Subtitled "Expat Residents Look at their Second Home," this is a collection of essays penned by 16 foreigners who either currently live in Taipei or have done so in the recent past. A full-page author photo precedes each essay, and many other color pictures adorn the texts.
It's a mistake really to call them essays. All follow a similar pattern, and the signs are that they originated as extended answers to a questionnaire, or at least were thoughts prompted by the same set of questions. It's easy to imagine the circumstances of the book's conception -- a wish-list of possible contributors drawn up, and then a list of headings under which they might like to order their thoughts. This is the main reason why Reflections on Taipei often makes for uninspiring reading.
Those responsible for it are probably more familiar with putting together magazines than books, with the result that this reads like a bumper issue of the city's bi-monthly Discover Taipei -- worthy enough, but unlikely to inspire anyone to spectacular deeds of glory.
The imposed similarity detracts from what might have been the respondents' differences of approach. If they'd all been asked to write an article about the city as they'd experienced it, the result might have been more striking. As it is, they all begin with how the writer came here, most include a section on what they miss when they're away, and most end with some criticisms, occasionally outspoken.
The list of contributors doesn't contain any mavericks. There are no jokers in this deck, no wild cards likely to precipitate any upturning of the apple-cart. There are some interesting views expressed, but the individuals chosen scarcely represent a cross-section of the expat community. There are no language teachers (who surely constitute the majority of Western residents), no pop musicians or DJs, and certainly no contract laborers.
On the other hand, those responsible for this book were clearly aware of the need for a spread of some kind. There is a range as regards origins, for instance. A quick count reveals five Americans, three Canadians, and one each from Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Holland, Germany and France. There are 11 men and four women. This distribution could be faulted by a radical, but a criticism more likely to attract wider assent is that their attitudes to the city vary little. This is hardly surprising, because the truth is that they almost all belong to that ever-reliable war-horse when it comes to stumping up contributions to magazines or charity boxes, the great middle class.
The photos the contributors have supplied of themselves merit a review of their own. A couple of the Americans have opted for cowboy outfits, one or two would grace the pages of a fashion magazine, and all combine a complimentary self-image -- which is only natural -- with a somewhat cautious approach. No one, for instance, displays himself with his tongue stuck out, let alone with a piercing through it.
The uniformity that results is at times remarkable. Memories of Taipei's major thoroughfares in the 1970s as dirt-tracks sporting rickshaws and ox-carts reappear with astonishing frequency. The variety and value-for-money of the city's food outlets is regularly remarked on. The MRT is almost routinely praised (one contributor, Jerry Keating, even helped build it), and the surrounding hills arouse widespread enthusiasm. Several of the writers, when asked to voice criticisms, urge the Taiwanese to work less hard and take time off to enjoy life's "real" pleasures.
RSS