Not only Murakami: 8 noteworthy books by Asian authors

1. "Nora", Hiroko Oyamada

The main character Asahi moves out of town with her husband. Now they will live next door to his parents. In the atmosphere of a hot summer and the endless chirping of cicadas, Asa tries to adapt to local realities - the inaccessibility of friends, the constant interference of the mother-in-law in their affairs with their spouse and the lack of professional prospects. During one of the walks, the girl sees a bizarre black beast and decides to follow him, but falls into a hole dug as if specially for her.

Oyamada's postmodern novel, awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2014, is a typical example of magical realism. In this book, reality is closely intertwined with fiction, and the metaphors hidden in the text make you return to the plot twists and turns again and again in order to understand what really happened to the heroine. The work is similar to a mixture of prose by Franz Kafka and Lewis Carroll, films by David Lynch and anime by Hayao Miyazaki.

2. Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada

The story focuses on three generations of a white family bears, famous circus artists and writers. The stars of the arena and the literary world are part of human society. In the first chapter, the reader is introduced to the grandmother-matriarch. She worked for many years in the Soviet circus, and then emigrated to East Germany. Medveditsa writes a book about the experience, which soon becomes a real international bestseller.

In the second part, her daughter Tosca, born in Canada, returns to the GDR to work in the local circus. The son of Tosca Knut was born in captivity, he is raised by an employee of the Berlin Zoo. We learn about the childhood memories of the bear cub and the person who replaced his own mother from the last third of the novel.

Yoko Tawada wrote "Memoirs of a Polar Bear" in Japanese, and then independently translated the novel into German, considering this version more successful. The book won the Noma Prize (2011) and the Yomiuri Prize (2012). The writer was inspired to create it by the real story of the bear cub Knut, who was born in Berlin zoo in 2006 year.

3. "I called him Tie" by Milena Michiko Flachard

Milena Michiko Flachard was born to a Japanese mother and an Austrian, so her works reflect a rich multicultural opsT. The scene of the novel is the birthplace of the mother of the writer.

In the center of the plot are two, at first glance, different characters. Taguchi Hiro is a hikikomori, a recluse. He lives in his parents' house and tries to avoid all contact with people. Most of all, Hiro likes silence and solitude. For several years he did not leave his own room at all, but recently he began to go out.

On one of those days, he met an elderly office worker, Ohara Tetsu. Later, Hiro would give him the nickname "Tie": at the time of their meeting, Tetsu had a red and gray striped accessory around his neck, and this detail was especially remembered by the young man. His new friend is the same lost, "superfluous" person who chooses to escape from reality. Tetsu fired from work, he was very afraid of what they would say at home, so every morning he allegedly went to the office, but in fact he talked with Hiro. This communication, little by little, gives each of them the strength to start all over again and give life another chance.

4. "Marriage with Other Species" by Yukiko Motoya

The 2016 Akutagawa Prize-winning collection contains four short stories centered on the theme of marriage. Simple and concise, flavored with Japanese flavor, the stories of a popular writer, screenwriter and playwright Yukiko Motoya are written in the best traditions of mystical realism and raise familiar to many questions. Why do we build relationships with this or that person? How do our feelings for each other change over the years? Is it possible to preserve one's own individuality without dissolving in a partner, or will one have to pay dearly for peace and stability? The author tries to answer them.

5. Memory Police Yoko Ogawa

On an unnamed island, something has been missing for many years: precious stones, household items, birds, flowers. True, most of the locals do not care about this. If they even felt at first that something was wrong, they quickly forgot. Those who, for some unknown reason, could not be forgotten, were inexorably and cruelly dealt with by the Memory Police.

The main character of the novel, a young writer, knows this firsthand: many years ago, the Memory Police took her mother forever. Therefore, when the heroine found out that her editor was under the guns of the punishers, she decided to hide him in a safe haven. Working on the manuscript becomes the only way for them not to become like everyone else, doomed to exist under the hood of totalitarian control until the end of their days.

philosophical dystopia on the limits of state control, the limits of personal freedom and the search for truth in 2020 was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.

6. "Professor's Favorite Equation" by Yoko Ogawa

The professor was a great mathematician. He suffered a brain injury in a horrific accident and has since experienced memory problems. It will not be difficult for the hero to talk about the theorem that he proved many years ago, but the man forgets about what happened the day before. One hour and twenty minutes is the reserve of his active memory. Many years after the tragic incident, a housekeeper comes to him - a storyteller, from whom we learn the story of the professor. Every day she helps the hero with the housework and involuntarily begins to take an interest in mathematics. She is accompanied by her ten-year-old son, whom the professor affectionately nicknamed Korenyok. So, little by little, out of love for equations, sincere friendship is born, which in its own way changes each of the heroes.

Ogawa's novel is a strong and understandable story for readers about the joy of human communication, kindness and sincere feelings that we can have for each other without demanding anything in return. The book has received the prestigious Yomiuri Prize and the Japan Bookseller Prize. It was filmed in 2006. The writer was inspired to write the book by the biography of the Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, who became the prototype of the protagonist.

7. "Almond" by Song Won-pyeong

The protagonist of the novel, Song Yoon Jae, was born with alexithymia, the inability to recognize and express one's own feelings. He does not know fear, aggression, sympathy or sympathy. But this does not in the least sadden the young man who has had enough heat and the love of the closest people: quietly and secluded, he lives with his mother and grandmother in an apartment above their second-hand bookshop. One day, due to a tragic set of circumstances, the family idyll comes to an end: misfortune happens to mom and grandmother, and Yoon Jae is left all alone.

A bold and fascinating story about the growing up of the hero, complicated by his mental characteristics, will appeal to readers of different age due to the universality of the topics raised, as well as the fact that sincerely not empathizing with the protagonist is simply impossible. Song Won Pyung's novel was published in 2016 and has since been translated into 13 languages. In South Korea alone, 250,000 copies of the book have been sold.

8. Love Ship, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

Eighteen-year-old Ever is on the verge of important changes in her life. The girl has just graduated from high school and is going to go to university. Parents tipped her the future of a doctor, but she herself would like to dance. Many years ago, the Ever family left China and went to the US with their two daughters in search of a better life. Since then, they have not returned to their homeland.

However, in the last summer before adulthood, mother and father decide to send Ever on vacation to Taipei, where a unique gold camp is located. youth "Love Boat" For a girl, this is a good chance to practice forgotten Chinese and make new useful acquaintances. Finding himself without parental care, Ever gets acquainted with a new world for himself, where instead of lessons of calligraphy and traveling to the sacred sites of Taoism, teenagers visit nightclubs and drink sake made from snake blood.

The book is a whimsical mix of romance, adventure, friendship, culture, and youthful rebellion - just what you need if you're a fan of young adult novels.