Review by chronicallylavender - Taiwan Travelogue

chronicallylavender 's review for:

Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, 楊双子

5.0

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

„So can Aoyama Chizuko and Ông Tshian-hóh really be called friends?“

"There is nothing in the world more difficult to refuse than self-righteous goodwill."

the

fictional

afterword and translator note(s) making me cryy.

colonialism, class, patriarchy, language, translation, power dynamics, friendship
food as metaphor and symbol

who are we safe to be vulnerable with and open our hearts to? who gets to ask that of us?

i don’t always like books that are kind of slow placed and where seemingly not much happens at a time (while on the other hand loving such movies). and i somehow expected something slightly different and yet from the introduction to the last translator note by king i was drawn in.

though i don’t think this is something that will knock you off your feets nor that it’s supposed to

i had to think a little of the movie the „watermelon woman“ and how „sometimes we have to create our own histories.“

not knowing the source material i still feel confident to say that this is a great translation where (luckily for us not proficient in those languages)

a taiwanese translator brings the book to the ultimate colonial language of english by consulting the japanese translation of a taiwanese novel that claims to be a taiwanese translation of a japanese novel.

„Aoyama-san.“ „Yes?“ „You are the only person in the world who has cooked a meal meant solely for me.“

“I am not trying to be intentionally enigmatic. I simply do not have the words in my vocabulary right now to make you understand. If I—if in the future I find an explanation that would make sense to you, I will answer you honestly.”

“Really? I would love to turn the clock forward and see that future. But is that future one in which we are still not friends?”

She was quiet for a while. Then she said, “I do not wish to lie.”

We both said nothing for a long while.

“All right, all right. Let’s eat.”

Eating a delicious meal from the same pot as her, I did feel as happy as a buffalo. What was the definition of friendship, anyhow? I had long lost sight of the answer.

Content Warnings