Synopses & Reviews
From the preeminent writer of Taiwanese nativist fiction and the leading translator of Chinese literature come these poignant accounts of everyday life in rural and small-town Taiwan. Huang is frequently cited as one of the most original and gifted storytellers in the Chinese language, and these selections reveal his genius.
Huang's characters generally the uneducated and disadvantaged who must cope with assaults on their traditionalism, hostility from their urban brethren and, of course, the debilitating effects of poverty come to life in all their human uniqueness, free from idealization.
Review
"Huang's style (like Chekhov's and very unlike Faulkner's) is pithy, direct and clear... the clash between traditional ways and urban exigencies, the desire to fit in, the need to save face and the difficulty of making a living without losing one's self-respect are problems these characters confront every day, problems that will strike a chord with readers everywhere." Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
From the preeminent writer of Taiwanese nativist fiction and the leading translator of Chinese literature come these poignant accounts of everyday life in rural and small-town Taiwan. Huang's characters -- generally the uneducated and disadvantaged who must cope with assaults on their traditionalism, hostility from their urban brethren and, of course, the debilitating effects of poverty -- come to life in all their human uniqueness, free from idealization.
About the Author
Huang Chun-ming began publishing his work in the literary supplement to the
United Daily News (Lianhe bao) and in the literary magazine
You shi wenyi as part of the "native soil" movement.
Howard Goldblatt is professor of Chinese literature at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the translator of numerous books, including Rose, Rose I Love You by Wang Chen-ho and, with Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Chu T'ien-wen's Notes of a Desolate Man, chosen "Translation of the Year" (1999) by the American Literary Translators Association.