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THE OLD SEA MAN
SYAMAN RAPONGAN
REVIEWER: AMANDA GU
BOOK NUMBER: 9789866377112
CALL NUMBER: 863.857 8785
"The Old Sea Man" is a Tao writer's work. The writer Syaman Rapongan, chose to go back to his country and learnt to fish by himself, making a traditional boat belonging to the Tao culture. But he found a serious problem that seafood in the ocean used to be various in the past, but recently it became less and less. Because the people from Taiwan caught many fishes, whether small or big, so that Tao people now have less and less seafood to catch. In addition, the products of "civilization" such as motorboats and wine has damaged their environment and bodies. Therefore, the writer wants to express the importance of the ocean for Tao people, making Taiwan’s people and Tao people value this issue. Consequently, he positively writes down the advantages of Tao people’s "civilization."
In the story, Anlomian, Dacaan and Lomabick were three Tao persons who loved to dive and fish. But they were all the tribe's marginal men. Because they were not in line with social values. Lomabick had a nickname, Sea Man. He was a gifted student in childhood and desired to study in Taiwan so that he could become a teacher to help his people. But his father didn’t agree because the Taiwanese destroyed their trees belonging to their Yutuan families and seized their land. For revenging his father who prevented him from realizing his dream, he went to Taiwan and never came back. Until he saw his ex-employer cried for his son’s death, he started to want to go home, but his family members were all dead. He saw the seafood became less and less because the Taiwanese caught it without controlling, and told Dacaan to continue their original living style.
Tao people have their way to treat nature. They catch the seafood properly, but the Taiwanese taught their people to live like a Taiwanese so that their eco-environment is now destroyed seriously.
THE EYE OF THE SKY
SYAMAN RAPONGAN
REVIEWER: DORA CHEN
BOOK NUMBER: 9789570840278
CALL NUMBER: 863.857 4433
The story is talking about the life of the author living in Orchid Island. He starts the story from the time when he was still a young boy. He slept on the beach and dreamed about traveling in the deep ocean. Soon, he became a teenager. Once on a typhoon day, his father lost one leg because of saving his boat. From then on, he lived in awe of the sea. Then, he got old and became a grandpa. Unfortunately, his daughter and son-in-law died and left a little son, living in Orchid Island.
The whole story doesn't have many characters. Only the author and his grandson are the main characters. The story describes the life from the time when he was still a child, and then he grew older until he was a grandpa in Orchid Island. During the story when he found that his daughter died in Taiwan, he was very sad, but he still had to take care of his grandson. The climax of this story is when he forgot the sadness from his daughter's death and started a great life with his grandson. On the other hand, the biggest problem in the story is the author's communication with his daughter. They should have talked more.
The two different cultures and two different communities, the Tao and the Chinese, are embedded with different traditions, so they might not accept each other. It is difficult to make them live together, just like the South Korea and North Korea. They used to be the same community, but now they become more and more different from each other because they don't live together. Then, they will become two different communities one day. Likewise, the aborigines and the Chinese are facing the same problem. Although we live together, we still have different cultures, so we can't live together. It will be a big challenge for both of us if we change their culture, and make them the same with us.
THE WINDY INLAND SEA
WANG JIA-XIANG
REVIEWER: DORATHY TSAI
BOOK NUMBER: 9789579361699
CALL NUMBER: 857.7 1033
The story is about an indigenous person in Taiwan in 17th century. The witch of the main character’s tribe predicted that the disaster would come from the sea. Then, the main character left his home for a girl, became a businessman and went through many things that he couldn’t imagine. The author Jia-Xiang Wong once made a deal with his friend to be a worker of writing, so he has written many books about the nature and indigenous people in Taiwan. The author wants to tell people what indigenous people felt and how they fought for themselves at the time. The author knows many things about indigenous people and history. He wants to tell the story to those who want to learn the history of the period from different angles. The story is in a subjective tone, which shows what indigenous people felt in the 17th century.
In the beginning of the story, the main character Sanan saw many big ships coming from the sea. Because Sanan’s mother had a baby before she was old enough and violated the taboo, the witch said the baby, Sanan, would bring disasters to the tribe and the disaster would come from the sea. After Sanan saw those big ships, some foreigners with red hair and Chinese people came to Sanan's tribe and asked them for trading. The men of Sanan’s tribe brought some buckskin to the market near the harbor to trade. Sanan went back to his tribe and was turned down by a girl. He received a gift from the girl he met at the harbor, so he went to look for her. Sanan didn’t see the girl again but became a businessman between indigenous people and others. People who came from the sea started doing things that were considered to be indigenous people’s taboo and gave them less money to buy the same things. Those red-hair foreigners made Chinese people pay high tax, so Chinese people fought for themselves. Sanan’s tribe decided to fight at the same time and red-hair foreigners defeated them easily. In the end, Sanan found out what they could do to was run away.
This story shows how different indigenous people thought about nature. They thought humans should respect nature, instead of trying to control and destroy it for humans' needs. For instance, when Sanan saw a forest which was holy for them destroyed, he was very angry and believed the God would punish them. He didn't understand why those people took the wood from the forest. There was enough wood in other places. In brief, the author is good at describing what a person thinks in his mind. When Sanan got lost in a marsh, the author describes Sanan's fear as "Sanan thinks he is in the stomach of a big monster."
SEEK AN ISLAND
LIAO, HONG-JI
REVIEWER: SELIN ZENG
BOOK NUMBER: 9789574558254
CALL NUMBER: 857.63 0034
This book shows fishermen's life and their mentality. It describes individual stories of each fisherman. They told their own experience and how to get fish successfully. In the process of fishing, they were lost, and they must find their own Island and finish their own load.
The third chapter, which is my favorite one, talks about a man called "Big Head." He dreamed often when he was young. Once, he dreamed he swam in the city which was full of water. He swam until he found an Island in his heart. However, when he woke up, he lost his Island in his heart. Someday, he suddenly got an idea. He got a boat and traveled on the sea. He found his Island and his load finally. The author used many beautiful words to let us go deep in it. He described fishermen's life and experience. He wanted to let us know how beautiful the fish is, how mysterious the island is, and how valuable the sea is.
The two different cultures and two different communities, the Tao and the Chinese, are embedded with different traditions, so they might not accept each other. It is difficult to make them live together, just like the South Korea and North Korea. They used to be the same community, but now they become more and more different from each other because they don't live together. Then, they will become two different communities one day. Likewise, the aborigines and the Chinese are facing the same problem. Although we live together, we still have different cultures, so we can't live together. It will be a big challenge for both of us if we change their culture, and make them the same with us.
SO MUCH WATER
SO CLOSE TO HOME
WU, MING-YI
REVIEWER: VIVIAN LIN
BOOK NUMBER: 9789867237705
CALL NUMBER: 855 2668
"So Much Water So Close To Home" is a story about the experiences and the feelings Wu Mingyi had when he lived close to the river, ocean and lake. Wu Mingyi is the author who wrote this book and his writing mainly focuses on novels and prose. He used gentle words to write this book, and I think why he wrote this book is because of the belief that we can view the world as other creatures.
The story can be made into four parts: the river, the ocean, the lake and the postscript. In the first part, the author talked about his experience with the river. For instance, he walked along the river in Hualien and observed different creatures. In the second part, he talked about the ocean with its view, sound, and history. He thought that there is an ocean in our body. It was kind of something similar in the third part. The author told us that he stayed in a lake in a school, watching the creatures closely and taking a lot of pictures. I think the most important thing he wanted to express is that we should view this world as other creatures and treat nature well.
It's true that we love nature. We have tried to protect nature but also still destroy it at the same time. We know that nature is around us, but we don't notice that nature may disappear one day. For example, the air quality has not been good for a period of time. We love clean air and we want to have clean air to breathe, and we know that air pollution isn't good for nature. Therefore, we, humanity, are thinking about having wind power plants but not thermal power plants or something else. However, what is the most fundamental problem? It's us. It's the power we have wasted. We want to have clean air but still produce more and more waste of power. It's unreasonable! So as the book tells us, we need to view the world as other creatures. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and solve problems in the right way.
THE WAY OF BUTTERFLIES
WU, MING-YI
REVIEWER: HUANG, WUN-CI
BOOK NUMBER: 9789866490316
CALL NUMBER: 855 2668
The book talks about the environment protection. The author who is good at writing an article of nature uses butterflies to let people understand that our land has been hurt. Also, he includes some scientific knowledge into the book. In the book, he describes nature as an injured child.
In the first volume, the author wants to teach the readers a lesson: the world depends not only on different senses but also on the mind. The author uses the sense of his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and even death to describe the static butterflies and the moving butterflies. The author, however, is color-blind. Although he is poor at telling the colors, he still tries his best to portray the butterflies to the life. In the volume, the author focuses on the relationship between human beings and nature. The most impressive part to me is the story of Lemon Migrant. Because their habitat (Kassod Tree) was used to make the stock which was planted for the massacre under the rule of Japan.
In conclusion, the author’s argument is different from the general dogmatic preaching of living nature. He leads the readers to have the feeling of virtually being there. The least but not last, everything has spirituality. People are just a small part of this ecology. We can’t destroy nature because of our selfishness. It is now important that we need to respect nature and make it grow and multiply without any end.
BEYOND BEAUTY TAIWAN
CHI, PO-LIN
REVIEWER: SANDY CHOU
BOOK NUMBER: 9789861334691
CALL NUMBER: 733.3 0044
The topic of this book shows us how the author went from taking only beautiful aerial photos to becoming an observer of the problem of human destruction to the natural environment. Because during his recording of Typhoon Morakot, the mudslide was just like the bleeding earth, which made him think that it is necessary to prevent environmental disasters with his aerial photos. The book is for people who care about Taiwan because they need to coexist with nature. The creator's message to us is when we look at the beauty and the sorrow of Taiwan, we can truly bless her. The writer was not afraid of any restrictions and thus concentrated on doing what he wanted to accomplish. The book objectively records and describes the facts that have occurred.
Because of his love for photography, Chi Po-Lin began his aerial photos of various major projects in Taiwan sponsored by our government. Since then, he recorded the scenery of Taiwan from the air. In the first chapter, he said that because he recorded a disaster after a typhoon, he began to care about the balance between humanity and nature. In the fourth chapter of the city, he said that for the kind of home we want to have, there will be a corresponding urban appearance, and the various appearances in the city reflect the variety of people on this land. Many regularly-shaped fish farms and colorful rivers are very spectacular and beautiful from the air, but in fact they are the major causes of environmental problems such as land subsidence and the river pollution. Under the double threats of human and natural disasters, the degree and the speed of Taiwan's destruction have increased day by day.
The book records the real appearance of Taiwan's mountains, rivers, seas, cities, and the people from the air. It is time for us to think about how to balance our human development and the natural ecology!
BEYOND BEAUTY TAIWAN
FROM ABOVE
CHI, PO-LIN
REVIEWER: SELINA YANG
BOOK NUMBER: 9789869246705
CALL NUMBER: 733.3 0044
Beyond Beauty Taiwan from Above is a book talking about life, nature, and history in Taiwan. In the familiar scenes of our streets, lanes, alleys from sunrise to sunset, this book leads us from the sky to see our homes. The author took his 30 years of shooting results carefully to record what had changed a lot because of the time. Through the traces of history, we think about the good and the bad things of this area.
Mr. Chi Po-Lin uses lots of photos to describe Taiwan's custom and culture. Whether it's sacrificial activities, temple, buildings, and the traditional rituals of indigenous tribes. We can all feel the people´s love for this land in the pictures. He also compares the same place at different times. For example, 85 Sky Tower in Kaohsiung surrounded by towering buildings now. Different from the previous natural landscapes' photos, there're lots more photos in the book about religious beliefs and customs.
Both the Sun Moon Lake International Cross-Lake Swimming Carnival or Dawu Flying Fish Season, they all show the scene of warmth and love in Taiwan. We have a strong national character and rich historical culture, worthy of picturing. I can feel the power and spirit on this land in the earth sonata and in the corners we live.
THE MAN WITH
THE COMPOUND EYES
WU, MING-YI
REVIEWER: JANET ZHANG
BOOK NUMBER: 9789865824631
CALL NUMBER: 857.7 2668
The topic of the book is how we, as a human being, treated "our" sea and mountains, and every natural thing. We have to protect our nature, no matter what the goals are, because nature is gradually falling apart, due to our arrogance. If we lose the resources that we rely on for a thousand years, how can we pass on our civilization? For instance, the sea has been polluted, and the mountains are now empty. Things change, and they are not the same as years ago. The author talks about environmental issues and hopes to take action to save the remains. Everyone has their own problem, their work, their beliefs, and all of them are related to nature, because our civilization has been based on it. People have bias on one's job or nature. The writer doesn't blame anyone, but he tells stories in an objective tone.
The story begins with a boy and his island. Atre, the second son in his family, had to accomplish an impossible mission of the tube so that he had to get married with the girl he loved. He followed the waves, and drifted to Taiwan. Then, he met Alice, who lost her husband and son in an accident. Alice kept a cat that was found by herself when the sea flood drowned her house. They two, together lived secretly in a cabin led by Dach, a man from Bumun. The story makes all the things related together to this group of people. They have their own routine, their own life, and their friends. The writer tells the changes of the climate, forest, oceans and even mountains from every word they spoke in the story. Everything was not as the past, while the remains were changing at a high speed. They had to face the problems, where the problems came from, such as from their family, environment, or job.
The book is "special." The writer describes things in an objective tone, without any criticism or even bias. They are defined in a pure way. For instance, an innkeeper, Hafan, she found this inn all by herself, but where did her money come from? She relied on her specialized profession, selling her body to save money. "Everyone" uses their body to earn money, but in different ways; because of the money, she had her own inn. This is how I think about the writer. He thinks everything in a pure way.
