The Stolen Bicycle
On a quest to explain how and why his father mysteriously disappeared twenty years ago, a writer embarks on an epic journey in search of a stolen bicycle and soon finds himself immersed in the strangely overlapping histories of the Japanese military during World War II, Lin Wang, the oldest elephant who ever lived, and the secret world of antique bicycle collectors in Taiwan The result is a surprising and moving meditation on memory, loss, and the bonds of family Award winning novelist Wu Ming Yi is also an artist, designer, photographer, literary professor, butterfly scholar, environmental activist, traveller and blogger, and is widely considered the leading writer of his generation in his native Taiwan. New Read The Stolen Bicycle [ By ] Wu Ming-Yi [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr In 1905 Taiwan, owning a bike was like owning a Mercedes Simple farmers and fishermen coveted a bicycle to call their own, a thih be an iron horse that would carry their harvest or fish to market Bikes were precious The theft of an iron horse was reported in the local newspaper Religious villagers prayed to the Holy King for the safe return of an iron steed The narrator, Ch eng, describes the disappearance of his father and his bike in 1993, the day after Chung Shan Hall Market was torn d In 1905 Taiwan, owning a bike was like owning a Mercedes Simple farmers and fishermen coveted a bicycle to call their own, a thih be an iron horse that would carry their harvest or fish to market Bikes were precious The theft of an iron horse was reported in the local newspaper Religious villagers prayed to the Holy King for the safe return of an iron steed The narrator, Ch eng, describes the disappearance of his father and his bike in 1993, the day after Chung Shan Hall Market was torn down What happened to Ch eng s father No body was recovered, therefore, Ch eng embarks upon a journey to trace the bike s trajectory, find the bike, and perhaps discover why his father disappeared 20 years ago.What type of bike did Ch eng s father own Rattling off brands to his mother, she seemed to remember the name Lucky, a brand produced in Taiwan Ride your way to Lu...I have rather mixed feelings about this one, which is my third book from the Man Booker International longlist The history of Taiwan and the experiences of the Taiwanese are not at all familiar and the book covers a wide range of subject matter, so parts of it were very interesting It does contain some very interesting stories aJapanese perspective on the war in Malaysia, Singapore and Burma, plenty of elephants and butterflies including their use in making art , and it is clear just I have rather mixed feelings about this one, which is my third book from the Man Booker International longlist The history of Taiwan and the experiences of the Taiwanese are not at all familiar and the book covers a wide range of subject matter, so parts of it were very interesting It does contain some very interesting stories aJapanese perspective on the war in Malaysia, Singapore and Burma, plenty of elephants and butterflies including their use in making art , and it is clear just from the fact that iron horses were bicycles ra... Stories exist in the moment when you have no way of knowing how you got from the past to the present We never know at first why they continue to survive, as if in hibernation, despite the erosive power of time But as you listen to them, you feel like they have been woken up, and end up breathing them in Needle like, they poke along your spine into your brain before stinging you, hot and cold, in the heart.Book 7 13 of my reading from the Man Booker Interational longlist and yet another stro Stories exist in the moment when you have no way of knowing how you got from the past to the present We never know at first why they continue to survive, as if in hibernation, despite the erosive power of time But as you listen to them, you feel like they have been woken up, and end up breathing them in Needle like, they poke along your spine into your brain before stinging you, hot and cold, in the heart.Book 7 13 of my reading from the Man Booker Interational longlist and yet another strong contender This is an absolutely gorgeous novel, both graphically with the author s own hand drawn illustrations of bicycles and hand written Chinese writing opening and closing each of the History of the Bicycle chapters interspersed ...2 starsI think this was a story about many stolen bicycles, bicycle history in Taiwan and lots of little stories that had nothing whatsoever to do with bicycles My ebook expired before I finished but I am certainly in no hurry to borrow this book again I offer the 2 stars for the snippets of information about cruelty to butterflies which were made to suffer by having their wings cut off in the name of art while their bodies were tossed, alive, into buckets in each workers station I really hop 2 starsI think this was a story about many stolen bicycles, bicycle history in Taiwan and lots of little stories that had nothing whatsoever to do with bicycles My ebook expired before I finished but I am certainly in no hurry to borrow this book again I offer the 2 stars for the snippets of information about cruelty to butterflies which were made to suffer by having their wings cut off in the name of...Narrator s parents wanting a male child named their fifth daughter A mu h enough enough that kind of names, I thought, were an Indian specialty Kafi enough same implication , Mafi forgiveness to god for having given the parents another daughter etc.That is almost the only striking thing I discovered in this book Wu Ming Yi s novel has a very loose plot and prose, though beautiful in beginning, falls mostly short of stimulating for the most part It is about narrator s quest for h Narrator s parents wanting a male child named their fifth daughter A mu h enough enough that kind of names, I thought, were an Indian specialty Kafi enough same implication , Mafi forgiveness to god for having given the parents another daughter etc.That is almost the only striking thing I discovered in this book Wu Ming Yi s novel has a very loose plot and prose, though beautiful in beginning, falls mostly short of stimulating for the most part It is about narrator s quest for his father s stolen bicycle who also went missing at the same time, but the narrator doesn t hold the same kind of curiosity for whereabouts of his father while t...This was a wonderful, lyrical, and fascinating book bicycles and elephants do not often play a major role in the same book This book indirectly provides a lot of information about Taiwan, its subservience to Japan in the years up to and during WWII, and the diversity of Taiwan s citizens and languages spoken I am a bicycle lover and very much enjoyed the history of bicycles in Taiwan and the many stories of stolen bicycles I also very much enjoyed hearing about the elephants in the zoos and This was a wonderful, lyrical, and fascinating book bicycles and elephants do not often play a major role in the same book This book indirectly provides a lot of information about Taiwan, its subservience to Japan in the years up to and during WWII, and the diversity of Taiwan s citizens and languages spoken I am a bicycle lover and very much enjoyed the histor...I really wanted to enjoy this book It is a thing of beauty to look at and to hold Simply seeing the physical book makes you want to love it.Our narrator, Ch eng not named until very late in the book is an author who is prompted by a letter from a reader to investigate the history of his father s bicycle which disappeared at the same time as his father many years previously This book is, amongst many other things, the story of that search Along the way, it takes many, many detours One of t I really wanted to enjoy this book It is a thing of beauty to look at and to hold Simply seeing the physical book makes you want to love it.Our narrator, Ch eng not named until very late in the book is an author who is prompted by a letter from a reader to investigate the history of his father s bicycle which disappeared at the same time as his father many years previously This book is, amongst many other things, the story of that search Along the way, it takes many, many detours One of those detoursabout this in a minute is into the history of the butterfly collages produced by putting down layer upon layer of butterfly wings to build an overall picture This book is rather like that it builds up layers of historical facts, mundane details and human emotions and memory in order to create an overall picture of Taiwan and wid... Stories exist in the moment when you have no way of knowing how you got from the past to the present We never know at first why they continue to survive, as it in hibernation, despite the erosive power of time But as you listen to them, you feel like they have been woken up, and up breathing them in Needle like, they poke along your spine into your brain before stinging you, hot and cold, in the heart. I read this book after seeing its longlisting for the 2018 Man Booker International the Stories exist in the moment when you have no way of knowing how you got from the past to the present We never know at first why they continue to survive, as it in hibernation, despite the erosive power of time But as you listen to them, you feel like they have been woken up, and up breathing them in Needle like, they poke along your spine into your brain before stinging you, hot and cold, in the heart. I read this book after seeing its longlisting for the 2018 Man Booker International the combination of literature from for me a new literary country but one I encounter in my day to day work, and the history of bicycles seemed irresistible.The book itself is both beautifully produced an evocative cover, and inside illustrations which were produced by the author himself and beauti...I would have enjoyed reading some of this as separate stories, but because I found it so disjointed, running off on long tangets about different topics, I didn t finish it The writing and translation are good, although I had trouble with the names, which is my problem, not the author s I hasten to say I admit to getting confused about whose story was whose and whether the author was speaking about himself or actually relating someone else s story This takes place in Taiwan, formerly Formosa, a I would have enjoyed reading some of this as separate stories, but because I found it so disjointed, running off on long tangets about different topics, I didn t finish it The writing and translation are good, although I had trouble with the names, which is my problem, not the author s I hasten to say I admit to getting confused about whose story was whose and whether the author was speaking about himself or actually relating someone else s story This takes place in Taiwan, formerly Formosa, and having a bicycle was something a family saved for It was also a status symbol and used for everything, work, freight, shopping, taking family to the doctor.The narrator s father left the family years ago and took the bicycle, so he gets a notion to track it down When he thinks he has, he then considers tracing its history, maybe leading back to some explanation about his father s disappearance Maybe you can t trace your way from a river back to the rain or recons...This is an unusual, but fascinating story a mix of fact and fiction beautifully woven together by the author as the search for his father, who disappeared 20 years ago, through the medium of the bicycle his father disappeared on He thinks that if he can track down the bicycle, he might be able to find out why his father upped and left the family so long ago.What follows is a highly detailed book describing the family, their upbringing and the importance of the humble bicycle the iron horse This is an unusual, but fascinating story a mix of fact and fiction beautifully woven together by the author as the search for his father, who disappeared 20 years ago, through the medium of the bicycle his father disappeared on He thinks that if he can track down the bicycle, he might be able to find out why his father upped and left the family so long ago.What follows is a highly detailed book describing the family, their upbringing and the importance of the humble bicycle the iron horse to many families how it helped in day to day life, the use of bikes during the war and th...Part of this book were charming including the lovely illustrations of vintage bicycles and parts were very interesting However, I m not entirely sure it all held together as an actual story, although I have enjoyed learningabout Taiwan s history and about old bicy...This is a very strange novel, and a very beautiful one Over and above all else, this book is poeticTaipei TimesThe authors uses conversation, flashbacks of memory, war diaries, memoir and voice recordings to create a network of literary tributaries in bringing together this ambitious, far reaching narrative that touches so many unique aspects of Taiwan s history, culture, development and influencesWord by WordUnusual insights and vividly observed detail abound in this witty and sensitiThis is a very strange novel, and a very beautiful one Over and above all else, this book is poeticTaipei TimesThe authors uses conversation, flashbacks of memory, war diaries, memoir and voice recordings to create a network of literary tributaries in bringing together this ambitious, far reaching narrative that touches so many unique aspects of Taiwan s history, culture, development and influencesWord by WordUnusual insights and vividly observed detail abound in this witty and sensitive story Toowoomba ChronicleA work of astonishing energy, in which Wu beautifully touches on loss, life and death, fate and destiny, establishing emotional connections between memory and objects, and between the natural world and wara novel that provides comfort and reconciliation from a wounded past Thinking TaiwanThe novel, inspired by his love for bicycles and Taiwanese history, brings readers ba...
- English
- 13 August 2017 Wu Ming-Yi
- Kindle Edition
- 416 pages
- Wu Ming-Yi
- The Stolen Bicycle