Review: The Membranes

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this is the first piece of Taiwanese queer literature I've read, which seems odd since I try to read any Taiwanese book I can get my hands on, and I'm sure there's plenty of it. 

Regardless, this is intense Scifi from the mid-nineties and, although it has a slow start, once it gets going it's quite original, especially considering this was pre-AI, pre Matrix and pretty much pre-internet. 

As someone who barely reads any queer literature and generally doesn't enjoy Scifi, I did enjoy this. Although I think I've had enough scifi for now. 

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Review: Notes of a Crocodile

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't say I liked this as much as "Last words from Montmartre", but that may just depend on which book I read first. 

I did like that Last Words from Montmartre was non-fiction, although this book itself read much too much like non-fiction, so I'm sure it's full of her experiences. 

Much like the other book, however, this was very intense, and can't help but make me feel that Qiu Maojin, aside from being gay during the 80s in Taiwan, also had to contend with the fact that she was too smart and too passionate to let anything go by without overly intense scrutiny and commitment. 

If you cannot get your hands on Last Words from Montmartre, this is probably a must-read. 

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Review: Last Words from Montmartre

Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book without a plot, which I tend to dislike out of hand. It is also one filled with intense feeling and emotions, which I usually avoid. However, for some reason, it was fascinating and kept me enthralled throughout. I am sure this is also because of the background. Knowing the author killed herself around a week after having written these letters, the book itself becomes haunting.

This book is probably what "The Sorrows of Young Werther" had set out to be, but it was more successful, at least in my opinion. I really felt like I was in the author's head, seeing her thoughts as they occurred. She seems to be a 26-year-old who was too smart, too passionate and too intense for her world.


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