The Man with the Compound Eyes

The Man with the Compound Eyes

2013 • 304 pages

Ratings4

Average rating4.3

15

I loved this (I read his later book The Stolen Bicycle first, which made me pick up this one).

It might be one of the saddest, and yet most beautiful books I've read. A mixture of magical realism, environmental concerns, and Taiwanese indigenous culture, it was written over 10 years ago, and the environmental issues it predicts have only gotten worse and more hopeless since. In the end it's down to a small black and white rescue cat to give the main protagonist a reason to keep living, which seems apt.

November 4, 2023Report this review