Wang Wenxing

[Liam]

Wang Wenxing (1939-) is a Taiwanese writer who is sometimes referred to as the Flaubert of China. Writing only 35 words a day, it usually takes him a very long time to write his books. His most famous novel, The Man against the Sea (a mere 130 pages translated into English as Backed against the Sea) had taken him twenty-five years to complete.

"Written as the ludicrous and disturbing ramblings of an errant, pseudo-intellectual urbanite secluding himself from the underworld in an impoverished coastal village of Taiwan in the early 1960s, this novel prompted the first critical discussion of postmodernism in Chinese fiction and still stands as the most provocative and innovative narrative published in Taiwan over the past two decades."

You can read a comprehensive review of the novel here.

Other books include Family Catastrophe and Endless War: Fiction and Essays.

[Eric]

I'm not yet convinced that this man who writes 35 words a day, has written two novels (no wonder, if he's so slow) and has edited a book of essays is worth our attention just because he has taken a look at the European-based literary phenomenon Modernism.

I've not yet seen a proper review of either of his novels. I fear the workings of hype.

[Liam]

Why don't you READ The Man against the Sea then, Eric? It shouldn't take too long, given that it's only 130 pages in length.

I don't know, he seems like a very reserved and intelligent individual; he may be the real deal after all. Southeast Asia is producing some spectacular talents at the moment, both in the realm of cinema and in literature.

[Uemarasan]

Yeah, why don't you actually read the books first before basking in your own misguided arrogance? And shouldn't quality be preferred over quantity anyway? (Elizabeth Bishop? Emily Bronte?) Have yet to read a proper review? Then learn Mandarin/Taiwanese, for crying out loud.

I fear the workings of lazy, uninformed opinion. Anyway, thank you for pointing the way to a writer I haven't heard of, Liam. I wish there was more information about him available in English.

[Daniel del Real]

Agree with both. Getting tired of Eric's uninformed and misguiding assumptions (though no one who has been in this forum enough time takes it seriously).