Please recommend a novel (of any genre) set in Asia, anywhere in Asia.
I’m still a couple of weeks away from a holiday somewhere in SEA and I feel like doing some armchair travelling.
I enjoyed John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo and Bangkok Haunts.
Your suggestions please…
I can only think of a few road-trip type books:
Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (Andrew x. pham)
Red Dust: A Path Through China (Mia Jin)
Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (Peter Hessler).
I remember reading “The Piano Tuner” (Daniel mason) several years ago and quite liking it. It’s a novel set in Burma
It would be great to read something similar to John Burdett’s Bangkok books. That trilogy was just perfect for the beach.
Clavell’s Tai-Pan and Shogun are great historical novels set in Asia. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell is good too.
Oh, I almost forgot Anthony Burgess’ “Malayan Trilogy”.
[quote=“Baas Babelaas”]Please recommend a novel (of any genre) set in Asia, anywhere in Asia.
I’m still a couple of weeks away from a holiday somewhere in SEA and I feel like doing some armchair travelling.
I enjoyed the John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo and Bangkok Haunts.
Your suggestions please…[/quote]
John Burdett also has the Godfather of Kathmandu which is the next in that series. Worth a read.
Thanks fir the suggestions.
Ah, caught that last time I was in Bangkok. Looking forward to the next installment - Vulture Peak. But that’s still nine months away, according to wikipedia.
Pico Iyer - Video Nights In Katmandu.
The fragrant harbour
A quick read, but a horrifying account of life under Pol Pot. Especially worth it if you’re going to Cambodia.
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh on elusive Myanmar. First rate! tells you the history and the psyche of the people and super easy interesting read.
A few I have on my shelf:
Freedom Highway - Nigel Krauth. Set in Thailand in the late 1950s. 7/10
Empress Orchid - Anchee Min. Set in the final days of the Chinese empire (although some might say China is still an empire). 8/10
The Russian Concubine - Kate Furnivall. Set in China in 1928. 8/10
The Gate - Fraoncois Bizot. Autobiobraphy of the only Western prisoner to survive the Khmer Rouge. Set in Cambodia. 7/10
The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng. Set in Penang, Malaysia in 1939 with the Japanese invading. 8/10
Would set up a book swop if it weren’t for the fact that I’m across the pond in Xiamen.
“The Sorrows of War” by Bao Ninh is a novel worth checking out, looking at the vietnamese war from a non-American perspective. Depressing, but powerful stuff.
The Beach by Alex Garland.
Harvest Season by Chris Taylor - reviewed in the Taipei Times last weekend.