The Far East Book Group discussion

Hello everyone! I live in the Philippines, been reading for almost two years now, blogging for a year. The first book that captured my interest in literature is Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood so Japanese novels will always be close to my heart. Like all my fellow moderators here, I also have a bit of Chinese heritage (the least among the four I think) and so it's part of my goal this year to read more works by Chinese authors.

Thanks for joining everyone! Can't wait to start discussions with all of you :)

Welcome Jo, glad to have you with us!

Hello Everyone and I have lived in Hong Kong for the past 16 years. Main interests are asia based mystery or crime novels - look forward to chatting with you all and exchanging experiences and ideas - Cheers Mike

Hi Mike! This reading group is sort of on hold right now. But you can still chat with us on our separate blogs:

http://sushublog.wordpress.com/
http://kissacloud.wordpress.com/
http://www.meexia.com/bookie/
http://www.absorbedinwords.com/

It looks like this group is not very active. Too bad! But I will just say I live in Florida, USA. I have traveled in Cambodia and Vietnam. I lived in Malaysia for 8 months (2004-2005). I am soon going to be living in Indonesia.

Hi Mindy! Indonesia, how interesting. I'm from Jakarta. Which city are you going to live in and what will you do there? I also lived in Malaysia for 15 months back in 1998-1999. Traveled around South East Asia a lot, worked in Singapore for a couple of years.

Yes we "moderators" haven't been actively around, but the group is open to everybody and you're always welcome to start a conversation. People might join in :).

Hi, Dioni! Bandung is where I will be! I will be teaching at UNPAD.

Mindy: That's great! I like Bandung. I used to go there a lot when I was small. Recently I went there the air was not as cool as before and it got a lot more crowded though.

Sarah: Welcome! I would love to go to Tibet and China sometime. I loved Hanoi and Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Sarah: I spent a month in Vietnam in 2008, and traveled by train and bus from Hanoi to Saigon. I loved Hue and Hoi An. Have you read Catfish and Mandala?

Also, I can recommend some books about Buddhism if you are interested.

HI, I was born in Singapore and now live in N. CA. recently read

Ten Thousand Miles without A Cloud and The Uninvited am taking a break with The Elegance of the Hedgehog
before getting to
Red Sorghum

Hock: Wow, thank you! I just added Ten Thousand Miles Without A Cloud and The Uninvited to my To-Read list. I had read a book about Xuanzang a while ago, but it was a bit dry.

After you finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog, you should watch the film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442519/

It's different from the book in many ways, but wonderful in many of the same ways.

Hi all, I apologize that this group has been really inactive. I haven't checked into GoodReads for so long, but am pleasantly surprised that the group has grown despite the silence.

Mindy, thanks so much for jumping in!

Hock, welcome and thanks for the recommendations.

Lori suggested in another thread to hold a monthly reading and discussion. Is anyone still interested?

G'day, I'm Tien and whilst am currently living in Sydney, Australia, I was born in Indonesia and lived there for the first 15 years of my life :)

Why I join this group?
I got really excited to see one Indonesian book being translated to English (to be published in Jan) and that made me realised that I haven't read many Asian works at all so am looking to do so (especially since my F2F bookclub will have the Tour of Asia theme for 2013, yay!). Anyway, am looking to check out all your reads & recs :)

@Hock: I enjoyed Red Sorghum -I didn't expect the violence but I managed to keep my lunch down (just!) LOL

oh by the by, the Indo book I was talking about is called The Rainbow Troop or Laskar Pelangi in Bahasa Indonesia

hi Tien, welcome! I was also born in Indonesia and lived there for the first 17 years of my life :D. My family migrated to Australia, and I lived in Sydney and Melbourne for a while, but am now living in London.

I heard about Laskar Pelangi before (I think your Rainbow Troops link is incorrect), and sort of heard that it might get translated. I'm glad if it's really gonna be out in English!

I've fixed the link as it didn't link direct to what I wanted, had to get the number sequence myself!

What made you move to London? How do you like it there?

Am from Jkt too :)

Oh I've moved around a lot in my life, but the short answer is "work" :). I absolutely love London, and have been prioritizing British authors since I'm here (1.5 years now). It's great if I could read a couple of Asian-theme books again next year though!

Tien wrote: "oh by the by, the Indo book I was talking about is called The Rainbow Troop or Laskar Pelangi in Bahasa Indonesia"

The Rainbow Troops is a wonderful story, the first in a four-part series of novels by Andrea Hirata, an Indonesian who grew up in a rural village. It was made into a wonderful movie, which has English subtitles (if you can find a DVD). All four novels have been translated into English -- and very good translations, too -- but I have been unable to find the second and fourth books.

Apparently Rainbow Troops is or soon will be available in the U.S.! See:

http://us.macmillan.com/therainbowtro...

That's fantastic! I have both Laskar Pelangi and the first Buru Quartet in Indonesian, so I can read them in the original language.

Dioni wrote: "That's fantastic! I have both Laskar Pelangi and the first Buru Quartet in Indonesian, so I can read them in the original language."

I wish I could read Bahasa. I can speak it a little and understand a little, but reading is really difficult.

Mindy wrote:
I wish I could read Bahasa. I can speak it a litt..."

Do you still live in Indonesia? If you do I'm sure you're going to get better in no time at all. It's an easy language in comparison with English and other European languages.

Dioni wrote: "Do you still live in Indonesia? If you do I'm sure you're going to get better in no time at all. It's an easy language in compari..."

No, I came back to the U.S. 4 months ago. I know why everyone says it's an easy language, but I disagree. For me, it's not easy. :)

Mindy wrote: No, I came back to the U.S. 4 months ago. I know..."

Yes learning new language is always a challenge surely. Hope you enjoyed your time in Indonesia?!

Tien wrote: "G'day, I'm Tien and whilst am currently living in Sydney, Australia, I was born in Indonesia and lived there for the first 15 years of my life :)

Why I join this group?
I got really excited to see..."

I had the same reaction. But I think he is a really good writer.

Hi, I'm Lit Bug, and am greatly interested in East Asian literature. I have almost no idea of it, but I loved the book Smoke and Mirrors : An Experience of China, a memoir by an Indian woman who spent 5 years in Beijing from 2002 to 2007. It hooked me on to learning more about East Asia/Southeast Asia, and am looking forward to reading more.