bring their work to our readers.”
And why, I wondered, should
people be sure to read ARL 29? “There's no other publication that brings
together excellent writing from, and about, the whole of Asia. Man Asian
Literary Prize Winner (2008) Miguel Syjuco says ARL is 'like the Panama Canal' -
a shortcut to the heart of Asia. That's true too of ALR29. Our
contributors give poignant voice to the silenced survivors of Nagasaki and expose
corruption in the Philippines; take us across the rooftops of Shanghai and on
an adventure with a Sundarban tiger; give us a taste of what's on Aruna's
palate and entangle us in an interracial romance; dive into the nightmarish dystopia
of a post-unification Korea; and more - in fiction, essay, poetry and
photography."
Martin also told me that in the
spring of 2016 ALR will be working with the Literature Translation Institute of
Korea to bring exciting new writing from Korea to an international
audience…keep an eye out for further details.
Details: The print edition of ALR
29 is available in selected English-language bookshops throughout Asia priced
in local currencies. The digital edition
is available from the ARL website.
Quick Notice: The Silk Road: A
New History, by Valerie Hansen
About the book: The Silk Road is
as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But
what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden
with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was
different—and far more interesting—as revealed in this new history.
In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archaeological finds that revolutionise our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden-sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travellers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.
In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archaeological finds that revolutionise our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden-sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travellers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.
About the author: Valerie Hansen
is Professor of History at Yale University. Her books include The Open Empire:
A History of China to 1600, Changing Gods in Medieval China,
1127-1276, and, with Kenneth R. Curtis, Voyages in World History.
Details: The Silk Road is
published in paperback by Oxford University Press, it should be available in
selected English-language bookshops throughout Asia, priced in local
currencies. The eBook is available from the Amazon UK site.
Interesting Indie: Passport To
Hiroshima: The Unthinkable, Inspiring Journey of a Japanese-American Family
Based on a True Story by Toshiharu and Rita Kano
.
About the book: Less than half a
mile from the hypocentre of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Shizue
Nekomoto, daughter Yorie, infant son Toshio, and unborn son Toshiharu,
miraculously survived the concussion force of nuclear winds and the ensuing
firestorm. Shizue's husband, Toshiyuki, caught in the open by the blast, also
survived. In the aftermath of unprecedented destruction, pestilence, financial
ruin, and the prognosis of death for their immune deficient new born son,
Toshiharu, they also encountered the destructive forces of human nature. They
must now survive selfishness and betrayal to forgive and love again…
About the authors: Toshiharu and
Rita Kano, live in Utah. Toshiharu, once the immune deficient baby of the story, now thinks of himself as one of the last sons of Hiroshima. He hopes that Passport
to Hiroshima offers a vision of a peaceful world saturated with understanding
and compassion.
Details: Passport To Hiroshima is
available in paperback and eBook. You will need to order it from the
States. It is available on the US Amazon
site.
Blog Spot
Each week I offer this slot to the
administrators of relevant and interesting-sounding blogs, and invite them to write a paragraph
explaining why readers of Asian Books Blog should take a look at their sites. But this week nobody has been in touch, so there isn’t a Blog Spot.
Do you run a
blog you think may be of interest to readers of Asian Books Blog, and which
you’d like to see featured here? If so, please get in touch, preferably via
e-mail - asianbooksblog@gmail.com. Thanks.
Twitter Spot
Each week I make a suggestion of
an interesting Twitter account you may like to follow. This week, Justin Hill,
