CHINA/HONG KONG
The Last Eunuch of China: The Life of Sun Yaoting, Jia Yinghua
Love in a Fallen City, Eileen Chang
This is a series of short stories about life in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the 1930s and 1940s. I have yet to get a chance to start reading it.
CAMBODIA/VIETNAM/THAILAND
First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung
This memoir about the Cambodian genocide was written by a woman who was just five years old when Pol Pot came to power and forced her family to evacuate from Phnom Penh. Narrated in the present tense from a child's point-of-view, this heart-wrenching book would be impossible to get through if it weren't for the knowledge that at least the author survives in the end to tell the tale. She eventually escapes to Vietnam and then Thailand and finally makes it to the U.S.
AUSTRALIA
I Am Ned Kelly, John Molony
This is a biography of the infamous Irish-Australian bushranger who was executed for murder in the Old Melbourne Gaol. Some consider Ned Kelly to be a folk hero for his resistance of the British ruling class even though he killed three police officers during an incident at his house. Since the book is called I Am Ned Kelly, I thought the book would be a compelling first-person account of Kelly's life. Instead it is turning out to be a rather dry historical text clearly written by an academic. The author also seems to be trying a bit too hard to write in an Old English style even though the book was written way back in only 1980.
This is a biography of the infamous Irish-Australian bushranger who was executed for murder in the Old Melbourne Gaol. Some consider Ned Kelly to be a folk hero for his resistance of the British ruling class even though he killed three police officers during an incident at his house. Since the book is called I Am Ned Kelly, I thought the book would be a compelling first-person account of Kelly's life. Instead it is turning out to be a rather dry historical text clearly written by an academic. The author also seems to be trying a bit too hard to write in an Old English style even though the book was written way back in only 1980.
NEPAL
Escape From Kathmandu, Kim Stanley Robinson
INDIA
Siddartha, Herman Hesse
I listened to this novel on my phone since it's now in the public domain and was therefore free for me to download. It tells the story of the spiritual journey of a man named Siddartha during the time of Buddha. Through a series of adventures and misadventures living first as a Brahmin then as an ascetic and later as a wealthy merchant, Siddartha ultimately rejects all of these lifestyles and finally finds enlightenment. Hesse wrote it in a lyrical style that almost sounds like an extended epic poem. The book contains many Buddhist themes and lessons about living a simple life, accepting reality and connecting with a universal spirit.
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
I started reading this book in Melbourne because I saw it on the bookshelf in one of the house's where I was couchsurfing and I decided to pick it up. I hadn't read the book or even seen the movie before leaving on my trip, which didn't prevent the many comments I have gotten along the vein of "So, is this like an Eat, Pray, Love thing?" I made it through the "Eat" section about Italy and part of the "Pray" section about India before I left the house in Melbourne. I ended up recently buying a used copy so now I am continuing on through the "Pray" section, which is about the author's time spent at an ashram. The most valuable lesson I gleaned from the "Eat" part is that it is okay to relax and enjoy the travel experience rather than to constantly try to cross "must-see" items off a checklist. It's something I'm still working on.
I listened to this novel on my phone since it's now in the public domain and was therefore free for me to download. It tells the story of the spiritual journey of a man named Siddartha during the time of Buddha. Through a series of adventures and misadventures living first as a Brahmin then as an ascetic and later as a wealthy merchant, Siddartha ultimately rejects all of these lifestyles and finally finds enlightenment. Hesse wrote it in a lyrical style that almost sounds like an extended epic poem. The book contains many Buddhist themes and lessons about living a simple life, accepting reality and connecting with a universal spirit.
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
I started reading this book in Melbourne because I saw it on the bookshelf in one of the house's where I was couchsurfing and I decided to pick it up. I hadn't read the book or even seen the movie before leaving on my trip, which didn't prevent the many comments I have gotten along the vein of "So, is this like an Eat, Pray, Love thing?" I made it through the "Eat" section about Italy and part of the "Pray" section about India before I left the house in Melbourne. I ended up recently buying a used copy so now I am continuing on through the "Pray" section, which is about the author's time spent at an ashram. The most valuable lesson I gleaned from the "Eat" part is that it is okay to relax and enjoy the travel experience rather than to constantly try to cross "must-see" items off a checklist. It's something I'm still working on.
