There is absolutely no doubt that the most impressive Taiwan-related book to appear this year was John Ross’s Taiwan in 100 Books (Camphor Press, reviewed July 23). This stupendous production is extraordinarily wide-ranging and, whereas it doesn’t actually constitute a history of the nation, it covers very many of its aspects. Ross goes into the background detail of his selected topics as well as of their authors, making this book something to read in its own right and to refer to. Incomparable.
The Flock of Ba-Hui And Other Stories, also from Camphor and reviewed on Feb. 20, was the most sensational — and lurid. It contains four long stories by a Chinese follower of H.P. Lovecraft, “Oobmab.” Translated by Arthur Meursault and “Akira,” the stories are awash with glutinous black substances found in unexpectedly familiar circumstances. All but one of the stories are set in China.
Simon Pridmore’s Dive into Taiwan, Sandsmedia, reviewed Jan. 16, is a treasure to read and to hold. It covers scuba diving in every conceivable location, and is beautifully illustrated by photographer Kyo Liu (劉守全). Pridmore is a diving specialist, but thinks Taiwan has been insufficiently appreciated as a diving location.
Camphor returns with Inaka: Portraits of Life in Rural Japan, reviewed on Sept. 17. A majority of Japanese now reside in cities, but if anything this makes the extremely varied Japanese countryside all the more attractive to anyone looking for lifestyles that were once more common than they are today.
Lastly, Taiwan Through Foreign Eyes, Deep World Publishing, reviewed on Aug. 13, is surprisingly memorable — surprisingly because most of its 18 short stories were penned over 10 years ago. I was warned about this, but nonetheless in the event found the collection well worth reading.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your