Two Trees Make a Forest: On Memory, Migration and Taiwan - Hardcover

Lee, Jessica J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0349011060 ISBN 13: 9780349011066

Publisher: Virago Press Ltd, 2019

Synopsis

I have learned many words for 'island': isle, atoll, eyot, islet, or skerry. They exist in archipelagos or alone, and always, by definition, I have understood them by their relation to water. But the Chinese word for island knows nothing of water. For a civilisation grown inland from the sea, the vastness of mountains was a better analogue: (dao, 'island') built from the relationship between earth and sky.

Between tectonic plates and conflicting cultures, Taiwan is an island of extremes: high mountains, exposed flatlands, thick forests. After unearthing a hidden memoir of her grandfather's life, written on the cusp of his total memory loss, Jessica J Lee hunts his story, in parallel with exploring Taiwan, hoping to understand the quakes that brought her family from China, to Taiwan and Canada, and the ways in which our human stories are interlaced with geographical forces. Part-nature writing, part-biography, Two Trees Make a Forest traces the natural and human stories that shaped an island and a family.

About this title

Book Description:

Part-nature writing, part-biography and beautifully written, Two Trees Make a Forest traces the natural and human stories that shaped an island and a family.

From the Back Cover:

I have learned many words for island: isle, atoll, eyot, skerry. They exist in archipelagos or alone, and always I have understood them by their relation to water. But the Chinese word for island knows nothing of water. For a civilisation grown inland from the sea, the vastness of mountains was a better metaphor: ? (dao, 'island') is built from the relationship between earth and sky.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0349011060
• ISBN 13: 9780349011066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256