(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best asian literature books

Life situations usually allow time for self-centered motivation and expectations to arise, but if a blind guy is a few steps from walking into mortal danger, we would rush to help, almost instinctively and without any concern for potential praises, rewards, karma points, etc. -- which seems to be the ideal mindset when doing good deeds:

“The practice of all the Bodhisattvas is to give out of generosity, with no hopes of karmic recompense or expectation of reward.” -Gyalse Tokme Zangpo

“Also you must practice giving without expecting anything in return, or any [karmic] ripening effects.” -Pabongka Rinpoche

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Keep doing good deeds even if we're not free of self-serving motivations:

"For example, if a man is extremely thirsty and you give him water with your ego piously doing something good, the man still quenches his thirst. It’s a good action and good karma comes from this because we’ve helped another person. Although it’s not particularly influential in achieving Buddhahood, this kind of charity would still be considered accumulation of merit. So although it’s tainted by ego, it’s still important to do. Please keep doing it, because if we wait until we have a first class, non-egoic motivation, that motivation may not happen in time to quench the man’s thirst. Then the beneficial action does not happen. So even though there’s less then perfect motivation, still do it. Remember, people are not waiting for our motivation; they’re waiting for the tangible things they need." -Tsoknyi Rinpoche

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Once done, we should rejoice in the good deed to deepen the positive karmic imprint on our mindstream:

"Even if the karma is not powerful, if you subsequently rejoice, its strength increases. You should therefore, after engaging in any virtuous action, cultivate a special sense of rejoicing, free of any self-importance." -Geshe Thupten Jinpa

Best political histories are the Cambridge History of China series. Pretty expensive books, but it's got the best information available in English.

If you're just starting out, check out the wikipedia pages on the various dynasties. That's a good starting point to get you acclimated.

For religious study, try starting with Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China by Arthur Waley. Also check out Sources of Chinese Tradition.

I don't recommend starting with old transmitted texts as Psyqlone suggests because you won't understand the context in which these works were written. Good "survey" books are the best way to start out, then go deeper from there.

Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants is a great book about the Silk Road and its effect on Central and East Asia. It's an English translation of a French book and it's fantastic.

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand is my favorite. It talks about the various goods imported into China during the Tang dynasty. Specialized book, but just throwing it out there. Is there any particular aspect of Chinese or other Asian culture you are interested in?

As far as a good overview book cover it all, I don't have a lot to recommend to you. In college I had to read A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations. At the time, I didn't really read much of it, but I definitely don't remember being blown away by it. The reviews aren't great. On the other hand, you can get it used for only a penny.

Yes there are a lot of contracted words that I have come across with while learning Korean for about 1 month. Like 것을 is contracted to 걸. 것이 is contracted to 게. There are many more that I want to tell you, but it's probably too advance for you to know... Also tbh I wouldn't say you have to focus on grammar books, but I recommend reading graded reading books for kids or learners. Once in a while try to look at the grammar form to understand what they mean. Also I wouldn't only focus on songs as they have slangs and they change up some of the words to make it sound nice. I'm currently on this book and I'm on the last 3 stories. I would definitely recommend it https://www.amazon.com/Korean-Stories-Language-Learners-Downloadable-ebook/dp/B0796WLNBP/ref=zg_bs_158212011_18?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3MHP1FR1S3K89W4JV1DC. Please read a lot of reading books and listen a lot. Practice speaking when you get comfortable. Also if you have any questions, feel free to ask. 하실 수 있으세요

I don't know if I can say I have a favourite book, but I shall recommend one that I enjoyed very much and haven't seen anyone read before.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. I used to watch a lot of Japanese dramas, and I noticed a fair few that I loved were based off this author's works. As my Japanese sucks, you can bet I was all over this book when I found it had been translated (one of three, soon to be four of his novels translated to English).

And it is awesome. It's a murder mystery, though the focus is more on the what and how than the who. It was a lot... quieter? more thoughtful perhaps, than a lot of western works I've read. Which made for a very nice change of pace. The characters were interesting and likeable, and I was sad when it ended.

I don't usually keep up with book releases, but I'm excited as hell for May when Byakuyakou/Journey Under the Midnight Sun comes out. It's not one of the Detective Galileo series like Devotion of Suspect X is (I really hope they do release more of those though), but I watched the drama based on it and I'm dying to see if the book is as heartbreaking as the series. Also, for some reason the paperback isn't available on .Com, but is on Co.Uk. How odd. Not that I'm complaining.

The Tracy Crosswhite series is great. #1 is amazing, #2 is good, #3 is great. All 3 should be on there

Here's the first one

https://smile.amazon.com/My-Sisters-Grave-Tracy-Crosswhite/dp/1477825576/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468195805&sr=8-1&keywords=my+sisters+grave


If you like historical fiction:

The Bloodletter's Daughter - https://smile.amazon.com/Bloodletters-Daughter-Novel-Old-Bohemia/dp/1612184650/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468195859&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bloodletters+daughter

Finding Rebecca - https://smile.amazon.com/Finding-Rebecca-Eoin-Dempsey/dp/1477826106/ref=pd_sim_14_14?ie=UTF8&dpID=51kT87odLLL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=2MXBCM8PT2WQ9832G1EK

What She Left Behind (this is half HF half modern day, the HF part is really good) - https://smile.amazon.com/What-Behind-Ellen-Marie-Wiseman/dp/0758278454/ref=pd_sim_14_21?ie=UTF8&dpID=61bLHO4EiEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR109%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=2MXBCM8PT2WQ9832G1EK

Also this one's creepy:
Follow You Home - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SLWQGUM/ref=s9_hps_bw_g351_i8?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=N3FAE2BPBRHHX56Y8Y5X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=2247349782&pf_rd_i=9069934011

Hangman's Daughter - https://smile.amazon.com/Hangmans-Daughter-Tales/dp/054774501X/ref=pd_sim_14_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=41PTaeYQpZL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR214%2C320_&psc=1&refRID=2MXBCM8PT2WQ9832G1EK

This one's good:

The One That Got Away - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GFGTAW/ref=s9_al_bw_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=N3FAE2BPBRHHX56Y8Y5X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=2074617362&pf_rd_i=9069934011


Sorry this is one giant mess of a comment. Hopefully at least one of these sounds good for you

I wouldn't go for something like Murakami to practice translation because, as atgm points out, the translators wouldn't be translating 1:1.

Why not try one of the "Breaking into Japanese Literature" or "Read Real Japanese" books (any kind of reader really)? They usually come with a direct translation and a more artistic translation. The texts are shorter which should keep your interest up for longer but there's still enough stories for you to have enough to do.

There's plenty of others but a few examples would be:

Breaking into Japanese Literature: Seven Modern Classics in Parallel Text

Exploring Japanese Literature: Read Mishima, Tanizaki, and Kawabata in the Original

Read Real Japanese Fiction: Short Stories by Contemporary Writers

Read Real Japanese: All You Need to Enjoy Eight Contemporary Writers

Read Real Japanese Essays: Contemporary Writings by Popular Authors

I think all of those had the "look inside" enabled so you can decide which style of translation you prefer.

If translation is something that interests you, I recommend heading over to /r/translationstudies to get a few tips on good books on translation studies.

I have always used the Chinese Link textbooks. I also see Integrated Chinese everywhere. Also, I highly highly highly recommend all of the Demystified books! I have both the Chinese and German and they are fantastic! Also Heisig's books are really popular and they also come in traditional. Hope this helps! I am pretty experienced in trying out tons of different resources for Mandarin! :)

呐喊 - 鲁迅

> Published in 1922 by Lu Xun, one of the greatest writers in 20th-century Chinese literature. This collection of short stories is one of the first and most influential modern works written in vernacular Chinese and would become part of the New Culture Movement.

> Includes Lu Xun's most famous and influential stories:
呐喊 自序Preface to Call to Arms
狂人日记 A Madman’s Diary
孔乙己Kong Yiji
药 Medicine
明天 Tomorrow
一件小事 An Incident
头发的故事 The Story of Hair
风波 Storm in a Teacup
故乡 Hometown
阿Ｑ正传 The True Story of Ah Q
端午节 The Double Fifth Festival
白光 The White Light
兔和猫 The Rabbits and the Cat
鸭的喜剧 The Comedy of the Ducks
社戏 Village Opera

source

I count ~82000 characters total and 2742 unique characters.

This collection is divided into a lot of short stories. I read Kong Yiji which is a very easy read. The "Madman's Diary" starts with a short introduction in classical Chinese (so... very hard to read) but the rest is in vernacular Chinese. Since the work of Lu Xun is very popular it's very easy to find analysis and translations a bit everywhere.

If that was a stranger, just randomly interrupting you, he was just being obnoxious. If it was a friend, I hope you actually got to hash out what it was you meant and maybe learn a better way to conceptualize your dislike in less stark, generalizing terms.

Incidentally, my dissertation was in Indian literature, so I've got to throw in a few recommendations for you to give the region another go:

• for realism with humor, Raag Darbari by Shrilal Shukla
  
• for comedy of manners, The Windfall by Diksha Basu
  
• for short stories, Bombay Stories by Manto
  
• for brilliant poetry, Arun Kolatkar (sample poem)
  
• for (trashy, guilty-pleasure) genre fiction, check out mythological fiction by Ashok Banker or Amish Tripathi, chick lit by Anuja Chauhan, or this fun anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction.
  
• and I second the Vikram Chandra recommendation above (but I'd add Red Earth And Pouring Rain)

There is a lot but what's survived since before 1900 is not enough.

This is probably one of the best books in English on the topic. I'm not aware of a guide to all the mythological creatures, other than one I wrote years ago that was taken offline.

Speaking of Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) the 2nd ebook is free on Kindle Unlimited:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2SK96R

The story takes some time to get going, but it's well worth the time investment. The 4th book should be releasing in May. =)

A good place to start for novice historians is always the History Sourcebook out of Fordham University. Here is the link for the Indian history section.


A comprehensive look at some primary sources from Indian history can be found in the multivolume Sources of Indian Tradition, edited by Ainslie Embree, vol. I here and vol. II here.


Alain Danielou provides a brief overview of Indian history here. A more controversial look at Indian history through sub-altern studies can be found in the work of Partha Chaterjee, whose works are listed on his wiki page.

I hope this helps a little. Happy reading!

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki is one of my favorite authors. Start with Seven Japanese Tales, then try out his novels, like Quicksand and The Key.

I've read several Japanese short story collections, and they are a lovely way to get introduced to Japanese lit. I don't remember the names of the collections I've read. I think I read The Showa Anthology and Modern Japanese Literature, and you could try this one, this one, or this one.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

What luck - my favorite is still available! Case 23 with the 6th Patriarch.

Question: my translation of the Mumonkan is titled the Gateless Gate. Acceptable?

In Vajrayana, regret is one of the four opponent powers to purify negative karma.

"Power of Regret: This should not be senseless guilt or self-recrimination, which are said to be useless emotional torture. What is intended here is to examine oneself and one's actions and to recognise that negative actions done in the past were very unwise." http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/karma.html#8


"So if regret arises, even the most powerful nonvirtuous karma can become weaker. Therefore, whatever nonvirtuous actions you happen to commit, it is crucial that you subsequently generate remorse and ensure that this is purified. The same is true of virtuous karma. Even if the karma is not powerful, if you subsequently rejoice, its strength increases. You should therefore, after engaging in any virtuous action, cultivate a special sense of rejoicing, free of any self-importance." https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Training-Collection-Library-Classics/dp/0861714407

Pretty sure I ordered this in January, and Vol. 12 at the beginning of March. Vol.12 http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Wolf-Vol-Isuna-Hasekura/dp/0316324329/

Mind Training: The Great Collection (Library of Tibetan Classics) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861714407/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Yi7qDbVH9JA10

Actually, there's no evidence that the Buddha was a single person who existed. He could easily be a literary device used to tie the traditions of a monastic community together into a coherent whole. The critical difference between Buddhism and Christianity is that Buddhism doesn't depend on the Buddha. While the central concept of Christianity is that Christ came to save humans (and is apparently stuck with that job until the end of time), Buddhism is about a process to end suffering. You don't need a Buddha to practice Buddhism, any more than you need Isaac Newton to practice Physics. Gravity is gravity regardless of who discovered it. Buddhism is about a particular way of looking at and experiencing the world, not a supernatural person who is going to come and help you out.

Source: Bikkhu Bodhi's commentary in the Discourses of the Buddha series (Long, Middle Length, Numerical, and Connected), which is currently the best English translation of the Theravada Suttas. (The Suttas are just one of the three collections of texts in the Pali Canon. The other two are monastic rules called the Vinya, and collection of philosophical works known as the Abhidhamma.)

edit: typos and links and a little more about the Pali Canon.

The artwork impressed me enough to order the book from here, paying a premium for one-day delivery. Call me a sucker for great art in graphic novels.

The artist's name is Mukesh Singh and he is based in Mumbai. His interview with Hugo Award-winning LightSpeed magazine is to be found here.

Season 3 isn't happening but you can always buy the light novels in English!

English version Amazon links(keep in mind that the anime covers books 1,2,3 and 5):

• Book 1
  
• Book 2
  
• Book 3
  
• Book 4
  
• Book 5
  
• Book 6
  
• Book 7
  
• Book 8
  
• Book 9(Rightstuf)
  
• Book 10
  
• Book 11
  
• Book 12
  
• Book 13
  
• Book 14
  
• Book 15
  
• Book 16- December 2015
  
• Book 17- April 2016
  

Yeah. But it doesn't have archive videos focusing on characters or places.

Anyway, listed on amazon for 380 Rs. (hardcover edition) if anyone wants to buy it.

> The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me.

(Meister Eckhart)

Seriously though, pick up a copy of Mumon's Gateless Gate or the Blue Cliff Records for an authoritative treatment of zen koans.

Well, if you look at his link on Google Books, there is a purchase link there for about $40. It's about the same price on Amazon and you can buy the hardcover edition there for about $50 USD.

"The Devotion of Suspect X" is a MUST!!! The plot is quite similar to Death Note as two geniuses try to outwit each other. Plus the story is an original Japanese novel.

https://www.amazon.com/Devotion-Suspect-Detective-Galileo-Novel/dp/1250002699

Buddhism developed from the Vedic tradition which is polytheistic, as such it embraced the polytheistic gods of the culture it developed in. If you are going to argue that they are not gods then we are arguing over an esoteric point of semantics, is kind of pointless, sure call them immortals or spirits if you like, but the text I read calls them gods. But then for the sake of consistency if these beings are not gods than Odin, Zeus and Ra could not be called gods either.

Go here

1. Click on look inside
   
2. switch to Print Book
   
3. type god or gods in the search box
   
4. Go through the search results there are 72.
   
   page 18 describes the Buddha as: "the incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, the teacher of gods and humans."
   
   page 44-45 details possible rebirths including six different kinds of gods.
   
   page 61, is a list of Suttas and notes that the entire Culatanhasankhaya Sutta is the Buddha talking to Sakka, ruler of the the gods.
   
   And so it goes on, and this isn't the even the entire Pali Canon, just one collection of suttas from it.
   
   

The flag and bodhidharma has no beard one are from the gateless gate.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/glg/index.htm
If you want a paper version I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Gateless-Gate-Classic-Book-Koans/dp/0861713826 and I like the commentaries.

Reading the book description on Amazon, describing normal Japanese texts:

> schoolmarm Japanese: standard to the point of insipidity, controlled to the point of domestication, restricted to the point of impoverishment

I hope the book is written better than the description, because holy hell, reading that made me feel like I was caught in an infinite loop to the point of bashing my face into the table.

book study, anyone?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861714407/

2 pages per day

You should pick up a book called "The Gateless Gate." I'll just say this about your post: "If you have tasted kensho, wash away its glamour."

EDIT: Also it's "attained some realization." The monk was not suddenly enlightened from this.

There is a lot of context surrounding the koans, and just reading the koan + verse + comment can be pretty perplexing!

The point of that one is that saying that arguing over these external things, whether the wind or the flag, is missing the point. This is "buying iron", and when Eno comes by and says the mind moves, this is better than arguing over these external things, hence the monks "get gold" instead.

Eno expressed his compassion for the monks that were caught up arguing over wind and flags by saying instead that the mind moves (so that they might stop arguing over the external things). However, coming from the point of view that there is only the oneness of things, it also misses the point - saying that this particular mind moves is just speaking more of these things which can exist separately from oneness! That's why it's a "disgraceful scene": Eno gives them advice that will still miss the point!

If you're interested, I highly recommend this book because Koun Yomada gives excellent explanations and necessary context for each of the koans.