Books from Kazakhstan
11 popular kazakhstani books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Asia Challenge" were written by authors from Kazakhstan.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
1.
A Life at Noon by Talasbek Asemkulov EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
"Azhigerei is growing up in Soviet Kazakhstan, learning the ancient art of the kuy from his musician father. But with the music comes knowledge about his country, his family, and the past that is at times difficult to bear. Based on the author's own family history, A Life at Noon provides us a glimpse into a time and place Western literature has rarely seen as the first post-Soviet novel from Kazakhstan to appear in English"--
2.
Amanat : Women's Writing from Kazakhstan by Zaure Batayeva, Shelley Fairweather-Vega EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
An unprecedented collection of women's voices from the heart of Central Asia. From the foreword by Gabriel Mcguire: "I cannot think of anything quite like ... Amanat." A man is arrested for a single typo, a woman gets on buses at random, and two friends reunite in a changed world.... Diverse in form, scope and style, Amanat brings together the voices of thirteen female Kazakhstani writers, to offer a glimpse into the many lives, stories, and histories of one of the largest countries to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. The twenty-four stories in Amanat, translated into English from ... continue
3.
Amanat: Women's Writing from Kazakhstan by multiple authors EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
An unprecedented collection of women's voices from the heart of Central Asia. From the foreword by Gabriel Mcguire: "I cannot think of anything quite like ... Amanat." A man is arrested for a single typo, a woman gets on buses at random, and two friends reunite in a changed world.... Diverse in form, scope and style, Amanat brings together the voices of thirteen female Kazakhstani writers, to offer a glimpse into the many lives, stories, and histories of one of the largest countries to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. The twenty-four stories in Amanat, translated into English from ... continue
4.
Ballad of Forgotten Years by Abish Kekilbayev EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Here is a novella of ancient times, of savage retribution - of torture and hostage-taking - between the feuding Kazakhs and Turkmen. It tells of crude chieftainly honor and vengeance. Its material is drawn from the oral tradition and folk memory of today's Kazakhs, whose nomadic way of life was sacrificed to Communism generations ago. It is a product of meticulous research. The single redemptive theme is that of music, specifically the lute in the hands of a young Turkman heir to the chieftaincy, Daulet, who strives to end the vendetta by the beauty of his art. The consequences of Daulet's end... continue
6.
Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
The fourth novel in the blockbuster series from one of Russia's most popular authors, Last Watch returns us to the hyper-imaginative world of Sergei Lukyanenko, where the endless battle between good and evil is about to reach its climax. Anton Gorodetsky is just getting a feel for his new powers when his boss, Gesar, sends him to assist the Scottish Night Watch in Edinburgh in a murder investigation. A young Russian man has been murdered--apparently by a vampire. But the mystery is more than it seems, and soon Anton is himself in danger. The murderer appears to be someone with intimate knowled... continue
7.
The Dead Wander in the Desert by Rollan Seisenbayev EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
From Kazakhstan's most celebrated author comes his powerful and timely English-language debut about a fisherman's struggle to save the Aral Sea, and its way of life, from man-made ecological disaster. Unfolding on the vast grasslands of the steppes of Kazakhstan before its independence from the USSR, this haunting novel limns the struggles of the world through the eyes of Nasyr, a simple fisherman and village elder, and his resolute son, Kakharman. Both father and son confront the terrible future that is coming to the poisoned Aral Sea. Once the fourth-largest lake on earth, it is now an impen... continue
8.
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Others. The Others are magicians, possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own. Their aim is maintenance of the precarious balance between good and evil.
9.
The Silent Steppe : The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin by Mukhamet Shai︠a︡khmetov EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Born into a family of nomadic Kazakh herdsmen in 1922, Mukhamet Shayakhmetov's father was imprisoned as an 'enemy of the people' as Soviet rule spread across his people's vast steppe-land in central Asia. In this book, Shayakhmetov recalls the scale of suffering in his homeland under Stalin's rule.
10.
THE TRAGEDY OF A BASTARD by Saule Doszhan EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
Poignant and poetic novel, it tells the story of Nurzhan, the clever young medic son of a single mother, banned from marrying Moldir the love of his life, because of his lack of paternal ancestry.