Details
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9782360570812
Collection: Taiwan Fiction
14 x 18 cm
Weight: 292 gr
Pages: 272
First publication: 15/02/2017
Last printing: 02-2023
CLIL: 3621
BISAC: LCO004000
One of the major Taiwanese writers of the present generation, sometimes referred to as the “Taiwanese Murakami”.
On the bridge between the "Ai" (Love) building and the "Hsin" (Trust) building of the Chunghua Grand Market in Taipei, a magician practises his art. Around him, a whole world is active in small trades. The narrator, who is about ten years old at the time, holds a soles stand in front of the illusionist. Like his comrades, he is fascinated by his tricks, some of which go beyond the skillful mystification of the conjurer and seem to lead to mysterious parallel worlds. Having become an adult and still haunted by this troubling character, he questions those of his generation who may have had contact with him earlier. The evocation of the memory of the magician gives rise to a mosaic of stories, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, where the market becomes the kingdom of adventure and fantasy and where the dreams and the existential anxieties of young Taiwanese of the capital .
buybuyPRESS REVIEW
Translated books don't die
"... In my life, I have drawn a lot from French culture, films and music by French writers, especially François Truffaut films such as Les Quatre Cents Coups and Jules et Jim which have influenced me a lot. Without these influences, I wouldn't be the writer I am today. So I am very moved to be translated into French ... "
Telling a story is like conjuring
"... Many people have told me that they have also seen the wizard. But I have never seen him! How could they have seen it? This means that they wholeheartedly believe in the world of my fiction. They enter it unconsciously ... "
Beginning of June on Taiwan time
"... le Magicien sur la passerelle stands at the uncertain frontiers between the real and the imaginary ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle : a strange microcosm
"... All the characters of the Magician on the catwalk, and the narrator first, seem to be haunted by this childhood spent in the recesses of the Chunghua market, this small closed universe, this land where they witnessed thwarted passions, where they saw death and the ravages of pain, and yet where they knew how to find their place, find subterfuge to resist, help each other to clear the horizon ... "
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
“... Following the characters over the news was quite a disturbing experience, because I got lost between them a lot. Even now, I cannot really say which of them was the instigator of this adventure, but I really liked it since the rendering is all the more enigmatic ... "
The Taiwanese cavern of mischief
"... Just as the author, sui, explicitly referring to the magical realism of Garcia Marquez, punctuates his short stories with poetic animal appearances and cruel fates of life ..."
2017 trips
"... And the stories imbued with the fantastic tell a mosaic of destinies over which Taiwanese society takes shape ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... It is a bond that unites the merchants, the author and his classmates; a space of all the adventures for the children ... »
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... An endearing evocation of the daily life of the cosmopolitan population of the large market of Taipei (native Taiwanese, aborigines and communities who came from China after the Kuomin- tang seizure of Taiwanese territory) ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... Some important characters in one become a simple silhouette in another, they may only be mentioned. It's beautiful, it's simple, fluid, and you almost have the feeling of being in a novel with various entries ... "
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... Like his comrades, he is fascinated by his tricks, some of which go beyond the skillful mystification of the conjurer and seem to lead to mysterious parallel worlds ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... By evoking these memories, the places of childhood, the author gives life to this neighborhood destroyed in 1992 and at the same time unearths the nostalgia and the magic of childhood ..."
Le magicien sur la passerelle
" ... It's very well done. The nine short stories plus the last one in which the author explains how he arrived at this idea and this construction, follow each other, mingle ... ... "
BOOKS
"... Let yourself be carried away by this mosaic of dreamlike stories. Poetic slices of life in the heart of the Taiwanese capital ... "
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... A beautiful set, nicely presented, with drawings by the author, in a pleasant intermediate and almost square format ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... The work of a highly sensitive writer, this book delivers many different feelings, can just as easily provoke laughter and then melancholy a few pages apart ..."
Le Magicien sur la passerelle
"... The evocation of the memory of the magician gives rise to a mosaic of stories, sometimes funny, sometimes heart touching, where the market becomes the realm of adventure and fantasy and where the dreams and existential anxieties of young people are revealed. Taiwanese from the capital ... »
CONTRIBUTORS' BIOGRAPHIES
Wu Ming-yi
Wu Ming-yi, born in 1971 in Taiwan, teaches at Dong Hwa National University. Known for his environmental commitments, he is the author of several literary works, among which collections of short stories and novels. Two of his novels have been published in French: The Sleep Navigation Lines (You Feng, 2013) and The Man with the Faceted Eyes (Stock, 2014). This latest novel received the award 2014 Island Book Fiction, awarded at the International Book Fair islander of Ouessant.
Gwennaël Gaffric
Gwennaël Gaffric (born 1987) is a lecturer in Chinese studies at the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, where he teaches Chinese language and culture. He is the author of several articles in French, English and Chinese on Chinese-language literature (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). His recent research focuses on contemporary science fiction in Chinese. He is also one of the leading translators from Chinese of general literature, science fiction, fantasy and the humanities (literary studies, philosophy). His translations include the best-selling volumes of Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem trilogy. He regularly translates for L'Asiathèque, where he heads the "Taiwan Fiction" collection. He has also published at L'asiathèque: La littérature à l'ère de l'anthropocène (2019).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Le magicien sur la passerelle (The magician on the bridge)
Le 99e étage (The 99th floor)
De quoi se souviennent les lions de pierre ? (What do stone lions remember?)
Un éléphant sous les rais de lumière poussiéreux d’une ruelle (An elephant under the dusty rays of light of an alley)
Johnny-les-rivières
Le poisson rouge de Teresa (Teresa's goldfish)
Les oiseaux (Birds)
La boutique de costumes de monsieur T’ang (Mr. T'ang's suit shop)
La lumière est comme l’eau (Light is like water)
Le magicien sous l’arbre à pluie (The magician under the rain tree)
Postface • chronique du marché aux illusions (Afterword • chronicle of the market with illusions)
COLLECTION
Taiwan Fiction
ISSN : 2429-7496New books / Upcoming
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