單車失竊記

In 1905 Taiwan, owning a bike was like owning a Mercedes. Simple farmers and fishermen coveted a bicycle to call their own, a thih-be (an iron horse) that would carry their harvest or fish to market. Bikes were precious. The theft of an iron horse was reported in the local newspaper. Religious villagers prayed to the Holy King for the safe return of an iron steed. The narrator, Ch'eng, describes the disappearance of his father and his bike in 1993, the day after Chung-Shan Hall Market was torn d [...]

I would have enjoyed reading some of this as separate stories, but because I found it so disjointed, running off on long targets about different topics, I didn’t finish it. The writing and translation are good, although I had trouble with the names, which is my problem, not the author’s I hasten to say!I admit to getting confused about whose story was whose and whether the author was speaking about himself or actually relating someone else’s story. This takes place in Taiwan, formerly Form [...]

This is an unusual, but fascinating story - a mix of fact and fiction beautifully woven together by the author as the search for his father, who disappeared 20 years ago, through the medium of the bicycle his father disappeared on. He thinks that if he can track down the bicycle, he might be able to find out why his father upped and left the family so long ago.What follows is a highly detailed book describing the family, their upbringing and the importance of the humble bicycle 'the iron horse' [...]

See more of my book reviews on my blog, Literary FlitsThe Stolen Bicycle is the first Taiwanese book I have read and I expected it to have a Chinese feel to it. I didn't previously know that Taiwan had been under Japanese control for fifty years until 1945 and, for me, I felt more of a style affinity to Japanese literature. Author Wu and his imagined protagonist Cheng overlap in several of their interests. Given that The Stolen Bicycle is mainly narrated in the first person by Cheng, this makes [...]

‘Unusual insights and vividly observed detail abound in this witty and sensitive story.’Toowoomba Chronicle‘A work of astonishing energy, in which Wu beautifully touches on loss, life and death, fate and destiny, establishing emotional connections between memory and objects, and between the natural world and wara novel that provides comfort and reconciliation from a wounded past.’Thinking Taiwan‘The novel, inspired by his love for bicycles and Taiwanese history, brings readers back to [...]

The book opens with Cheng deciding to track down his father who disappeared 20 years previously – along with his bicycle. He thinks that if he can find the bicycle he will be able to discover the truth about his father. This apparently simple premise is the starting point for a multi-layered and wide-ranging novel that takes in Taiwan’s history, the Japanese occupation, the war in Malaysia and Myanmar as well as in Taiwan itself, and a wealth of characters and their stories. From the present [...]

「人類有一天會知道，象和他們一樣理解黑夜、雨季、星象與傷心。當長老母象倒地時，其他的象完全停步，圍繞著牠。牠們用長鼻摩挲著彼此的背，發出不可思議的輕柔低哼聲。夜晚氣溫逆轉，較接近地面處形成較佳的傳音層，那低哼聲因此得以傳到遠方的山谷，而後又嗡嗡迴響回營地。那被放大的、多層次的音響讓一旁的士兵感到悽愴而溫暖，他們體會到了象的傷心，因� [...]

A beautifully written, magical book that I didn’t want to end. I was totally enchanted by this story of iron horses, love, families, elephants and butterflies set in current day and WW2 South-East Asia. A writer is searching for the much loved bike of his father, which vanished with him some years previously, in the hope that finding it will help solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance. Wu Ming-Yi intertwines magical stories as he puts together the pieces of the puzzle. Outstanding.M [...]

This is a real scrapbook of a novel. And I adored it. This book dug into all sorts of untidy corners. From an indepth look at Taiwanese bicycle models, elephants in Myanmar jungle during the World War two, to a lost Father and then to about catching Butterflies. And it is all written with a grace and a simplicity which is beautiful and at times heartbreaking.

I feel as though this just wasn’t meant for me. On some level the beginning did draw me in in such a whimsical way and the bike notes was rather okay.Perhaps it just wasn’t to my liking the way it was written afterwards and I began to wonder where did it lead me.In the beginning, the narrator is not only believable but I could easily believe him and understand him as well as like him. And that his whimsical attitude did feel rather interesting.But I just didn’t like the format it was writt [...]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

好想買一台幸福牌的腳踏車喔！！！

部分真實，部分虛幻的敘事手法，讓讀者很流暢地順著作者的脈絡，藉由"腳踏車"共通點的切入，穿梭在二次大戰、民國四五十年代、緬北叢林、馬來半島、原住民部落、以及懷舊的台北商場間。作品中的每個角色，各有各的故事，這也是最動人之處；在歷史的映照之下，所有的角色，都活生生了起來。

像是許多戰爭後期的故事在某種機遇下被串在一起。那些人、事、物都寫得非常細膩，是適合慢慢咀嚼的一部小說。

「故事總是在你無法得知自己是如何從過去來到現在的此刻而存在，我們一開始往往不懂它們為什麼在時間磨損下仍然冬眠似的在某些地方活存著，但在聆聽時，總覺得它們被喚醒後， 隨著呼吸進入你的身體，像針一樣沿著脊椎鑽進你的腦袋，然後又忽冷忽熱地刺在心上。」One of the most sophisticated novel I have ever read.

It is quite captivating at the beginning but there are too many branches that don't interest me. Honestly, the writing can be more concise so that the pace can be sped up. It's a pity that I don't enjoy this book with such interesting motif.