It’s the time of the year when people start thinking about vacation, and many turn to the Far East in search of exotic adventures. Let’s have a look at 10 gems from our catalog by Asian authors.

Tigers were probably present at the 금수회의록 (Assembly of Animals) that was called in to criticise and judge mankind. Author Ahn Guk-seon, born in 1878, served in the Korean military for about 20 years, and one cannot help wondering whether he got his inspiration there…

His childhood in India at the turn of the 20th century certainly served as inspiration for Dhan Gopal Mukerji. Born in a small village near Calcutta, he eventually left for the US where he became a writer to sustain himself. Kari the Elephant was one of the children’s books for which he received the Newbery Medal.

Another Indian prize winner – the 1913 Nobelprize – is poet and writer Rabindranath Tagore. The Bard of Bengal was virtually unknown outside his country for a long time, and he wrote his first work in English when he was 50 years old: My Reminiscences.

Cao Xueqin had a long heritage to look back upon. His ancestors had been high officials at court, but had fallen from grace so he had to live in poverty himself. A similar chain of events involving the Chia family is described in The Dream of the Red Chamber, one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels.

More classic than this are only The Nō Plays of Japan, a collection of plays from various authors. They date back to the 14th century and are still performed today in the exact same manner and the exact same language as then, making them almost impossible to understand even for a Japanese audience.

Equally hard to comprehend must have been the concept of Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. The book by Gandhi is a dialogue between him and the reader to convince the typical countryman of the idea. It was written in Gujarati (and immediately banned) and then translated into English by Gandhi himself, probably the only author on this list who does not need an introduction.

No introduction can be given for Pura L. Medrano, since we do not know anything about this author. However, Nang Bata Pa Kami was written by her (or him?), the story of the secret courtship of two lovers, told from the viewpoints of both. Who knows, there may even be a happy ending in this story from the Philippines.

坊っちゃん (Botchan) does have a happy ending of some sorts. It tells the story of a young teacher on his first assignment at a middle school and is still widely read today. Written by Sōseki Natsume, considered the foremost writer of the Meiji period, if not of Japanese history, it is one of his three best known novels. We also have it in English.

Another teacher, who later became a government employee, was Xun Lu. Born in 1881, he is considered the leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Here, we present 热风 (Hot Wind), a collection of essays and commentaries on China and the Chinese, which redefined the definition of “essay” in Chinese literature.

As we started, so will we end: with animals. Renowned as the Nightingale of Shiraz, Saadi was a major poet of medieval Persia. He was very famous at his time already and has even been quoted in western sources. “Gulistan” is considered among his greatest works, and it is contained in our recording of The Poetry of Sadi.

Enjoy finding new Asian authors in our catalog!

December 18 marks International Migrants Day. While nothing to celebrate, let’s take a closer look at the issue with 10 gems from our catalog.

Robert Bruce is driven from Scotland by the English. When he tries to return, he lands on hostile shores, and immediately polarises a wedding party. Will he find enough support to become The Lord of the Isles? Read the narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott for the historical details.

Not only war drives people from their homes. As The Flood slowly rises in the village of Saint-Jory and destroys the wealthy farm of the Roubien family, they must leave. This short story of man’s defeat at the merciless hand of nature is told masterfully by Emile Zola.

Wouldn’t it be good if we knew about such catastrophes in advance? As a form of self-help, people have always resorted to things like Tea Cup Reading and Fortune-Telling By Tea Leaves. In this little book, A Highland Seer teaches his craft to anybody interested.

Equally fantastic is the story of Master Flea, who escapes a flea circus and takes refuge in Peregrinus’ house. The pretty Dörtje tries to find him, but isn’t she really a princess from Famagusta? E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story – also available in German – mixes fantasy and reality.

Safely rooted in reality is the life of My Ántonia, the eldest daughter of Bohemian immigrants, who just arrived in rural Nebraska. Neighbour Jim, who is smitten with her, watches over her ups and downs in the book by Willa Sibert Cather.

A much more complicated web of love forms around the Exiles Rowan and Bertha upon their return to England. In the play by James Joyce, everybody seems to love the one person they cannot be with. Probably, the two would have preferred to stay in Rome after all.

What does become of those that stay behind when everybody is leaving? George Moore describes the aftermath of the Irish mass emigration of the 19th century, and the hold of the clergy on those who remained, in his collection of short stories The Untilled Field.

Those who leave are often torn between their old culture and new influences. Israel Zangwill describes the life of Children of the Ghetto in the London Jewish East End of the 1890’s, where they must navigate between Eastern European traditions and attempts of assimilation.

When Edward A. Steiner had to make the same decision, his choice was clear. His way From Alien to Citizen led him from hard labour in immigrant sweat shops to becoming a Christian minister and immigration scholar at an American university.

People in need often seek solace in religion. Hundreds of religions are practised today, but at this time of the year, let us highlight Christianity with our reading of The Gospel of Luke, from the King James Version.

Enjoy – and may there be shelter when you need it!

November 10 marks World Science Day for Peace and Development. Especially if you’ve been out of school for a while, it’s time to brush up your knowledge a bit with 10 gems from our catalog.

Jules Verne knew a lot of science, and the Baltimore Gun Club uses it to construct a cannon to shoot people From the Earth to the Moon. The calculations are almost correct – and the cannon was even positioned near Cape Canaveral!

Johannes Kepler probably didn’t even dream of space travel, or rather: When he did, he imagined suns and planets. You can read about his life and how his laws changed astronomy for good in the biography by Walter W. Bryant.

Discovering the laws of nature is the foremost task of a scientist. In the delightful book The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children by Jane Andrews we hear about various animals and plants, as well as interesting natural phenomena.

Mother Nature is not always that forthcoming though, and then people speak of the supernatural. Not so Mr. Bell, who is A Master of Mysteries and proves that behind every ghost and haunted house is a scientific explanation. Read more about him in the book by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustache.

The power of science also plays a large role in our play by Benito Perez Galdos. The orphan Electra falls in love with scientist Maximo. All would be well, would not rumours about Electra’s parentage threaten their relationship. Will the powers of love be stronger?

The answer is no, at least when it comes to the poem “The Mathematician in Love” by W. J. M. Rankine; which shows that even scientists make mistakes. More poems about science by various scientists can be found in our Selection of 19th Century Scientific Verse.

More scientific mistakes were colleced by John Phin in his book The Seven Follies of Science. He describes well known problems like the search for a perpetuum mobile, and proves in an easy way why all of those are scientifically impossible.

Much less obvious is why Mr. Challoner owns a collection of mammals with physical deformities, but also 24 perfectly normal human skeletons. What is the secret behind them, and what has The Uttermost Farthing to do with it? Find out in the book by R. Austin Freeman.

Even if you don’t have a passion like the above mentioned, a knowledge of the Anatomy of the Human Body is always useful. Browse through our 1918 US Edition of the standard text by Henry Gray, which is still in print and use today.

And where will science go tomorrow? Hopefully not in the direction envisioned by Philip K. Dick in Second Variety. A nuclear war forces the UN government to retreat to the moon and build war machines. However, after six years of fighting, the self-replicating “Claws” have evolved…

Enjoy – and stay curious!

October 17th is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go, although conditions do have improved since the writing of the following 10 gems from our catalog.

Poverty pushes people to the fringes of society. D. H. Lawrence paints a sensitive picture of the ones that usually go unnoticed in urban life, in this case just before the beginning of WWI, in his poem Embankment at Night, Before the War: Outcasts.

A haunting description of the abject living conditions and rampant violence in the East End of London is A Child of the Jago. The novel by Arthur Morrison takes his cues from real life in the Old Nichol Street Rookery.

There is always somebody profiting from people’s misery, and Harry Trench is shocked when he finds out that his fiance’s father is one of them. However, he is not quite in the position to take the high road in George Bernard Shaw’s unpleasant play Widowers’ Houses.

Hunger is a terrible feeling, and the unnamed protagonist of Knut Hamsun’s novel is suffering greatly. His physical and mental breakdown and his resulting delusional existence are realistically detailed, after all, they are loosely based on the author’s own experience.

Openly autobiographic is John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs by Jack London. The famous author recounts his life as an addict, both the phases of white light alcoholic inspiration and lucidity, and the brutal negative effects brought on by his so called best friend.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets has only one place to go when her alcoholic mother turns her out of the house. Find out whether her life improves when she seeks shelter with her boyfriend in the first novel by Stephen Crane.

A voluntary descent among the lower classes was undertaken by Robert Louis Stevenson on his 1879 trip from Glasgow to the US. Buying almost the cheapest ticket available, he documents his encounters with the poorest of passengers in The Amateur Emigrant.

Once off the boat, life does not miraculously improve though, especially when you are the target of racism. Mark Twain, in his famous satirical fashion, highlights the bad treatment of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco in Goldsmith’s Friend Abroad Again.

Frank Owen knows how to make things better, and he tries to convice his fellow workers that the root of their poverty lies in capitalism. Will he succeed to convert his friends to the socialist cause in the famous novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell?

Poverty is not the end though, often work and will are much more important. Sarah Knowles Bolton recounts 28 Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous, among them Samuel Johnson, Mozart, Oliver Goldsmith, and Abraham Lincoln.

Enjoy – and enough for everybody!