Books by Pai Hsien-yung
“Many consider Taipei People not only Pai Hsien-yung’s finest work but among the most exquisite stories of all of modern Chinese literature. Pai combines highly literate semi-classical Chinese with techniques of modernism, especially interior monologue. The narratives also pay intricate attention to symbolism, particularly of light and color. The collection centers on the decadent world of Taipei’s Shanghainese exiles. In many of the stories, the mainland émigrés’ attempts to recapture the past reveal the power and dangers of nostalgia. Whereas most of the tales present an image of leisure, comfort, and gentility, the narrators’ accounts often subtly undermine the splendor of the émigrés’ world. The reader is often left with a sad vision of moral decay. Or at least with a sense of lost glory and forsaken dreams.” Read more...
Sabina Knight, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by Pai Hsien-yung 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.