Best of
Asia

1992

To Live


Yu Hua - 1992
    This searing novel, originally banned in China but later named one of that nation's most influential books, portrays one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant. After squandering his family's fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. Left with an ox as the companion of his final years, Fugui stands as a model of gritty authenticity, buoyed by his appreciation for life in this narrative of humbling power.

The Noble Path


Peter May - 1992
    Amid the Khmer Rouge's crazed genocide, soldier-of-fortune Jack Elliott is given the impossible task of rescuing a family from the regime. THE PAINFUL TRUTH Eighteen-year-old orphan and budding journalist Lisa Robinson has received the impossible news that her father is, in fact, alive. His name - Jack Elliott. THE NOBLE PATH As Jack tracks the hostages and Lisa traces her heritage, each is intent on reuniting a family. Yet to succeed, so must run a dangerous gauntlet of bullets and betrayal.

The Friends


Kazumi Yumoto - 1992
    Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends.

Who Ate Up All the Shinga?: An Autobiographical Novel


Park Wan-Suh - 1992
    Who Ate Up All the Shinga? is an extraordinary account of her experiences growing up during the Japanese occupation of Korea and the Korean War, a time of great oppression, deprivation, and social and political instability.Park Wan-suh was born in 1931 in a small village near Kaesong, a protected hamlet of no more than twenty families. Park was raised believing that "no matter how many hills and brooks you crossed, the whole world was Korea and everyone in it was Korean." But then the tendrils of the Japanese occupation, which had already worked their way through much of Korean society before her birth, began to encroach on Park's idyll, complicating her day-to-day life.With acerbic wit and brilliant insight, Park describes the characters and events that came to shape her young life, portraying the pervasive ways in which collaboration, assimilation, and resistance intertwined within the Korean social fabric before the outbreak of war. Most absorbing is Park's portrait of her mother, a sharp and resourceful widow who both resisted and conformed to stricture, becoming an enigmatic role model for her struggling daughter. Balancing period detail with universal themes, Park weaves a captivating tale that charms, moves, and wholly engrosses.

Tears of Blood: A Cry For Tibet


Mary A. Craig - 1992
    Many thousands more, including their spiritual and political leader, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, have been driven into exile.The country has been systematically colonized, so that indigenous inhabitants are now a second-class minority. Not only are Tibetans being squeezed out by Chinese settlers, but there are reports of Tibetan women being forcibly sterilized and of healthy full-term babies being killed at birth. Thousands of Tibetans languish in prison and suffer appalling torture. Rich mineral resources have been plundered and the delicate ecosystem devastated. Buddhism, the life blood of Tibet, has been ruthlessly suppressed.Mary Craig tells the story of Tibet with candor and power. Based upon extensive research and interviews with large numbers of refugees now living in exile in India, this book presents four decades of religious persecution, environmental devastation, and human atrocities that have caused Tibetans to weep "tears of blood."

The Blue Dress Girl


E.V. Thompson - 1992
    She-she, a peasant girl, never wanted to be a concubine. But She-she has caught the eye of Li Hung, the most powerful man in Canton.Torn away from her family, she must serve as a blue dress girl, welcoming men to Hung’s decadent household and into her bed. Her first encounter is with lecherous Trader Courtice.But the night goes horrifically awry, bringing scandal down on She-she’s head. She flees by boat.THEN DISASTER STRIKES AGAIN.British forces open fire on She-she’s ship, leaving her injured. Among her attackers is Second Lieutenant Kernow Keats, a sensitive young Marine who promises to take her to safety.He is unlike any man She-she has ever known. But dare the couple dream of a future together?CAN THEIR LOVE SURVIVE THE VICIOUS WAR RAGING ALL AROUND THEM?Discover a beautifully told saga, majestically woven around the lives of two people, discovering unexpected feelings in unfamiliar territory.PERFECT FOR FANS OF ARTHUR GOLDEN, AMY TAN, LISA SEE, ANCHEE MIN, OR PEARL S. BUCK.

Coppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker's Dracula


Francis Ford Coppola - 1992
    Here are original sketches by costume designer Eiko Ishioka, 90 photographs by David Seidner of the completed costumes, and enlightening commentary by Coppola and Ishioka detailing the creation of the movie.

The Jade King: History Of A Chinese Muslim Family


Huo Da - 1992
    

Cambodia


Nick Ray - 1992
    If you want to dig deeper into the real Cambodia, this guide is your key. Unlock the mysteries of the sacred temples, share the Mekong with endangered dolphins, and eat with pythons and cobras by your side. With Lonely Planet, you'll have the adventure you always dreamed of. Expert Resident Author - providing the best insider tips and tricks. Unbeatable Accuracy - updated on the road, in person. The World's Best Travel Maps No Guesswork - pinionated reviews and inspiring highlight sections. Listings For All Budgets - from pinching pennies to living large.

A History of Christianity in Asia, vol 1: Beginnings to 1500


Samuel Hugh Moffett - 1992
    The first of a two-volume history documenting the spread of Christianity to southern Asia, India, and China.

Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Poems of Wang Wei


Wang Wei - 1992
    Fine contemporary translations of one of the great poets of the T'ang dynasty.

From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General


Paik Sun Yup - 1992
    The cover and title page show the spelling of the author's name as Paik Sun Yup; Library of Congress shows Son-yop Paek. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain


Robert Olen Butler - 1992
    Now Grove Press is proud to reissue this contemporary classic by one of America's most important living writers, in a new edition of 'A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain' that includes two subsequently published stories -- "Salem" and "Missing" -- that brilliantly complete the collection's narrative journey, returning to the jungles of Vietnam.

Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind


Francisco J. Varela - 1992
    Gentle Bridges is a chronicle of this extraordinary exchange of ideas. The book not only shows the insight and interest of the Dalai Lama in the sciences but also demonstrates the ways that Tibetan Buddhism can contribute to modern research on the mind.

Readings In Chinese Literary Thought (Harvard Yenching Institute Monograph Series, Asia Center)


Stephen Owen - 1992
    Owen's masterful translations and commentaries have opened up Chinese literary thought to theorists and scholars of other languages.

Three Filipino Women


F. Sionil José - 1992
    Advertising in Hungry Mind Review.

Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks


Josep Del Hoyo - 1992
    Volume 1 (Ostrich to Ducks)

The Moon Lady


Amy Tan - 1992
    So Ying-Ying, their grandmother, tells them a tale from long ago. On the night of the Moon Festival, when Ying-ying was a little girl, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask, and learned from her that the best wishes are those you can make come true yourself. This haunting tale, adapted from Amy Tan's best-seller The Joy Luck Club and enhanced by Gretchen Schields's rich, meticulously detailed art, is a book for all to treasure.

Buddha: The Intelligent Heart


Alistair Shearer - 1992
    Introduces the essential teachings of Buddha and shows how these teachings ha been expressed in the art, architecture, rituals, symbols, and festivals of various cultures.

A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought: A Philosophical Interpretation


Chad Hansen - 1992
    That dual goal, Hansen argues, requires a unified translation theory. It must provide a single coherent account of the issues that motivated both the recently untangled Chinese linguistic analysis and the familiar moral-political disputes. Hansen's unified approach uncovers a philosophical sophistication in Daoism that traditional accounts have overlooked.

MIA, or Mythmaking in America


Howard Bruce Franklin - 1992
    or Mythmaking in America adds major new material about Ross Perot's role, the 1991-1992 Senate investigation, and illegal operations authorized by Ronald Reagan. “An important and compelling book. . . . Franklin raises and answers all of the hardest questions about an enduring piece of political mythology.”--The Philadelphia Inquirer“A calm and thoughtful book on a firestorm of a subject. . . . Intelligent, provocative, and courageous.”--Kirkus Reviews

No Friends But The Mountains: The Tragic History Of The Kurds


John Bulloch - 1992
    Thousands of peshmerga (Kurdish guerrillas) responded, seizing the towns and countryside of northern Iraq. But after Saddam signed the truce with the U.N. forces, he sent his surviving units north, slaughtering the lightly-armed Kurds and driving millions more into exile while the Allies stood aside. For the Kurds, it was one more betrayal in their long and tragic history. In No Friends but the Mountains, veteran Middle East journalists John Bulloch and Harvey Morris provide the only history of the Kurdish people available today. Ranging from their earliest origins to the aftermath of the Gulf War, Bulloch and Morris trace the course of the Kurds' past and identify the pressures that have denied them a state of their own for so many centuries. Numbering some sixteen million and spread across five countries, the Kurds are the world's largest nationality without a state--a people divided among themselves in their struggle for independence, the pawns of rival governments throughout history. Bulloch and Morris show how they were exploited by the Turks and the Great Powers in the days of the Ottoman Empire, how the British, French, and the new Turkish republic subverted Woodrow Wilson's promise of a Kurdish state in 1918, and how the Kurds' revolts and insurrections led to further repression. Later the peshmerga guerrillas were funded and manipulated by Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran, Israel, and the CIA--while the Turkish government has harshly repressed any signs of Kurdish identity, banning the use of the Kurdish language until only recently. Both Saddam and Khomeini's government sought to use the Kurds to their own advantage during the long Iran-Iraq War. Bulloch and Morris trace the history of the main Kurdish organizations, such as the PKK in Turkey and the KDP in Iraq, underscoring the divisions that are threatening Kurdish survival at a time when the Iraqi army stands poised to attack the safe haven established by the U.N. This authoritative, highly readable account details the story of the rebellion, exile, and return that followed the Gulf War, providing a critical historical perspective on these momentous events. Written by two leading Middle East journalists, No Friends But the Mountains offers the first history of the long-suffering people at the center of one of the world's most explosive conflicts.

Burma Victory: Imphal and Kohima, March 1944 to May 1945


David Rooney - 1992
     In 1942, following their lightning strikes on Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong, the Japanese invaded Burma. British forces were rapidly driven out, following a swift and total defeat. The British and Indian forces retaliated with limited offences and with mixed results. The Japanese advance continued, driving victoriously for the domination of Asia. Then came the Japanese attack of Imphal and Kohima, starting one of the most ferocious campaign of the war. Burma Victory portrays the “forgotten war” and the Allied fight to push the Japanese out of Burma. David Rooney – who saw war service in India and West Africa – tells the story of the campaigns of the new Fourteenth Army, under the command of the remarkable General Slim. Rooney captures the ebb and flow of battle and the roles of Wingate, Stilwell and the Chindits. In doing so, he offers a new analysis of the role of airpower and highlights the influence of British, American, Japanese and Chinese thinking at the highest level. Burma Victory is essential reading for anyone interested in General Slim, the Second World War and how defeat can be turned into victory. Recommended reading for fans of Max Hastings, Antony Beevor and Andrew Roberts.

Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life


Kikue Yamakawa - 1992
    Based on the recollection of the author's mother, other relatives, and family records, this is a vivid picture of the everyday life of a samurai household in the last years of the Tokugawa period.

The Achaemenid Persian Army


Duncan Head - 1992
    

Dragon Kite Of The Autumn Moon


Valerie Reddix - 1992
    When his grandfather is sick, Tad-Tin goes out to fly his special dragon kite, so that it can take all their troubles away with it.

The Tyranny of History: The Roots of China's Crisis


W.J.F. Jenner - 1992
    But, claims the author of this sweeping and provocative study, the Chinese empire is in terminal crisis, a crisis that goes much deeper than the decline of the current regime and threatens the survival both of China as a unified state and of the high tradition and culture that span more than three thousand years. According to Professor Jenner, China has been both held together and held back by the tyranny of its history, by a culture and an education system that have always looked back, have rooted authority in the past and have inhibited creative thinking. Although in this century the orthodoxy has borrowed the language of Marxism, 'revolutionary' history has contrived to celebrate the authoritarian values of the imperial bureaucracy and the single orthodox tradition of pre-revolutionary China. The tyranny of China's past is not simply a matter of history and politics, however, but derives equally from the Chinese writing system, which is inherently authoritarian, and the Chinese family, which inhibits both individuality and a sense of citizenship and provides the building blocks of the autocratic state. The very successes of pre-modern China's productive technology have left the present with an ecological nightmare that recent economic growth has only exacerbated. This remarkable book, by a very experienced observer of Chinese history and culture, greatly deepens our understanding of recent events and the challenge of the future. Democracy, though appealing as a slogan to some Chinese, will not easily find a place in the China that W.J.F. Jenner portrays. Yet he also sees hope as the tyranny of China's past and the unity of the Chinese imperial state begin to unravel and the many local components of the Chinese world assert their own identities and defend their own interests.

Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army


Meirion Harries - 1992
    Drawing on Japanese, English, French, and American sources, the authors penetrate the lingering wartime enmity and propaganda to lay bare the true character of the Imperial Army.

The Mouse Bride: A Chinese Folktale


Monica Chang - 1992
    The mouse king is searching for the mightiest husband for his daughter, someone strong enough to protect her and the village from the cat.Catalonia International Illustrator Award. In Chinese/English. Annotation copyright Tsai Fong Books, Inc. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

Japan for Kids: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Their Children


Diane Wiltshire - 1992
    Fourteen years ago, Jeanne Huey and Diane Wiltshire made the crossing. Five children and six years later they wrote the first complete guide to entertaining and raising children in this fascinating but often baffling land. Now, eight years on they offer a fully updated version, with hundreds of new additions on:o AMUSEMENTS festivals, theme parks, cultural centers, zoos, aquariums o OUTINGS museums, beaches, parks, playgrounds, gardens o TRAVEL TIPS moving, coping with jet lag, getting around town, day trips o SHOPPING where to buy anything, from food to fashions to futons o HEALTH CARE dentists and doctors, pregnancy and childbirth, medical emergencieso EDUCATION daycare, international schools, the Japanese system, bilingualism o ACTIVITIES talent agencies, sports, Japanese traditions, and extracurricular classes ? MAIL ORDER listings, catalogs, and the Internet...and much, much moreCompact yet bulging with priceless information and hundreds of tips, the new Japan for Kids is essential reading for families heading for or living in this part of the Far East. From planetariums to petting zoos, educational materials to interactive museums, this handy reference book remains indispensable-a guide that no parent can go without.

Kokoro and Selected Essays


Natsume Sōseki - 1992
    Nineteenth-century Japanese novel concerned with man's loneliness in the modern world.

When Art Became Fashion: Kosode In Edo Period Japan


Dale Carolyn Gluckman - 1992
    This book features kosode from Japan's most prestigious collections, many appearing for the first time in the West.

Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka


Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah - 1992
    This volume seeks to answer the question of how the Buddhist monks in today's Sri Lanka—given Buddhism's traditionally nonviolent philosophy—are able to participate in the fierce political violence of the Sinhalese against the Tamils.

A to Zen: A Book of Japanese Culture


Ruth Wells - 1992
    But they also think of VCR's, bullet trains, and the high-tech neon clutter of Tokyo. Which is the real Japan? They are both real, both very much a part of modem Japan. A to Zen opens up a series of windows that show young readers the broad sweep of Japanese culture. As the title suggests, letters play a part in the structure of this book, but this is not merely an alphabet book about Japan. Writer Ruth Wells has used the Roman alphabet like an adventurer uses a compass: the letters point the way to new frontiers and unexplored territory.