Popular Asian Magical Realism Books
Find magical realism books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (66)
41.
Quichotte : A Novel by Salman Rushdie EN
IndiaDescription:
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019*** In a tour-de-force that is both an homage to an immortal work of literature and a modern masterpiece about the quest for love and family, Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie has created a dazzling Don Quixotefor the modern age. Inspired by the Cervantes classic, Sam DuChamp, mediocre writer of spy thrillers, creates Quichotte, a courtly, addled salesman obsessed with television, who falls in impossible love with the TV star Salman R. Together with his (imaginary) son Sancho, Quichotte sets off on a picaresque quest... continue
42.
Quiet Screams to the Quiet Healer : A Child's Perspective of Domestic Violence Using it as a Weapon to Heal People Through a Journey of Mystery and Riddles by Nilanjana Haldar EN
Description:
A CHILD DISCOVERS THE SECRET OF USING HER UNACKNOWLEDGED PAIN TO HAUL YOUTHS FROM THEIR AGONY OF WITNESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AT HOME. BUT THAT JOURNEY IS LOADED WITH MYSTERY! Domestic Abuse.....Magic.....Supernatural....Romance......Mysterious encounters....the book has it all! Being raised in a home of domestic abuse, Sanjana frequently escapes from her home until she is forced to part from her childhood friend and the city where she was born. Right before she leaves, she makes a strange discovery in her hometown--a couple of bandit-looking men confuse her imagination in the middle of an aba... continue
43.
Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge EN
ChinaDescription:
A New York Times Editors' Choice and Notable Book of 2021 "Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of 2021"—The Washington Post From one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese literature, an uncanny and playful novel that blurs the line between human and beast… In the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness—save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, and strange birthmarks. Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assis... continue
44.
The Cat who Saved Books : A Novel by Sosuke Natsukawa EN
JapanDescription:
"Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he has inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. However, one day, a talking cat named Tiger appears and asks Rintaro to save books with him. Of course, "ask" is putting it politely -- Tiger is demanding Rintaro's help. The world is full of lonely books, left unread and unloved, and only Tiger and Rintaro can liberate them from their neglectful owners. And so, the odd couple begin an amazing journey, entering different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who l... continue
45.
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov EN
Country: Asia / 
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Description:
" . . . a rewarding book." —Times Literary Supplement Set in the vast windswept Central Asian steppes and the infinite reaches of galactic space, this powerful novel offers a vivid view of the culture and values of the Soviet Union's Central Asian peoples.
46.
The Disconnected by Oguz Atay EN
TurkeyDescription:
“My life was a game, but I wanted it to be taken seriously,” says Selim, the anti-hero of the novel. But the game has a terrible end with his suicide, and his friend Turgut’s quest to understand this is the story of the book. He meets friends whom Selim had kept separate from each other, he finds documents in a kaleidoscopic variety of styles, sometimes hugely funny, sometimes very moving, as Selim rails against the ugliness of his world whether in satire or in a howl of anguish, taking refuge in words and loneliness.
Under layers of fantasy is the central concept of the D... continue
47.
The Enchantress of Florence : A Novel by Salman Rushdie EN
Description:
A tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital. The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess, the youngest sister of Akbar's grandfather Babar: Qara K÷z, 'Lady Black Eyes', a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, who is taken captive first by an Uzbek warlord, then by the Shah of Persia, and finally becomes the lover of a certain Argalia, a Florentine soldier ... continue
48.
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar EN
IranDescription:
An extraordinarily powerful and evocative literary novel set in Iran in the period immediately after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Using the lyrical magic realism style of classical Persian storytelling, Azar draws the reader deep into the heart of a family caught in the maelstrom of post-revolutionary chaos and brutality that sweeps across an ancient land and its people. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree is really an embodiment of Iranian life in constant oscillation, struggle, and play between four opposing poles: life and death; politics and religion. The sorrow residing in the dept... continue
49.
The Forest of Wool and Steel by Natsu Miyashita, Philip Gabriel EN
Description:
OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD ''A mesmerising reading experience for all of us seeking a meaningful life' JAPAN TIMES What he experienced that day wasn't life-changing . . . It was life-making. Tomura is startled by the hypnotic sound of a piano being tuned in his school. It seeps into his soul and transports him to the forests, dark and gleaming, that surround his beloved mountain village. From that moment, he is determined to discover more. Under the tutelage of three master piano-tuners - one humble, one jovial, one ill-tempered - Tomura embarks on his training, never straying too far from a... continue
50.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop : A Novel by Mai Mochizuki EN
Description:
Translated from the Japanese bestseller, a charming and magical novel that reminds us it’s never too late to follow our stars. “Mochizuki dazzles in her beautifully crafted contemporary fantasy debut. . . . This gentle fantasy is not to be missed.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed lo... continue