Six books by writers from Taiwan, set there, that give a real sense of the place, starting with Taiwan Travelogue and The Man with the Compound Eyes.
Fiction from Taiwan carries the marks of Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945 and of the mainlanders who arrived in 1949. Writers also worked under martial law, in force from 1949 to 1987, and colonial memory, Indigenous history and exile recur in their books. Wang Chen-ho's Rose, Rose, I Love You, translated from Chinese, is a satire set in Hualien, where locals prepare for visiting American soldiers during the Vietnam War, and it teems with Taiwanese dialects.
Yang Shuang-zi's Taiwan Travelogue is the place to start: a Japanese novelist's 1938 tour, guided by her Taiwanese interpreter, exposes the inequities of colonial rule. Wu He's Remains of Life draws on the 1930 Wushe Incident to tell Seediq history, and Chu T'ien-wen's Notes of a Desolate Man is a gay man's meditation on love and loss in Taipei as his closest friend dies of AIDS.
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A Japanese novelist's 1938 tour of colonial Taiwan, and the Taiwanese interpreter who accompanies her, expose the inequities of Japanese rule.
Eco-fable of Taiwan's east coast, mixing Hualien's mountains and sea, Indigenous culture and a garbage-vortex disaster.
Follows young gay hustlers in 1970s Taipei's New Park, among mainlander exiles and a society in fast transition.
Satirical comedy set in Hualien, where locals prepare for visiting US soldiers during the Vietnam War, and Taiwanese dialects abound.
Two friends in Taipei reflect on identity, sexuality and Taiwan's shifting politics and culture from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Uses the 1930 Wushe Incident to explore Indigenous Seediq history, Japanese colonial rule and Taiwan's mountain communities.
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