My May in North-Asia (in English)

May in North Asia! That I have waited! I travelled lying in my sofa in Ukraina during March and April and read about 30 books from there. Now it was time to fly to the East! I have to confess, I read 9 books from Ukraine again. Now it has to end. But I have still some books left from there. One is verse novel. I Also read some books from Europa and nine children books etc. 

China I read tree more books by Qiu Xiaolong When Red is Black and A Case of Two Cities. and Red Mandarin Dress. I have read first 2 books of this serial before and enjoyed a lot. I like poems and Shanghai would be nice to visit... But not now, because of corona-virus. 

Ikkyu Wild Ways : Zen Poems of Ikkyu. Kai Nieminen has translated poems from China. Some poems of this book is from China some from Japan. So I don't know if this is really same book that the English one is, but I hope your is as good as mine. 

Po Chü-i Selecter poems of Po Chü-i. My book has translated from China by Pertti Nieminen who has selected also poems. So the books are not exactly the same, but almost.  

Japan Yoko Ogawa The Memory Police. When the book was new I did not like the cover. But I am very glad, that I read the book. It was good - even while the future in the book was not nice at all. 

 

Kyrgyzstan Kirsi Merimaa Musta kirves (The Black Axe) is not translated in English - unfortunately. Finnish woman moves for working in Kyrgyzstan. She is EU-diplomat in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan. Some European workers dead by murder and she try to find why. Love is in the air. Nice book, unfortunately only in Finnish. 

Mongolia Rubert Isaacson  The Horse boy, the true story of a father's miraculous journey to heal his son. I got this book from my friend about a year a go. I am not a horse-girl, so I but it below all books. Now I need a book about Mongolia and find out that this was it. Amazing book. I so want to travel to Mongolia! 

South Korea Tuomas Kyrö Mielensäpahoittajan Olympiamatka (A trip to Olympic games by the Man who Regretted his Mind). "Mr Mindregretted" (not exactly Mind-boggling, because this man can learn also, that he is wrong) is very famous book serial in Finland. There is short stories and novels. This was a novel, where father flies to Soul to visit her daughter, who works in Soul, South Korea. Book is funny, but it also push you to think how different world was when your father was young. 

Han Kang The White Book. I do not know why I begun to read book about white colour, but I liked it. I think I read one of Han Kang's books also in last year. 

Tibet Arto Paasilinna Rietas rukousmylly (The Lewd Prayermill or The Salacious Prayer Wheel those words are not easy to translate). Arto Paasilinna is one of Finland's most translated authors. The Year of the Hare is his most famous novel in English and France. 

 

Turkmenistan Konstantin Paustovsky Kara-Bugaz. Kara-Bugaz won prizes in 1930's when it was new. Paustovsky was nominated for Nobel-prize of literature in 1965, but Mihail Solohov get that prize. Book was kind of beautiful to read. In the novel there is inside of book some short stories about history of Turkemenistan. In Finnish the name of the novel is White Gold. Part of the sea is not wasted, instead it is very valuable. 

12 Books, 7 countries

Kirgyzstan was new country for me. 

Book Voyager 2021 - 4 North Asia

Huhtikuun keskiössä oli Pohjois-Aasia. Aika suppeaksi jäi luetut maat, mutta toki neljä yhdeksästä on melkein puolet, joten kaiketi saa olla ihan tyytyväinen. Etenkin, kun listalla ei tainnut olla enää muita uusia maita kuin Mongolia, joka tuli nyt huhtikuussa luettua kertaalleen. Samalla tuli muisteltua muutama vuosi sitten Otsolan opistossa kuuntelemaani luentoa, jossa kerrottiin junamatkoista Venäjän ja Mongolian halki Kiinaan.

1. Aloitin seikkailuni Pohjois-Aasiassa Kai Myrbergin Pohjois-Koreassa vain porsaat ovat onnellisia -kirjalla. Kirja oli osaksi matkakirja, osaksi siihen on kerätty paljon tietoa Pohjois-Koreasta, osin kevyellä kynällä. 

I visited first North-Korea. I have read quite many books from there. Kai Myrberg is Finnish and this book is not translated in English.  

2. Qui Xialongin Punaisen sankarittaren kuolema oli toinen Quin (Qui on sukunimi, mutta kiinalaiset kaiketi puhuvat etunimellä) kirja jonka luin. Tykkäsin tästäkin. Kirjan päähenkilö on mielenkiintoinen henkilö ja mukavasti kultturelli. 

Death of the Red Heroine is second Qui Xialong's book that I have read. I like police Chen Chao because he like culture a lot, like I do. Book tells about Shanghai, China. 

3. Un-su Kim Tappajat on kirja Soulista, Etelä-Koreasta. BookBeat esittelee sen huumorilla väritetyksi trilleriksi, ja pakko todeta, että huumori ei tee trillereistä minulle yhtään houkuttelevampia. Olen näköjään antanut kokonaista 2 pistettä, mikä pistää listalla silmään kaikkien vitosten ja nelosten keskellä. Kuuntelin kirjan sitkeästi loppuun siitä huolimatta, mutta enemmänkin siksi, että lukija Markus Niemi oli hyvä. Kirjan näkökulma rikokseen oli sinänsä mielenkiintoinen - tappaja joka erehtyy olemaan inhimillinen. 

I did not like a lot Kim Un-Su's The Plotters. Thrillers are not my favourite books, but I like the idea, that there is a killer who has been human. I have to say, that I have read more interesting books from South-Korea before. 

4. Jos eteläkorealainen thrilleri ei iskenyt, niin sen teki japanilainen Keigo Higashinon kirjat. Ensimmäisenä luin Uskollisen naapurin, jossa hyvällä ja uskollisella naapurilla on iso merkitys. Kutkuttavasti laadittu juoni oli sitä, mitä huonon kirjan jälkeen kaipasinkin. Kymmenen pistettä ja papukaijamerkki päälle. 

Japan is one of my dream counties and I in teen ager I read all books that I could find from Japan. That was not quite many in 1980-1990. My friend, who has read even more books from Japan told that Keigo Higashino's book The Devotion of Suspect X. I liked it very much. 

5. Huonon eteläkorealaisen jälkeen on hyvä tarttua parepaan. Kyung-sook Shinin Pidä huolta äidistä kirjassa muistisairas äiti katoaa metroasemalla ja perheen etsiessä häntä perheen historia ja salaisuudet kaivautuvat esiin muiden muistoista. 

Please Look After Mom is book of Kyung-sook Shin. In the book family lost mom in subway station and when they try to find her, they talk a lot about familyhistory. South-Korea

6. Toinen Keigo Higashinon kirja jonka luin oli Myrkyllinen liitto. Myös se nousi suosikikseni. Kirjan päähenkilö käy tilkkutyökurssilla ja toimii opettajansa apuna monessa asiassa. Paljon kaikkia tapahtuu ennen kuin kirja on loppu. Kirja oli siksikin mielenkiintoinen, että itsekin olen opettanut harrastusaineita kansalaisopistossa. Näin ollen yksi päähenkilöistä olikin kolleegani. 

The other Keigo Higashino's book that is translated in Finnish is Salvation of a Saint. I liked it too - a lot. I enjoyed that there is a lot of quilting in the book. I myself has been taught porcelain painting at a civic college and it was nice to read about fellow teacher. Japan.

7. Mailis Janatuisen kirjaa Kymmenen matkaa Mongoliaan luin pätkissä koko kuukauden. Kirja kertoo Japanissa lähetystyötä tekevän Janatuisen Mongolian matkoista, joilla hän tekee lähetystyötä, mutta myös tutustuu mm. jurtissa asumiseen ja muuhun paikalliseen kulttuuriin. 

Mailis Janatuinen is Finnish missionario, who has worked in Japan. She has visited Mongolia 10 times most of visits has been missionary work from Japan, but she has also become acquainted with the local culture and e.g. slept in a yurt. Book has not been translated in English. 

I read in April countries: 
China
Japan
Mongolia
North-Korea
South-Kore