Books by Ch'en Ying-chen
“Eight of the nine stories in this collection were published in the sixties, before Ch’en’s incarceration from 1968 to 1975. Yet his sympathy with socialist ideals already comes through. At the very least, the stories evince his conviction that fiction should be based in social conscience. Several are highly critical of the perils of intellectualism, capitalism, materialism, and U.S. influence on Taiwan. One directly denounces the American-Vietnam War. Some critics see some of Ch’en’s earliest stories as overly preoccupied with romantic nihilists, but I read them as a rebuke to the leisure classes. What’s powerful is the character development in certain stories, as when a sister struggles after her anarchist-nihilist brother’s suicide. One story, “A Couple of Generals,” brings together an older mainlander and a Taiwanese woman, a subject Ch’en treated elsewhere as well.” Read more...
Sabina Knight, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by Ch'en Ying-chen were recommended
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1
Taipei People
by Pai Hsien-yung -
2
Bamboo Shoots After the Rain: Contemporary Stories by Women Writers of Taiwan
by Ann Carver (editor) & Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang (editor) -
3
Exiles at Home: Stories
by Ch'en Ying-chen -
4
The Taste of Apples
by Huang Chun-ming -
5
Angelwings: Contemporary Queer Fiction from Taiwan
by Fran Martin (translator)
Short Stories from Taiwan, recommended by Sabina Knight
Short Stories from Taiwan, recommended by Sabina Knight
With careful literary crafting, Taiwan’s writers have told the complex story of their country since World War II. Sabina Knight, a professor at Smith College and author of Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction, recommends five of her favourite short story collections.
