The Man with the Compound Eyes, Wu MingYi
The Man with the Compound Eyes, Wu MingYi
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Man with the Compound Eyes
A Novel

Author: Wu Ming-Yi, Darryl Sterk

Narrator: Cindy Kay

Unabridged: 11 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/29/2021


Synopsis

When a tsunami sends a massive island made entirely of trash crashing into the Taiwanese coast, two very different people—an outcast from a mythical island and a woman on the verge of suicide—are united in ways they never could have imagined.

Fifteen-year-old Atile'i—a native of Wayo Wayo, an island somewhere in the Pacific—has come of age. Following the custom of his people, he is set adrift as a sacrifice to the Sea God but, unlike those who have gone before him, Atile'i is determined to defy precedent and survive. His chances seem slim, but just as it appears that hope is lost, Atile'i comes across a sprawling trash vortex floating in the ocean and climbs onto it.

Meanwhile, on the east coast of Taiwan, Alice, a college professor, is overcome with grief. Her husband and son are missing, having disappeared while hiking in the mountains near their home. Alice is so distraught that she decides to end her own life. But her plans are interrupted by a violent storm that causes the trash vortex to collide with the Taiwanese coast, bringing Atile'i along with it. Alice and Atile'i subsequently form an unlikely friendship that helps each of them come to terms with what they have lost.

About Wu Ming-Yi

Wu Ming-Yi was born in 1971 in Taiwan, where he still lives. A writer, artist, professor, and environmental activist, he has been teaching literature and creative writing at National Dong Hwa University since 2000 and is now a professor in the Department of Chinese. Wu is the author of two books of nature writing, the second of which, The Way of Butterflies, was awarded the China Times Open Book Award in 2003. His debut novel, Routes in the Dream, was named one of the ten best Chinese-language novels of the year by Asian Weekly magazine. The Man with the Compound Eyes is his first book to be translated into English.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Meike on May 15, 2022

Taiwanese writer, professor and environmental activist Wu Ming-Yi gives us innovative ecofiction: We meet an indigenous teenager named Atile'i, who, as a second son, is sent out to sea to die, as it is custom for the Wayo Wayo people. But the young man is saved when he reaches a major trash vortex w......more

Goodreads review by Kuszma on December 17, 2019

Igazából minden adott ahhoz, hogy ez a könyv bukó legyen. Hisz annyi minden van belezsúfolva, annyi minden akar lenni egyszerre: 1.) családi dráma Alice-szal a középpontban, aki egyszerre veszítette el fiát és férjét 2.) kis tajvani mindentudó – a sziget geográfiájának, történelmének, törzseinek, tö......more

Goodreads review by Virginia on February 10, 2014

I started this book with an excited curiosity and this continued throughout the book. The intertwining story lines and the non linear weaving of memories providing beautifully detailed back stories for every character introduced alongside the progression of the story line had me hooked. This book is......more

Goodreads review by Bülent on April 19, 2025

Muazzam. İnsanın içine işleyen bir roman. Kimi bölümleri büyülü gerçeklikle bezenmiş, sanki çok kadim hikayeler anlatılıyor, öylesine etkileyici. Kimi bölümlerinde sanki hayatınızdan parçalar alınıp sunuluyor, öylesine gerçekçi ve vurucu. Sonra bu iki gerçeklik birbiriyle kesişiyor ve her şey iki kat......more

Goodreads review by Els Book Hunters on October 23, 2022

L'acció humana provoca la destrucció del medi ambient a un ritme que probablement ja és irreversible. Un exemple d'això són els vòrtex d'escombraries que hi ha als oceans, autèntiques illes de deixalles grans com països. La del Pacífic és protagonista en aquesta història ja que unirà dues persones q......more