Originally written in the late 1970s and published in three
volumes, this Herman Wouk-like Taiwanese saga energetically depicts
the ordeals of several generations of a Hakka (northern migrant)
family, the Pengs. Li Qiao gradually focuses on mercurial adopted
daughter Dengmei and her stoical husband Liu Ahan, while charting
the family's difficult assimilation into Taiwanese society during
the 19th century, then (following the decades preceding
WWII-covered in the original's second volume, which is omitted in
this translation) Liu Ahan's sufferings as a Japanese conscript
during the Philippine campaign. Though this version's two halves
fit together quite satisfactorily, one misses the epic sweep Li
Qiao obviously aims for-and wonders how a full translation of his
ambitious original might have differed from what we have here.
(Kirkus Reviews)
An epic spanning more than half a century of Taiwan's history,
this breathtaking historical novel traces the fortunes of the
Pengs, a family of Hakka Chinese settlers, across three generations
from the 1890s, just before Taiwan was ceded to Japan as a result
of the Sino-Japanese war, through World War II. Li Qiao brilliantly
re-creates the dramatic world of these pioneers -- and the
colonization of Taiwan itself -- exploring their relationships with
the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan and their struggle to establish
their own ethnic and political identities.
This carefully researched work of fiction draws upon Li's own
experiences and family history, as well as oral and written
histories of the era. Originally published in Chinese as a trilogy,
this newly translated edition is an abridgement for
English-speaking readers and marks the work's first appearance in
the English-speaking world. It was well-received in Taiwan as an
honest -- and influential -- recreation of Taiwan's history before
the relocation of the Republic of China from the mainland to
Taiwan.
Because Li's saga is so deeply imbued with the unique culture
and complex history of Taiwan, an introduction explaining the
cultural and historical background of the novel is included to help
orient the reader to this amazingly rich cultural context. This
informative introduction and the sweeping saga of the novel itself
together provide an important view of Taiwan's little known
colonial experience.
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