The offshore island bible excerpt
Alternative Title
《外島書》摘譯
Document Type
Translation
Source Publication
Books From Taiwan
Publication Date
Summer 6-30-2015
Issue
2
First Page
78
Last Page
79
Publisher
Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
Abstract
Sterk translates the literary fiction "The offshore island bible" 《外島書》, written by Ho Chih-Ho (何致和). "The offshore island bible" is the story of a young man and two islands. He is a conscript sent to serve his mandatory military service on the faraway Tongyin Island, part of the Matsu archipelago. Like many young soldiers, he leaves behind a lover, but those sent offshore are in particularly dire straits because they have to wait many months before they can see their girlfriends again. Many relationships fail along the way. Sent on a mission of national importance and personal drudgery and misery, peacetime conscription is nevertheless somehow invested with spiritual profundity. Though this is a story of disillusionment, it is not a counsel of despair, but rather a contemporary Taiwanese bildungsroman, one man’s bible through everyman’s struggle.
Print ISSN
24100781
Publisher Statement
Copyright © Books From Taiwan, Summer 2015
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Ho, C.-H., & Sterk, D. (Tran.) (2015). "The offshore island bible" excerpt = 《外島書》摘譯. Books From Taiwan, (2), 78-79.