i have so many feelings about this book but am not sure words can fully describe them.
i didn't realize at first that this book was originally written in the 1950s--i typically don't really read old books (assumptions that they will be boring and hard to understand, etc), but upon realizing this while reading the introduction i still decided to give it a chance. im so glad i did. this book is a heartbreaking love story, where you have to see Aoyama drive away Chi-Chan, then eventually Chi-Chan chooses to return. I love that the introduction reminds you that these two characters are the colonizer and the colonized, because Taiwan Travelogue can never escape that context (and i don't think it should). there is so much incredible commentary on the fact that, to just describe the base idea, you need to ask someone if they want or need help before giving it. i love this dearly, im so glad i ended up reading it. also THE DESCRIPTIONS OF FOOD!!! god the descriptions and food writing were top notch, nothing else can compare