Note: Apologies for the late post! I wrote this on Wednesday and intended to post it that day, but I felt a bit unwell and basically... forgot to post it. So here it is now, a few days late.
Hello, loyal readers! Welcome back to another update on my progress with the From & About Asia reading project. If this is your first time hearing me mention this project, I recommend having a look at my masterpost here and reading my first post about the project, in which I explain how it works and what I am attempting to do.
For those of you who have been following my reading within the project, you will know that I recently finished last month's readings for May/North Korea/East Asia, and I am now working on my choices for June/Uzebkistan/Central Asia. Although I haven't finished any of June's books yet, I thought it my book choices might be of interest regardless and so I decided to share them here.
At the moment, my choices are as follows:
Category I (a book by an Uzbek author): The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov
Category II (a book about the culture of a Central Asian country): Mother Earth by Chingiz Aitmatov
Hamid Ismailov is, from what I understand, one of the most well-known authors to come out of Uzebkistan. This probably explains why his books are much easier to find online than many other Uzbek authors, and also why so many of us in the From & About Asia Discord group are reading his books this month! Interestingly, his books are actually banned in Uzbekistan and the author himself was forced to flee his home country after Islam Karimov's regime accused him of opposing the government (according to Wikipedia).
When googling Ismailov, I was surprised to find that one of his novels, The Devils' Dance, has actually been on my to-read list for years. Sadly, I decided not to read this book for the project as I couldn't find it in ebook form and it seemed a bit too long - I'm trying not to be too ambitious with my reading choices this month. That said, I hope that I might be able to read it in the future if I can get hold of a copy, especially if I enjoy the book I did choose.
In case you were wondering, my alternative Ismailov book choice was The Dead Lake. I came across this novella while searching for Ismailov's works, and the title and the plot summary really grabbed me. Set in Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan, The Dead Lake tells the story of Yerzhan, a boy who is doomed to a sort of eternal youth after a tragic event in his childhood. In an attempt to impress the girl he is in love with, Yerzhan dives into a radioactive lake that has been contaminated by the atomic bombs detonated nearby. This permanently stunts Yerzhan's growth, leaving him forever stuck in the body of a young boy.
While this plot is definitely disturbing, I also found it darkly fascinating. I have never heard of a story quite like this, so I'm intrigued to know where Ismailov will take it. My copy was released as part of the publisher Peirene's Coming of Age series, so I'm guessing that it will be a sort of bildungsroman - albeit one with elements of magical realism and horror, if the summary is anything to go by.
As for my choice for Category II, I have decided to go for Mother Earth by Chingiz Aitmatov. I decided quite early on that I wanted to read a book from Kyrgyzstan, because I have an aunty from there. Mother Earth is actually the book she chose for me after I asked for her reading recommendations, since I figured she probably knows the landscape of Kyrgyz literature better than I do! If you're reading this, thank you for the suggestion Aunty!
I know less about Aitmatov than I do about Ismailov, but from what I understand he is an important figure in Kyrgyz literature. Like Aitmatov, he wrote in Russian (as well as Kyrgyz). There are a few of his books which interest me, particularly his first novel The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years, so if I enjoy reading Mother Earth I will have plenty more of his work to explore afterwards!
I believe that Mother Earth is about the struggles of a Kyrgyz woman named Tolgonay, who has lost most of her family during the the Great Patriotic War and afterwards. I don't want to find out too much more in case I see spoilers, but my aunty has warned me this is quite a sad story! I suppose I'll have to read it to find out... but only once I've finished The Dead Lake.
So, those are all my choices for this month's books. I am excited to read both of these, partially because they sound so interesting individually but also because they will be the first books I have ever read from their respective countries. I love reading books from places I've never previously read about, so I'm happy the From & About Asia reading project is giving me the opportunity to do more of that this summer. Hopefully I will finish both of these before the end of the month and probably post book reviews for both of them, so keep an eye out!
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