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家離水邊那麼近
2007，獲開卷年度好書獎
從昆蟲延伸至地景，對水文的想像與愛戀書寫
溪．河．湖．海，每一滴水分子，都在本書的每一個文字中出現
展開臺灣東部的人文和地理書寫，情感奔放
「從《迷蝶誌》、《蝶道》以來，我本就是以文學的姿態去書寫接觸生態後，自身認識世界的途徑與觀念的改變；我藉由文學不斷提醒自己，最終或許只能透過有限的文字與生命去了解這個世界，我只是告訴讀者我看到什麼，我感受到什麼。於是我終究寫下這樣一本書，交出我步行水畔後所獲得的一滴水。」
本書為全彩印刷，除攝影外，手繪、排版皆為作者的創作。
吳明益堅持用再生紙印刷，封面不上光，講求設計質感，用較低耗能、風格化的方式製作此書，期待最終能完成更抽象的物事，傳遞給讀者。
從昆蟲延伸至地景，對水文的想像與愛戀書寫
溪．河．湖．海，每一滴水分子，都在本書的每一個文字中出現
展開臺灣東部的人文和地理書寫，情感奔放
「從《迷蝶誌》、《蝶道》以來，我本就是以文學的姿態去書寫接觸生態後，自身認識世界的途徑與觀念的改變；我藉由文學不斷提醒自己，最終或許只能透過有限的文字與生命去了解這個世界，我只是告訴讀者我看到什麼，我感受到什麼。於是我終究寫下這樣一本書，交出我步行水畔後所獲得的一滴水。」
本書為全彩印刷，除攝影外，手繪、排版皆為作者的創作。
吳明益堅持用再生紙印刷，封面不上光，講求設計質感，用較低耗能、風格化的方式製作此書，期待最終能完成更抽象的物事，傳遞給讀者。
284 pages, Paperback
Published May 25, 2025
5 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Wu Ming-Yi
19 books267 followers Writer, painter, designer, photographer, literary professor, butterfly scholar, environmental activist, traveler and blogger rolled into one, Wu Ming-Yi is very much a modern Renaissance Man. Over the last decade, he has produced an impressive body of work, especially with his fiction and nature writing.
Wu Ming-Yi (b.1971) studied advertising at Fu-Jen Catholic University and has a PhD in Chinese Literature from National Central University. He has been teaching literature and creative writing at Dong Hwa University since 2000 and is now Professor of the Department of Chinese.
Wu’s literary reputation was first established by his nature writing. In THE BOOK OF LOST BUTTERFLIES (2000) and THE WAY OF BUTTERFLIES (2003), he chronicles his lifelong fascination with this beautiful creature and contemplates the invisible bond between man and nature. He wrote, designed, and provided drawings and photographs for the books, as if crafting works of art. Both books made the “Best of the Year” lists, with THE WAY OF BUTTERFLIES winning China Times’ Open Book Award and being chosen as one of the ten most influential books by Kingstore Bookstore.
In 2006, juggling academic life and the need for a period of uninterrupted time for his writing and traveling, Wu decided to resign from his teaching post. This is unheard of in a country where almost no one can make a living writing full-time and many would fight for a stable teaching job. In the end, Dong Hwa University gave Wu a year of sabbatical leave – they didn't want to lose him.
A year later, Wu published two books: his third collection of nature writing, SO MUCH WATER SO CLOSE TO HOME, and his debut novel, ROUTES IN THE DREAM. DREAM re-imagines Taiwan’s complicated history as a Japanese colony and examines the relationship between fathers and sons, memory and dreams. Hailed as a groundbreaking work of literary historical fiction, it was nominated for every major award and was chosen as one of the ten best Chinese-language novels of the year by Asian Weekly magazine (along with Ai Mi’s Hawthorn Tree Forever, Liu Zhenyun’s My Name Is Liu Yuejin, and Dai Sijie’s Once on a Moonless Night) . Wu was the only Taiwanese author on the list.
It is his eco-fantasy novel THE MAN WITH THE COMPOUND EYES (2011), however, that has gained Wu international recognition, with major English and French translations appearing in 2013 and 2014. A “Taiwanese Life of Pi”, it is an ambitious exploration of Taiwan's island identity, the cost of environmental degradation, and how humans make sense of the world around them, at once poetic, philosophical and far-reaching. It has already caught the attention of major writers in the genre such as Ursula K. Le Guin.
Wu Ming-Yi (b.1971) studied advertising at Fu-Jen Catholic University and has a PhD in Chinese Literature from National Central University. He has been teaching literature and creative writing at Dong Hwa University since 2000 and is now Professor of the Department of Chinese.
Wu’s literary reputation was first established by his nature writing. In THE BOOK OF LOST BUTTERFLIES (2000) and THE WAY OF BUTTERFLIES (2003), he chronicles his lifelong fascination with this beautiful creature and contemplates the invisible bond between man and nature. He wrote, designed, and provided drawings and photographs for the books, as if crafting works of art. Both books made the “Best of the Year” lists, with THE WAY OF BUTTERFLIES winning China Times’ Open Book Award and being chosen as one of the ten most influential books by Kingstore Bookstore.
In 2006, juggling academic life and the need for a period of uninterrupted time for his writing and traveling, Wu decided to resign from his teaching post. This is unheard of in a country where almost no one can make a living writing full-time and many would fight for a stable teaching job. In the end, Dong Hwa University gave Wu a year of sabbatical leave – they didn't want to lose him.
A year later, Wu published two books: his third collection of nature writing, SO MUCH WATER SO CLOSE TO HOME, and his debut novel, ROUTES IN THE DREAM. DREAM re-imagines Taiwan’s complicated history as a Japanese colony and examines the relationship between fathers and sons, memory and dreams. Hailed as a groundbreaking work of literary historical fiction, it was nominated for every major award and was chosen as one of the ten best Chinese-language novels of the year by Asian Weekly magazine (along with Ai Mi’s Hawthorn Tree Forever, Liu Zhenyun’s My Name Is Liu Yuejin, and Dai Sijie’s Once on a Moonless Night) . Wu was the only Taiwanese author on the list.
It is his eco-fantasy novel THE MAN WITH THE COMPOUND EYES (2011), however, that has gained Wu international recognition, with major English and French translations appearing in 2013 and 2014. A “Taiwanese Life of Pi”, it is an ambitious exploration of Taiwan's island identity, the cost of environmental degradation, and how humans make sense of the world around them, at once poetic, philosophical and far-reaching. It has already caught the attention of major writers in the genre such as Ursula K. Le Guin.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 12, 2018
有些作品就只有「那個人」寫的出來，廖鴻基的漁夫經驗寫出他的海洋文學，Barbara Ehrenreich 隱身中下階層的考察寫出他的社會報導，而真的用腳走在自然裡的吳明益，寫出他的自然文學。
然而吳明益不僅走在自然裡，是從講攝影與自己的「浮光」倒著讀回來的，在浮光的某些裂隙中，你看到他會半夜跟著遊民走過大半個台北，甚至露宿。
雖然是自我貼金，但那時就覺得他跟我的靈魂某處質地相仿（雖然這絕對不會是讓人快樂或好過的質地）。
「家離水邊那麼近」當然可以是一本生態散文，充滿對自然的省思與呼籲。但它也構築在這麼簡單的基礎上：帶著單人帳篷、吹氣床墊、睡袋，從一條河的出海口走到源頭、從花蓮的海岸線走到台東、腰身以下全在水中的走湖一圈又一圈。
讀者（行動力不夠的讀者），做過最冒險的事也不過就是一遍一遍騎過某個海岸線，看了「神的孩子都在跳舞」後真到一個夜深無人的海岸燒漂流木，威士忌、音樂，熄火後雖想待著理智仍壓著自己回到鄉村旅店。
然而在同樣的星空下，吳明益展開他的單人帳、吹氣睡墊、睡袋，眼睛上方有透明觀景布、海潮聲，書中記下的終究是整夜繁星思考的一穗。
我們，讀者以想像的姿態經歷著，仍深受啟發。
然而吳明益不僅走在自然裡，是從講攝影與自己的「浮光」倒著讀回來的，在浮光的某些裂隙中，你看到他會半夜跟著遊民走過大半個台北，甚至露宿。
雖然是自我貼金，但那時就覺得他跟我的靈魂某處質地相仿（雖然這絕對不會是讓人快樂或好過的質地）。
「家離水邊那麼近」當然可以是一本生態散文，充滿對自然的省思與呼籲。但它也構築在這麼簡單的基礎上：帶著單人帳篷、吹氣床墊、睡袋，從一條河的出海口走到源頭、從花蓮的海岸線走到台東、腰身以下全在水中的走湖一圈又一圈。
讀者（行動力不夠的讀者），做過最冒險的事也不過就是一遍一遍騎過某個海岸線，看了「神的孩子都在跳舞」後真到一個夜深無人的海岸燒漂流木，威士忌、音樂，熄火後雖想待著理智仍壓著自己回到鄉村旅店。
然而在同樣的星空下，吳明益展開他的單人帳、吹氣睡墊、睡袋，眼睛上方有透明觀景布、海潮聲，書中記下的終究是整夜繁星思考的一穗。
我們，讀者以想像的姿態經歷著，仍深受啟發。
March 11, 2020
Introduced me to the world of nature writing. Humane and contemplative prose.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews