Friday is RobAroundBookLists day when I feature a reading list that’s taken my fancy, and this week, after reading Murakami’s short story Sleep and enjoying it thoroughly, I went on the hunt for more Japanese short stories that I could add to my ’100 Shots of Short’ reading list. I soon got on to the idea of seeking out related short story anthologies and this eventually led me to Melon109′s Listmania list on Amazon – Asian Literature Anthologies.
I like this list! It seems to be a great starting point for discovering some of the Asian literature that’s out there, and although some of Melon109′s 31 recommendations are a little obscure and hard to get a hold of (at least at a ‘normal’ price), there are some absolute gems I’m interested in checking out – The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories by Theodore W. Goossen, Cyril Birch’s Anthology of Chinese Literature (volume 1 and volume 2), The Showa Anthology: Modern Japanese Short Stories 1929-1984 by Van C. Gessel and Modern Japanese Stories: An Anthology by Ivan Morris, all look pretty tasty.
So what’s your opinion? Have you read any of the anthologies on Melon’s list and enjoyed them (or not)? Have you any recommendations yourself for what Asian short stories shouldn’t be missed? I’d love to hear from you!
About Rob
