Books from Kazakhstan
8 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
5.
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
6.
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.
7.
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.
8.
To Hell with Poets by Baqytgul Sarmekova EN
Country: Asia / Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Description:
The first English-language collection from the rising star of a new generation of Kazakh writers.
Vivid, hilarious and unsettling, the tragicomic characters of To Hell with Poets reflect the inner discord of the modern Kazakh. The stories move between the city and the aul, postsocialist and capitalist worlds, tradition and modernity. Incisive and unapologetic, Sarmekova refuses to hold back, offering a sharp and honest rendering of daily life in Kazakhstan.
Winner, 2023 English PEN Translates Award