It's a little difficult to say that I don't hold a book in overly high regard when I'm yet to even make it 50 pages in, but Taiwan Travelogue simply feels too unserious.

I don't necessarily think that a serious nature is required for a novel, but I do believe that the presentation should be catered to the content. Yang understands the delicate nature of colony and colonizer, but fails to substantially implicate that insurmountable wall, allowing a comically styled wrecking ball to be taken to it via the overdetailed lists of food and Chizuko's entire lack of imperialism.

This is the more offensive failure, I feel. I don't mind the anachronisms of her character— rather, I don't necessarily mind the anachronistic narrative style that permeates the pages of this novel. What I well and truly dislike is, for lack of a better term, Chizuko's "quirk chungus" personality. It makes me feel disdain, the mere fact that the character can only exist as a "strong woman" and "foodie" entirely erases the valuable concept of colony and colonizer, which one would argue is the primary purpose of this novel.

Maybe I will be incorrect, and maybe these opinions will shift as I read more, but the disappointment felt by these earliest interactions remains a bitter taste left in my mouth.