Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
- Publisher: One World, 2020
- Genre: Magical Realism, Literary Fiction
- Format: Paperback
- Page Count: 272 pages
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Content warnings: cannibalism, animal abuse, animal killing, child abuse, miscarriage, suicide, blood, poison, gore, bestiality, PTSD, gun shot, on-page amputation
Throughout most of the read, I thought the gruesome imageries were the author’s attempt to make Bestiary a disturbing read. But when I was two-thirds in, I realized this isn’t just a Taiwanese American novel, but also a retelling of Tayal fables (Tayal are a Taiwanese indigenous people, 泰雅族), strung together with common themes, told in English but are really also in Chinese (mostly Mandarin, but Taiwanese sort of helps).
So I continued my reading as my eyes trailed the lines of English, my thoughts flipped to Mandarin and all the Tayal folklore I remembered and could find.
Then things started to make sense.