The Diary of Ma Yan edited and introduced by Pierre Haski, translated from the French by Lisa Appignanesi, originally translated from Mandarin by He Yanping [in AsianWeek]
26 May, by in Chinese, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers
A heartbreakingly inspirational book about a young girl in a tiny rural Chinese village who desperately wants an education, and the love and gratitude she feels for her parents –...
From the celebrated author of 
“And this is how I remember it,” Chun Yu opens her memoir, written in narrative poetry. While her language is spare, her simple words paint evocative pictures of growing up. Stories of her separated...
A beautifully rendered, haunting autobiographical story about a young boy coming of age during China’s Cultural Revolution, a time marked with incomprehensible, dangerous, chaotic change. Absolutely breathtaking.
Review: <a href="http://bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com/files/2009/07/asianweek-2005-02-25-new-and-notable.pdf"...
Billed for “the general reader and student alike,” this compilation is a noteworthy introduction to “the essence of Chinese poetry.” Beginning with the Book of Songs (allegedly collected...
In the wake of the devastation caused by the Cultural Revolution and the government corruptions of the Open Door Policy, the Chinese people can do little more than just survive – and some are...
Discovered over the last quarter-century in China and posited as the foundational text for early Taoism, Inward Training is composed of compact poetic verses written on silk and bamboo that were entombed for over...
Liu, a genetic scientist, arrives to visit her husband, Li, at his job site at the famed (or should that be infamous?) Three Gorges Dam Project...
From the author of Red Sorghum comes a monumental novel that follows 20th-century China through the lives of the eponymous woman and her nine children, none of them...
A collection of five tales, starring different birds, including a quail tale from Sri Lanka about the power of prayer and a swan story from China about lost-and-found ancestors.
Review: <a...
A contemporary presentation of the ancient Chinese classic, filled with stunning black-and-white photographs that complement each of the 64 ideographs.
Review: 
Based on historical accounts, Ha Jin’s third novel opens with the words of an elderly man who records his memoirs for his American-born grandchildren. He
methodically recounts his experiences as a young “volunteer” Chinese army...
Chang’s debut novel, following her memorable short story collection Hunger, is filled with complex characters and intricate details about their troubled lives. At its center is the narrator, Hong, a woman caught in multi-layered, multi-generational betrayals...
Okay, call me a terribly old fuddy-duddy, but I just don’t get the lure of reading about the sex lives of misdirected, apathetic teenagers. I know there’s an audience out there because Doll is...
One part culinary history about one of the best kitchen tools ever invented; two parts personal memoir that includes travels around the world; three parts story-telling about a number of...
Written by a British Chinese author, Bridge pulls the reader in bit by bit, almost like unraveling a mystery. At the book’s core is the relationship between a young Chinese student living in London...
It’s no wonder that Chinese film auteur Zhang Yimou chose the title novella for his film of the same name, about four desperate women vying for the attention of their...
Don’t be put off by the tacky cover with the bare chest of a necklaced young man. The story within, with all its rawness and shock, is hard to put down. Five Dragons, an...
Ever wonder why so many Chinese restaurants have the word “dragon” in its name – like Golden Dragon around the corner from the AsianWeek office? Or how about...
In post-Tian’anmen China, Ni Niuniu refers to herself as “a fragment in a fragmented age.” Indeed, at almost 30, she is a young woman who has lost all the important people in her life,...