Looking for something scintillating to enliven your daily grind? AGI highlights the top 10 books from Asia in 2012, guaranteed to transport you to fantastical, enchanting new worlds- all from the comfort of your train seat.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum
Already a winner of numerous awards and accolades including the National Book Award and the Samuel Johnson Prize, this is a harrowing but necessary account of the lives of slum residents in the most populous Indian city. Absolutely a must-read for non-fiction fans, in spite of the sometimes gruelling subject matter.
A Chinese Life
Nearly 700 pages in length, this true-life autobiography of the author Li Kunwu in graphic novel form takes us through the turbulent modern history of China and out the other side. An overlooked accomplishment for comics, from up-and-coming London publisher SelfMadeHero.
The Garden of Evening Mists 
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as the Man Literary Prize, this is a gorgeously written new novel by the Chinese-Malaysian author of The Gift of Rain (longlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize).Set in the Malayan highlands, it is an epic story that moves effortlessly from the Japanese occupation of World War II, to the post-war period, and on to the 1980s.
Message to Adolf, Vol. 1 (Adolf (2 in 1))
One of the best Japanese manga (graphic novels) ever written by the now sadly ‘deceased father of manga’, this is a new English translation. Originally released in Japan back in the 1980s, this is a stunning 1200+ page achievement mixing fact with fiction, involving three men named Adolf-one is a Jew living in Japan, one is half-Japanese/half-German, and the other is better known as Hitler.
Midnight in Peking: The Murder That Haunted the Last Days of Old China
A true story that reads like a mystery novel, set in the Legation Quarter of Beijing (Peking) in the late 1930s. The author masterfully reconstructs–and possibly solves–the crime that happened to a young woman from England at a crucial time in China’s history (with eerie relevance to more recent happenings there).
A warning: if you do not enjoy gruesome details, this may not be your cup of tea.
Narcopolis
The first novel of an author from India,Narcopolis has also been nominated for the 2012 Man Booker and Man Asian Literary prizes, showing just how important Asian writers are becoming on the world stage these days. It is another story set in the past (this time in 1970s ‘Old Bombay’) and explores the effects of opium addiction.
The Orphan Master’s Son
A novel written by an American in the voice of a North Korean, this surprised reviewers almost as much as Memoirs Of A Geisha
Raffles: And the Golden Opportunity by Victoria Glendinning, Profile Books
A new and reasonably fair biography of the Englishman Sir Stamford Raffles, who is most famous for having founded the colony of Singapore in 1819. The author looks at the lasting effects that remain of Raffles’ impact in many parts of Southeast Asia.
The Rise and Fall of the House of Bo (Penguin Specials): How A Murder Exposed The Cracks In China’s Leadership (Penguin Shorts/Specials)
A ‘Penguin Specials’ eBook only (there is no print version so far), this is more of an essay than a book, but it is a good primer on the behind-the-scenes story of former politician Bo Xilai’s very public scandal and humiliation by the authorities in China and the international media in 2012. How this will affect China’s political system going forward remains to be seen.
The Tale of the Heike (Penguin Hardback Classics)
This is an ancient tale that is well-known and beloved in Japan, but has not gotten as much praise in the West, especially when compared with other classics like The Tale of Genji. This sparkling new translation by a Japanese literature expert should help change that. An epic poem akin to Homer’s Odyssey that reads like a half-forgotten dream.
By Tim Holm
