Three-Legged Horse
Here are twelve moving short stories about Taiwan and its people by one of the island's most popular writers, Cheng Ch'ing-wen. Focusing primarily on village life and the effects of modernization on Taiwan in the postwar years, Cheng is one of the most respected of the island's "nativist" writers, yet this is his first book to be translated into English. This anthology represents the best of his fictional efforts across a forty-year span and encompasses his major themes: the tensions between...
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These twelve stories represent the best work of respected "nativist" writer Cheng Ch'ing-wen and encompass his major themes: the tensions between men and women, parents and children, city and village, tradition and modernity.Gail TsukiyamaHearts and souls are lost and found in each of these moving tales.Three-Legged Horse is a rare jewel, the first English translations from Cheng's 40-year writing career. We can only wait in eager anticipation for his next collection.
1. The River Suite, by translated by Lien-ren Hsiao2. The Mosquito, by translated by Anne Behnke3. Betel Nut Town, by translated by James R. Landers4. A Fisherman's Family, by translated by Jane Parish Yang5. The Last of the Gentlemen, by translated by Chen I-djen6. Secrets, by translated by Jeffrey Toy Eng7. God of Thunder's Gonna Getcha, by translated by Nicholas Koss8. Autumn Night, by translated by Michele Wu9. Spring Rain, by translated by Karen Steffen Chung10. The Three-Legged Horse, by translated by Carlos G. Tee11. Hair, by translated by Karen Steffen Chung12. The Coconut Palms on Campus, by translated by Fred Steiner
\ Guanlong CaoThis collection of simple stories, written in simple language yet rich with vivid details, presents a gallery of portraits of disorientation, distortion, and frustration.\ \ \ \ \ Bradley WintertonThe moment you open the book you know why Cheng is considered a master. . . . These 12 tales are the finest examples of modern Chinese fiction I have come across in English.\ \ \ Gail TsukiyamaHearts and souls are lost and found in each of these moving tales.Three-Legged Horse is a rare jewel, the first English translations from Cheng's 40-year writing career. We can only wait in eager anticipation for his next collection.\ \ \ \ \ J. W. WallsCheng writes in a simple, clear, and disciplined manner, with no pretensions. . . . The stories . . . have universal appeal.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalOne of Taiwan's best-known writers, Cheng is here represented by 12 short stories. All of them take place in Taiwan, usually in rural areas and in the recent past. Some dwell on lost love ("The River Suite"), others on past memories ("Three Legged Horse"), and still others on relationships ("The Mosquito"). A few reveal Chinese customs ("A Fisherman's Family"), but most strike a universal note in their depiction of human emotions and events. Cheng has devoted himself to the "nativist" movement and thus writes about the people of Taiwan without reference to connections with mainland China. Almost all the stories have different translators, but this does not detract from the fine unity of expression. Cheng has had a 40-year writing career, but this collection is the first to be translated into English. We can only hope that more will follow. -- Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Community College, Garden City, New York\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsA collection of 12 moving stories about Taiwan and its people by one of the island's most popular writers. Stories are chosen from work written over a 40-year span, and deal with tensions between men and women, parents and children, city and village, and tradition and modernity. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.\ \ \ \ \ Guanlong Cao...[M]ost of the stories focus on the gloomy influence of history...[while] others...shift perspective to the clash of tradition and modernity in a rapidly changing society. -- The New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsAn appealing empathy with the fates of embattled "little people" distinguishes this fine collection of 12 stories (from a 40-year oeuvre of nearly 200) by a popular Taiwanese author only now appearing in English translation. Cheng's characters are most often small-town souls burdened if not traumatized by their country's long experience of Japanese occupation (1895-1945) and by its subsequent transformation from an agrarian to an urban culture. The narrator of "The Last of the Gentlemen" offers a valediction to a dead friend that also becomes a lament for the society's drift toward an impersonal industrialization; "Betel Nut Town" subjects an inchoate love affair to the contrast between city and village; and the title story depicts a guilty survivor of WWII (when he served with Japan's colonial police force) now "atoning" for this treason by carving deformed (i.e., "three-legged") wooden horses. Equally affecting are several pieces that examine troubled family relations, including quietly powerful characterizations of a man dominated by his wife's unpleasant family ("The Mosquito"), a young woman in conflict with her demanding mother-in-law ("Autumn Night"), a mother and son estranged by their separate experiences of deprivation and misery ("Thunder God's Gonna Getcha"), and the wary partners in a marriage that only gradually becomes trusting ("Secrets"). Two stories are especially impressive: "The River Suite," about a young ferryman who's inspired by the spirit of his late grandfather to an act of courage and to pursue, perhaps belatedly, his heart's desire; and "Spring Rain," about an orphan who endures a childless marriage and the death of his wife before finding in totalselflessness the fulfillment previously denied him. It's a typically understated story, capped by a beautiful Chekhovian conclusion. Chekhov, in fact, would have understood the compassionate sensibility animating these gently harrowing, unpretentious, absorbing tales. More of Cheng's fiction would be welcome.\ \ \ \ \ New York Times Book ReviewThis collection of simple stories, written in simple language yet rich with vivid details, presents a gallery of portraits of disorientation, distortion, and frustration.\ — Guanlong Cao\ \ \ \ \ \ Pacific Rim Voices Book ReviewHearts and souls are lost and found in each of these moving tales. Three-Legged Horse is a rare jewel, the first English translations from Cheng's 40-year writing career. We can only wait in eager anticipation for his next collection.\ — Gail Tsukiyama\ \ \ \ \ \ ChoiceCheng writes in a simple, clear, and disciplined manner, with no pretensions.... The stories... have universal appeal.\ — J. W. Walls, Simon Fraser University\ \ \ \ \ \ South China Morning PostThe moment you open the book you know why Cheng is considered a master.... These 12 tales are the finest examples of modern Chinese fiction I have come across in English.\ — Bradley Winterton\ \ \ \ \ \ New York Times Book Review\ - Guanlong Cao\ This collection of simple stories, written in simple language yet rich with vivid details, presents a gallery of portraits of disorientation, distortion, and frustration.\ \ \ \ \ \ Pacific Rim Voices Book Review\ - Gail Tsukiyama\ Hearts and souls are lost and found in each of these moving tales. Three-Legged Horse is a rare jewel, the first English translations from Cheng's 40-year writing career. We can only wait in eager anticipation for his next collection.\ \ \ \ \ \ Choice\ - J.W. Walls\ Cheng writes in a simple, clear, and disciplined manner, with no pretensions.... The stories... have universal appeal.\ \ \ \ \ South China Morning Post\ - Bradley Winterton\ The moment you open the book you know why Cheng is considered a master.... These 12 tales are the finest examples of modern Chinese fiction I have come across in English.\ \ \ \ \ \ Choice\ - J. W. Walls\ Cheng writes in a simple, clear, and disciplined manner, with no pretensions.... The stories... have universal appeal.\ \ \
