This post is repurposed on 12/15/2016.
I don't think I've actually gone back and edited a blogpost on blogger before; and if I had, that would literally be a decade ago! The original blogpost published on 11/28/06, 8:23 AM, only consists 11 words. It was truly a testing post lol. I guess I'll be taking my time to update this post. For the time being, I suppose you only need to know that I'm bilingual.
I'm not sure if it's because I've been living in the States for sometimes now; perhaps it's cuz nothing is exactly fresh and new anymore, I do not feel that books written in certain languages are more superior than the rest. To be clear, I'm also NOT suggesting people who only read in one language have a complex or anything; I guess I had to accidentally come across some hidden gems to realize that, seriously, just because some books aren't written in English, doesn't make them any lesser! They just unfortunately have fewer opportunities to be internationally recognized.
The following may seem a bit off topic, but I feel I need to elaborate, for it really affected me on a psych level. I'm a firm "Taiwan-IS-Taiwan" believer; I'm Taiwanese, period. I'm NOT gonna deny I have Chinese roots; that's a FACT, and I'm thankful to be born into a COUNTRY that originated from another that has SUCH a rich history. When I was young, I suppose I wasn't matured enough to appreciate it, or that my taste had changed as I grew; either way, once I stopped limiting myself, I honestly felt honored xP. THAT being said, the past IS the PAST. I cannot fathom deluding myself into thinking I were from PRC. And before anyone gets all offended, let me explain what I mean. I would feel equally incredulous were I to be forced to say I'm Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, or Japanese etc. I have nothing against those countries, I don't exactly have anything against PRC, even; just that regardless of whether or not they are "good" countries, they ARE NOT MY COUNTRY. That's not where I was born and raised from.
My point? So yeah, because of the political situation, I admit I'm extra self-conscious (self not even as in "myself," but on behalf of the country lmao), lacking confidence, and could be a little bitter when some works, that, imo, truly OWNED IT, aren't widely celebrated. Understand this, I DO know different taste can't and shouldn't be forced upon others; that's not the issue. It however saddens me that, a lot of the times, through body language and tone, I'm often under the impression that a lot of people aren't even considering giving the works a chance, just because they were created by people from our own country. This is not just occurring to literature; in fact, I first noticed this when it comes to manga.
Before embracing my love for reading "books with more words," I've always been a very visual person, still am. Manga is a big part of my life and would continue to be. To cut the story short, I think it's safe to say that the majority of fellow manga readers in Taiwan, looks down on manga produced by Taiwanese artists, thinking that those works or somehow less, or a form of copycat. It is no wonder there's no tens of thousands Taiwanese mangakas in this kind of environment. Heck, perhaps I'm a coward, but my mangaka dream died when I sobered up evaluating my surroundings; passionate or not, I didn't think the extra pressure of "proving I'm not a copycat/I'm equally as good as the Japanese mangaka I admire" to my audience was worth going through.
The lack of self-respect is pretty ingrained in our culture. Before becoming the next newbie to attempt fighting against generations of "selling ourselves short," what I can do is, however, proudly introduce and recommend the Taiwanese works I am so enamored with and think highly of, the ones I feel are just as good as, if not better than, the works from other countries.
Last thing to note before tying back to what can be expected on this blog: Putting aside the whole thing about endorsing Taiwanese-Pride, there's also the factor regarding to the stereotypical image people often associate when it comes to comicbook/manga readers. For crying out loud, I simply don't understand why these kind of fanatics are receiving way more negative judgments than other fanatics do; you don't see people looking down on hardcore movie fads or music enthusiasts, man, even gamers hold some sort of respect were they to be super active in the field they love. But no, when it comes to serious comicbook or manga readers, passionately talking about what they love would only mostly get them a "nerd/geek/otaku" label.
Do you not see the injustice and unfairness of it all? For the longest time, it almost seemed like only comicbook/manga readers would have common interests with one another, that they could only find people they can relate to within their community. Come off it; fact is, they are human, too, and some, if not most, of them have other interests as well. There shouldn't be an isolation or separation for this particular group. Some (I emphasize NOT ALL) comicbook/manga truly have great substance, and I urge people to try learning to take them seriously, instead of dismissing them due to the format those epic stories were presented in.
You might think I'm a bit hypocritical considering I myself do not add comicbook/manga to my Goodreads account. I've explained why on my profile but all the same: Not only would it be extra amount of work to add all I've read and wanted to read, which actually is the least of all the problem, but because Goodreads (more because of its users) isn't sentient enough to understand comicbook/manga has GENRES as well. Just because I like a certain manga series, doesn't automatically guarantee I would like another that is also in the form of manga. Like they would not recommend me a "horror" novel, just because I like a "sci-fi" novel, both being novels. Until the system improves, I would not be changing how I handle the situation, but to make up for the lack of a great range of readings you wouldn't be able to find on my Goodreads account, you'll see them here on my blog.
To wrap it up, you can expect reviews on novels, companion short stories or novellas, cookbooks, manga, and comicbooks.
Films, TV series, anime, cartoons, and music ARE NOT the focus of this blog; however, were they to be adaptations of materials I am covering, they would make appearances.
You'll also get to see lists I compiled of food featured and mentioned in books I read.
