Authors: Chiew-Siah Tei
Translated by: Gudelytė, Kristina
Translated from: English
Published on: 2009

The end of XIX century, Plum Blossom village, China.Mingzhi, the oldest grandson of master Chai, has his all life planned ahead of him from the moment he was born – he is meant to become a mandarin. Since childhood the boy is immersed in Chinese traditional writing culture and philosophical studies, but the hunger for different kind of knowledge is not foreign to him, too. He is more than willing to study Confucianism, calligraphy and other arts. In the school Mingzhi is the best student. In addition he also wants to learn of the world that is behind the guarded walls of customs and traditions of Chinese culture boundaries. Pity, but the boy is forced to spend his childhood and adolescent years in a secluded world of his family, where his grandfather is regulating all the lives and matters while bumping his dragon staff. Maturing teenager starts to despise the rotten life of the mansion – instead of rice cultivating opium poppies, harsh and cruel behavior with the servants, around the mansion lurking shadows of treachery and insidiousness. More

Authors: Shah, Tahir
Translated by: Drazdauskienė, Rasa
Translated from: English
Published on: 2009

The book „The Caliph’s house. A year in Casablanca“ tells about the first Tahir Shah year in Casablanca. It is the largest city of Morocco, near the ocean, with wooden, crooked streets, with high walls which often hides the impressive ancient palaces. They are not very expensive, because Moroccans prefer modern apartments. More

Authors: Min, Anchee
Translated by: Groblytė, Jovita
Translated from: English
Published on: 2009

Red Azalea is an autobiography of Anchee Min. The book is divided into three parts which are about author’s life during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of China. In the book, Min openly tells a story of her life in which sexual freedom is freely questioned as a powerful political statement. The author accurately describes a society of the Chinese Communist country.

The first part of the book tells us about Anchee Min’s childhood in Shanghai where she honestly talks about the use of political propaganda in society, especially children who are taught to be perfect revolutionaries of the Party as a sign of loyalty to Chairman Mao. Min loved singing Madame Mao’s operas and knew them all as well as she read and knew all quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. She was accepted as a member of the Little Red Guard and also appointed as a head of this social movement. More

Authors: Murakami, Haruki
Translated by: Nauronaitė, Jūratė
Translated from: English
Published on: 2009

‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle‘ is one the the most ambitious works of Harumi Murakami. This novel ir about Toru Okada – a man who is constantly obeying other people wishes, passive, often apathetic. After quiting job he starts enjoying small pleasures – cooking, reading books, listening to jazz but this idyll doesn‘t last long. Toru‘s wife Kumiko asks to find their lost cat. She suggests going to an alley and look for it near an abandoned house at the end of the street. Even though he didn‘t find a cat name Noboru Wataya, Toru finds an empty well at the abandoned house. He keeps coming back to the well to think and to forget the world about him. After cat hasn‘t been found Kumiko asks her brother – the real Noboru Wataya – for help. He sends sisters Creta and Malta Kano who have to help finding the lost cat and help figuring other problems out which are yet to come. More

Authors: Shinichi, Suzuki
Translated by: Lipavičienė, Miglė
Translated from: English
Published on: 2009

\”What is man\’s ultimate direction in life? It is to look for love, truth, virtue, and beauty\”. “Nurtured by love” is Shinichi Suzuki’s autobiography. Musician, philosopher and educator’s essential teachings and Talent Education philosophy are laid out in this book. The writer tells various stories, which happened during the course of teaching children to play the violin: their first encounter with this instrument, teaching techniques, teacher, parents and children’s relationships.
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Authors: Chao-Hsiu Chen
Translated by: Macevičius, Jupzas
Translated from: German
Published on: 2009

“Rice in nephrite cups” is a book full of author’s memories, a little autobiography in which memories mixes up with the culture, history and traditions of China. This book does not have a coherent story, it consists of many short stories, trainings, philosophies, exercises in self improvement and even few meals recipes. In this spiritual book where one can find a lot of great ideas and quotes also it is possible to get to know more about spiritual and philosophical things such as More

Authors: Murakami, Haruki
Translated by: Susnytė, Ieva

The novel’s protagonist, Sumire, is an aspiring writer who survives on a family stipend and the creative input of her only friend, the novel’s male narrator, ‘K’. ‘K’ is an elementary school teacher, 25 years old, and in love with Sumire, though she does not quite share his feelings. At a wedding, Sumire meets an Ethnic Korean woman, Miu. The two strike up a conversation and Sumire starts to work for the older, married woman. Over time, she realises that she is attracted to her, and thus, that she might be a homosexual. More

Authors: Kawabata, Yasunari
Translated by: Baronina, Indrė
Translated from: Japanese
Published on: 2008

“Snow Country” is a novel which resembles a sumi-e painting, in which the author uses language as subtle as brushstrokes to create the scenery of northern Japanese province and relationships between characters. This novel – which took the author more than a decade to finish – is a delicate portrayal of human emotion and relationships. The main character Shimamura, a married man from Tokyo, goes on vacation to a snowy hot spring town in the northern Japan, seeking peace and calm. However, instead of relaxation the wealthy man finds himself slipping into a rather difficult situation, involving two women. In the little town Shimamura meets the sensuous geisha Komako, whose liveliness excites him, making the man want to come back to the same village more often. With every one of Shimamura’s visits his interest for Komako intensifies. More

Authors: Swarup, Vikas
Translated by: Keturakis, Ugnius
Translated from: English
Published on: 2008

Famous Indian writer Vikas Swarup‘s novel “Q & A“, which was later named “Slumdog Millionaire“, received many awards and international recognition. According to this novel a movie was created. Movie does not follow novel step by step, but still plot more or less is the same. Both have story, which goes in similar direction and main point– not luck, but human, himself brings happiness.

The beginning of novel’s story is marked by protagonist Ram Mohammad Thomas’s confinement. And the reason for this, ridiculous, but he won a television show “Who Will Win a Billion?”! He is tortured for cheating, but still Ram insists that these are wrong accusations. Torture lasts for a few days until he is saved by a smart lawyer Smita Shah. At first our charming lawyer does not believe Ram’s story, so, to remove accusations he must tell her how each TV show’s questions are connected to his life. So for the first time in the story he uses “Lucky coin” and readers get to know how much happiness and unhappiness, unusual events he has experienced. More

Authors: See, Lisa
Translated by: Banelytė, Antanina
Translated from: English
Published on: 2008

”Peony in Love” is set in 17th-century China around the delta of the Yangzi river. „Peony in Love“ emphasizes the difficulty 19th- and 17th-century Chinese women had in achieving freedom and identity in a society that was both male dominated and rigid in its gender expectations. This novel is abundant in historical facts, as well as old Chinese customs ir traditions. Author introduces the readers to Chinese foot binding custom, wedding traditions, burial ceremonies and impact, that the belief in afterlife has on Chinese culture. The writer also presents an evaluation of the upheaval of the 17th-century, when the Manchus overthrew the Qing Dynasty. She tells a story of turmoil in the country and the heroic self-sacrifice of women in the fight against the Manchus, as well as women\’s creative prosperity. More