Timestamps: Afghanistan: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 1:02 Afghanistan: Poetry of Hafiz Shirazi (The Divan of Hafiz: Edition of Complete Poetry) 1:36 Bahrain: Ali Al Shargawi (The most celebrated poet of the country) 1:58 Bahrain: The Epic of Gilgamesh (The ancient land of Dilmun) 2:20 Bangladesh: Rabindranath Tagore (writer) 2:53 Bangladesh: Anandamath by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee 3:24 Bangladesh: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam 3:55 Bhutan: The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden 4:38 Brunei: The Fisherman King by Kathrina Mohd Daud 5:29 Cambodia: Tum Teav 6:19 China: Top 10 Chinese Books of All Time (Video) 7:06 China: Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en and Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong 7:16 China: Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua 7:30 Dili (East Timor): No recommendations :( India: The Mahābhārata 8:16 India: The Rāmāyana 8:27 India: Premchand (writer) 8:38 India: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga 8:55 Indonesia: Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan 9:37 Indonesia: Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan 10:12 Iran: Shahnameh by Ferdowsi 10:36 Iran: The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat 10:55 Iraq: The Epic of Gilgamesh 11:30 Iraq: Frankenstein in Baghdad Ahmed Saadawi 11:47 Israel: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 12:43 Israel: To the End of the Land by David Grossman 12:50 Israel: A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz 13:15 Israel: A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev 13:20 Japan: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu 13:33 Japan: 10 Best Japanese Novels (Video) 13:55 Jordan: Columns of Foam by Elias Farkouh (not available in English) 14:22 Kuwait: Al-Sabiliat by Ismail Fahd Ismail (not available in English) 14:58 Kyrgyzstan: Epic of Manas 16:11 Kyrgyzstan: The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by Chinghiz Aitmatov 16:45 Laos: Thao Hung Thao Cheuang 17:17 Laos: Sang Sinxay (or Sinxay) 17:43 Laos: The Sacred Buddha Image by Somchine Nginn 17:51 Lebanon: Samarkand by Amin Maalouf 18:13 Lebanon: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran 18:38 Malaysia: The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng 19:16 Maldives: Dhon Hiyala aai Alifulhu by Abdoulla Sadiq 20:17 Mongolia: The Secret History of the Mongols 20:50 Mongolia: The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag 21:27 Myanmar (Burma): Burmese Days by George Orwell 22:18 Myanmar (Burma): 13 Carat Diamond and Other Stories by Khin Myo Chit 22:30 Myanmar (Burma): The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone 22:44 Nepal: Muna Madan by Laxmi Prasad Devkota 23:08 North Korea: Jackals by Han Sorya 24:18 Oman: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi 24:53 Pakistan: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid 25:27 Pakistan: Allama Iqbal (Writer) 25:51 Palestine: Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani 26:20 Philippines: Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal 26:59 Qatar: Al Qursan (The Corsair) by Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud 27:52 Saudi Arabia: 28:26 Quran Saudi Arabia: Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif 28:50 Singapore: State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang 29:33 South Korea: The Cloud Dream of the Nine by Kim Man-jung 30:32 Sri Lanka: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje 31:45 Sri Lanka: Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera 32:04 Syria: Damascus: The Smile of Sadness by Ulfat Idilbi (not available in English) 32:30 Taiwan: The Stolen Bicycle by Wu Ming-yi 33:16 Tajikistan: Rudaki (Poet) 33:46 Tajikistan: Dekhunda by Sadriddin Ayni (not available in English) 33:52 Thailand: Khun Chang Khun Phaen 34:22 Thailand: The Judgment by Chart Korbjitti 34:39 Turkmenistan: Berdi Kerbabayev (Writer) 35:17 Turkmenistan: Soul/Dzhan by Andrei Platonov 35:43 UAE: The Sand Fish by Maha Gargash 36:28 Uzbekistan: Days Gone By by Abdulla Qodiriy 37:09 Uzbekistan: The Railway by Hamid Ismailov 37:29 Uzbekistan: Ali-Shir Nava'i (Poet) 37:51 Vietnam: The Tale of Kieu by Nguyễn Du 38:11 Yemen: They Die Strangers by Mohammad Abdul-Wali 38:58 Yemen: The Hostage by Zayd Mutee' Dammaj 39:12

@xandertriss4986

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for the timestamps!! ❤️💜

@borntogazeintonightskies

Жыл бұрын

@@xandertriss4986 👍

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

I wish you only put the countries and didn’t mention the books as it makes the video a bit redundant. Still appreciate your effort.

@borntogazeintonightskies

Жыл бұрын

@@Fiction_Beast I just thought it made things easier for people rewatching the video, looking for a particular book. Also, not gonna lie, I did do it for my own benefit. I wanted timestamps and I also wanted to make a list of the books from the video that I could look at without having to go through the entire video (no offense) every single time.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

You did a great job! Thank you!

Thanks for choosing Asia❤️

Your videos are always worthwhile. The world needs a Fiction Beast read along book club.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! What's the best time for a book group meeting?

@burke9497

Жыл бұрын

@@Fiction_Beast I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. I think it would be great if you had one book every month or 2, depending on the length of the book, and you share your insight on the author and the book while leading group participation with discussion through chat comments. Maybe you could direct a certain goal for reading each week with discussion following. Or you could take a year to read Proust together, a year to do Dostoyevsky, or Tolstoy, or mix it up every couple months. Regardless, I appreciate your videos. You have a unique take. And I have no idea where you’re from or anything specific about you. Maybe you have some info in videos I haven’t seen yet? But again, I appreciate you. J

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Okay, i maybe I misunderstood you. I was under the impression that a book group discussion would take place via video chat live, like a classrom discussion. That's why I was hesitant due to time and organisation it takes as people live all over the world in different time zones. If the discussion is via text, we can use the youtube community section for that, but it is very limited. Someone mentioned discord as an option, but I am not very familiar with it. I had the old school idea of everyone meeting live online to discuss a book.

@kdot78

Жыл бұрын

@@Fiction_Beast man I would love a book group.

Thanks for making all this insightful contents bro

Wonderful video. Thank you as always

Great video as usual! I appreciate you keeping me entertained while in class!

So looking forward to this 👍👏

Another incredible video! Thank you

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for this video!

Great list, thank you 😊

This channel is pure gold !!!!!!!

@Fiction_Beast

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Appreciate it.

We can get a glimpse into another culture around the world through literature. Thank you for the great effort you put into making it.

@Fiction_Beast

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Glad you enjoyed it!

Awesome, I love these videos!

Really great info. I like all your videos. City of Salt and the rest of the trilogy are definitely favorites of mine! I will be reading more books from Asia based on your recommendations. Thank you

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

nice video and compilation!

I would be very happy to see same kind of videos on other continents

Great resource-- and a great intention.

This video is a treasure!! ❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you for your work

Loved the work you put into this video. Subscribed!

Wow , this video is amazing ❤

I'm eagerly waiting bro.

Great video. I learnead a lot and I will follow some of your suggestions. Thanks! (I just don't agree with your opinion about The Garden of Evening Mists, I think it's one of the best books I ever read).

Love this video too, like all of your videos. Your work is highly appreciative. 👏👏

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much 😀

I loved this video! So interesting man ! ❤

Very inspired to read some of these!

For Bengal/Bangladesh, your picks are great! I would say, as a trinity, Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, and another author Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay are quite common and most culturally relevant. For an approximation, Sharat Chandra can equal a Bengali Tolstoy in his realism. All are from the Bengali Renaissance and are great authors. As a Chinese Major myself, I second Dream of the Red Chamber. It is lesser known among the Chinese Classic Novels but arguably one of the most useful tools to understand and dive deep into Chinese culture. If you want cultural immersion, read this book! I recommend David Hawkes' translation for general readers, and, for Journey to the West, I recommend Anthony Yu's translation.

Thank you for the informative & thoughtful video. I added several of the books you mentioned to my TBR & am looking forward to your video on Africa. I have a couple of recommendations for the upcoming Africa video. My apologies if these have already been mentioned. First is Radiance of the King by Guinean author Camara Laye. Here is the brief wikipedia description, "The Radiance of the King, Laye's second book, was published in 1954. The book depicts a man's journey which leads him to be stripped of his Western ways.[2] As Clarence makes his way through this journey, he is met with many obstacles. He is put into a position that leaves him to conform to this new environment." Radiance etc had a Kafkaesque feeling to it & is one of the more memorable books I have read this year. I also recommend the works of Nigerian Amos Tutuola. His works are based in Yoruba folk tales & often have a surreal, almost magical realist feeling to them.

I don't if you'll read this or not, but really.. Thank you for doing this and all other videos. The literature is my passion since when i was a child; Now i'm a corporate worker and have no opportunity to earn money through what i like; and your videos after a long working day or on weekends are making it all (the life) more enjoyable ✊🏻

My brother thank you so much. I really appreciate for your efforts. For the last 3 months I spent most of time listening your video's on this channel . I have enjoyed and they really impressed. Now am heavily requesting you to consider Somalia books . There's somali writers who English and some of their books where translated English.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Appreciate it. I will talk about African literature in a future video.

Boost ! Boost! Lol ! Came after your community post ! Love your work by the way! Keep uploading!

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Hey, thanks!

Never dissapointed. Thanks man you always do your best! Im glad do continued with books of lesser known literatures ^^

@mrcoffy1

Жыл бұрын

Also do you know where to find the epic of manas in english in pdf?

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome. Appreciate the kind words b

Wow! A literary tour de force coupled with a geographic photo travelogue! Great insight as usual and amazing photo selections for each respective country.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Looking forward to seeing if my country's books are up there 🥳

Excited to see what books are on the list

Another great video, told me a lot I didn't know about other people's literature! I would like to suggest Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh, covering the events just before the partition of India. I read it this summer.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

It's a great suggestion!

Just found your channel and I’m loving it! Shame it’s not a very profitable or popular topic. I would love to see a video on Dante’s Inferno.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! The divine comedy is my list but it will be a while tho

Would love to watch a video about the works of Charles Dickens. Btw loved that you included The Ramayana and The Mahabharata in your video.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, here is ia bit about Dickens kzread.info/dash/bejne/dKaguaZxgNyooLA.html

Good work! Bapsi Sidhwa(The Crow Eaters, The Ice Candy Man, The Bride), Muhammad Hanif(The Case of Exploding Mangoes, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti) and Nadeem Aslam(The Blind Man's Garden, The Golden Legend) also merit mention from Pakistan as they are well acclaimed English novelists.

Love these videos! I can’t wait for Africa.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

I'm on it. 54 countries, so it will take a while.

So much information I am saving this video now One day i will read all of these popular novels one by one 😋

Love it

Thank you, again! I often ask myself the same question 'does this count?' when I find a book by an author who no longer lives in the country or writes in the language. I decided it does because I usually want to read their work anyway =) For Africa, I recently read The River between from Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. And i' m really enjoying Nigerian author Adaora Lily Ulasi. She paints a funny but sad picture of Nigerian villages in the 1930ies. And she's an interesting person herself.

Giving it a like and comment to help the algorithm a little 😁 can't have good effort go to waste!

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that

Definitely a lot of research has gone into making this video

A topic I’m entirely ignorant of, this appreciative of the lesson.

Recommendation when you get to writing the video on Africa: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Thank you, great move.!!

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

In case you missed my Europe in 50 novels, here is the playlist: Europe 50 Novels Play List: Episode 1: kzread.info/dash/bejne/eHyak6aEm72qaLQ.html Episode 2: kzread.info/dash/bejne/o3aWscSGiqqzmJs.html episode 3: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZI2H1bhwpJCnlM4.html episode 4: kzread.info/dash/bejne/X2qdj9KHYKq7lqQ.html episode 5: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fmt4uKWjk7ncetI.html

Thank you for wonderful videos on writers. For Iran I suggest the fiction book called Kalider In 5 volumes, tells the story of a Kurdish family more than 100 years ago that was forced to migrate to the east. Dolat Abadi Used a lot of imagination and intuition in writing this historical novel that describes centuries of moving western border people to the east in order to reduce tension at the border. And describes the move and it’s unfolding in very intimate and detailed way. The tail is so detailed and intimate that readers can’t help but feeling that they are part of this forced migration. Needless to say, many people died of starvation, fatigue, and diseases and the ones that survived had a lot of trouble with the law and just to stay alive. This book reveals part of our history that has been kept hidden for many centuries and has provided me with a lot of appreciation for life.

8:31 as an Indian i have to point out that these epics by themselves have sooo many interpolations, adaptations,inspired works and others that are just as popular as the original text that Mahabharata is an whole sub genre by itself. Same goes with Ramayana,with over 200 iterations of the story, from hindhu to Buddhists,to jaina to and more. Think of Mahabharata as less as a work of literature,and more as "the most popular comic book franchise to ever exist in human history" because it the amount of extra iterations, reimaginings of the certain character moments, redefining certain plot threads,they all are part of Indian literature which is comprised of over twenty languages. Here are some of my favourite works based on Ramayana and Mahabharata that you could also check oit after you complete it: Randaam oozham by Mt Vasudevan nair: retelling of Mahabharata epic from the perspective of the mace wielding badass bhimasena himself. Incredible work. Ini njan urangatte by pk Balakrishnan: retelling lf Mahabharata from the perspective of the tragic armoured warrior karnan himself. Dalapati: a film directed by mani ratnam starring rajni Kant and Mammootty,which is based on the story of karnan, dhuryodhana and arjuna and kunti. But get this, it is a gangster epic,so they have guns and are fighting in the streets instead of battlefield with arrows and chariots. Bhishma parvam: a wierd but incredible combination of the stories of both Mahabharata and the Godfather,in q crime epic starring Mammootty.

@shahsadsaadu5817

Жыл бұрын

Chintaavishtayaaya seeta: a poem written by kumaaran aashan which retells Ramayana from the perspective of Sita.

Its status as a country is _contentious_, but Hong Kong has a really cool and distinct literary tradition. Hong Kong Rose and History’s Fiction by Xu Xi, and My City by Xi Xi (not the same name haha) are some standouts.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks. That was a very good video. What about a people's literature in their own language as well as in the language imposed on them by foreign imperialists? Could you make a companion video for that?

09:36 As an Indonesian, i would fully suggest to you The Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer. It's also tells the love story of colonialism era, but written by Toer who was also born in that era. Toer is also the only one Indonesian writer that in several times nominated a Nobel Prize. I would very like if you make a videos about him

Thanks bro, Myself Indian love ur videos

Rabindranath and Bankimchandra are from India.....not Bangladesh....Bengali is one of the official languages of India

For Indonesia there are a lot more from previous century, “Pramoedya Ananta Toer”, “Y.B. Mangunwijaya”, “Amir Hamzah”, etc For older works, there are various short stories but biggest one known to me is “Sureq Galigo” which small part adapted to theatrical “I La Galigo” All has their own wiki page.

I think some timestamps would help immensely and lends itself well to this kind of video.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Some did it.

Your channel is a treasure trove! India is a continent with many countries. As with any country the states in India have their own national language and literature. You can make a video on literary classics published in all the major Indian languages. You can start with a modern Odia novel which is considered a classic and is also available in English: SIX ACRES AND A THIRD (1902) by Fakir Mohan Senapati.

Thank you! Yes Khalil Gibran,Please!

The first novel in history is" the golden ass" by apuleius from madaroch nowdays a city located in Algeria .

Would love to see a video like this but of the Americas!

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Yeah it’s part of reading the whole world so for sure.

Thank you for structuring it all, even being from Kazakhstan, it was hard for me to list and have a clear picture of what our neighbor counties read, now when it's all organized in my head i can set my priorities and start to read central asian books. I mean, I didn't even knew those books existed, thanks a lot

Listening to this for the second time with a pencil beside me to take notes.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Wonderful!

If you really want to know indian literature I would suggest that you start with Tulsidas. After reading Tulsi the famous Christian hindi scholar Camille bulcke described "The real truth is that Tulsidas is so great a poet as to transcend the barrier of time, country and religion he is a poet of all humanity". Similarly how Nietzsche described Schopenhauer. A philosopher unsadigamsh (ahead of his time)

Please make a video of Faust by goethe

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

That’s a good suggestion.

I request you to read mahabharata, not just because I'm an Indian, but as a human, i see mahabharat as a necessity for character development, you will get every shade from and b/w white and black characters. Also the bhagavatgita, the holy text of hindus originates from this epic

I love your videos. And it has a wholistic tone ..... what's your age ?

Could you list all the 40 novels in the description?

Bangladesh is a country which is once part of india before 1947 on religious lines.West bengal is the part of bengalee speaking community living in india.

The history, canon, and treasures of Urdu literature in South Asia are as extensive as that of any language in the world including Spanish, French, and Russian literature . Your Indian picks are hindu- centric but even as a Pakistani I will readily accept that the giants of Urdu literature over the last 400 years were Indian (mostly Muslim Indians). Ghalib, Mir, And many others rank alongside Iqbal who himself was obviously Indian(born and died before 1947). I would include those great poets and writers among the Indian greats even though it Makes sense to include Iqbal as Pakistani poet. And you have to mention Salman Rushdie among the Indian British greats . Btw, Premchand was awesome but you can’t skip Manto (straddling India and Pakistan) who is - alongside Chekhov- the greatest shirt story teller. For contemporary Pakistan specifically I would pick Mothsmoke by Mohsin Hamid as the best novel. And Faiz as the greatest Pakistani poet.

23:24 its madan who travelled to tibet.

Cool

I like this series We need episodes about india, Middle East and Latin America

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

South America is already up. Search my page.

The Garden of Evening Mists❤️

Please tell us about "The Prophet"

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

great suggestion.

Brunei is in the middle of the ocean?

Am I missed Azeri and Kazakhstani books or they were not mentioned?

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

I included them in my European literature video. Search for it here.

10:42 what is the book mentioned?!?

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Ferdowsi Shahnameh-epic of Persian literature kzread.info/dash/bejne/haam0aSphareY9o.html

@FreyaVal

Жыл бұрын

@@Fiction_Beast ohh thank you!

❤❤❤❤

I am Singaporean, a cultural desert, LOL! Great video! Enjoyed it. Fyi, your map location depiction of Brunei is inaccurate. It is not in the middle of the sea. It is a dot, part of mainland Borneo island comprising Malaysian states Sabah & Sarawak, & Indonesian province Kalimantan. Many tx for all yr wonderful vids. I am yr fan, particularly on yr Murukami features.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I hope all of Asia watches this video at least twice:p

♥️♥️

Great list - but I think our concept of Asia is misleading - it's too large to equate w Europe - IMO Europe is actually an extension of Eurasia, and I think South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia are each equivalent to Europe as self-contained entities comprising multiple nations sharing a larger heritage - India alone is comparable - as if the European countries had unified into a single nation; each of its provinces has a long history as an independent kingdom w its own language and culture

Tale of genji ... Japan Columns of foam... Jorden

Indian writer Premchand actually wrote in Hindustani which was a blend of Hindi and Urdu. He used the Urdu alphabets while most words were of Hindi origin.

Time stamps plz

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

i need a volunteer

R K Narayan!!

That is not really a very popular novel in Bangladesh. Reader for english novel is very low here. Most popular novelist is probably Humayun Ahmad.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

You mean a golden age? Yes it’s more popular outside the country I think.

5:20 that's not Brunei 😂🤣🤣

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Imovie messed it up. I should have checked. I have actually been to Borneo 😂

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay

The "Bangladesh part" is severely lacking.

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

I mentioned three writers.

India has many languages and Sanskrit is one of them.the oldest but still vibrant is Tamil . There are other languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam ,Bengali Marathi Punjabi Gujarati and other languages like Urdu and Hindi. Sanskrit is not spoken language. I think you shd devote larger time to discuss NOVELS IN INDIAN LANGUAGES!

Pather panchali.

timestamps please

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

I'm a little drained making this video, I hope a kind soul will take the time to do it.

What about Iran ?!!!

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Iran is in.

Between India & pakistan,there is a conflicted territory "Kashmir" which inhabits a population of more than 7 million indigenous people. The territory is facing oppression & subjugation from many decades & as you told sadness produces greatest literary work. So I am telling you explore the best novelists from this conflicted place, you will not regret.

@phoneix788

Жыл бұрын

Where do you live brother?

@abhiram1906

Жыл бұрын

There is no conflict Kashmir is always in India

@phoneix788

Жыл бұрын

@@abhiram1906 that is why I am telling you to read the books about Kashmir,you would truly decide what is happening there. I am frm Sweden,but what made me vocal about the people of Kashmir was its history & literature .

@Laocoon283

Жыл бұрын

Name one

@rajeshrathod3113

Жыл бұрын

@@phoneix788 I live closer and don't speculate for personal gains

Olfa Idlbi is not the best Syrian writer. Zakaria Tamer is the best and his work is translated into English. There are also other writers such as Mustapha Khalifa (The Shell- available in English), Mohammad Maghout (no translation) and Mamdouh Azzam (no translation)

@Fiction_Beast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. I wish I knew Zakaria Tamer to include him.

Pakistan : poetry is superior here ,, Faiz ahmad Faiz ... Ahmad Faraz

Mention syria .. and forget Qabaanii