The Man with the Compound Eyes: A Novel

Written by Wu Ming-Yi

Narrated by Cindy Kay

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Translator: Darryl Sterk
• Release date: Jun 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666107647

Reviews for The Man with the Compound Eyes

[bornanalog · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Filled with fascinating ideas, engaging characters, and a framework of magic realism and Taiwanese mythology, the story nevertheless maintains a striking sense of plausibility concerning the unfolding ecological disaster at the core of the novel. Unfortunately, the novel begins to fall apart in the second half, taking on an increasingly soapbox tone and introduces characters and a long sub-plot that don't add a whole lot to the story. Meanwhile, the lecturing about the evils of climate change ramps up. The annoying thing is that all of the lectures are completely unnecessary. the urgency of the issues, the willful ignorance of most of the population, and the unwillingness of world governments to take action, are all effectively and subtly conveyed by the narrative early on. It is almost as if the writer stopped trusting their craft about halfway through the novel.

However, there may be another issue which is contributing to the appearance of the hamfisted narrative approach. This feels to me like a clunky translation. Now I don't speak the original language, so I would love someone who has read the book in the original and then read this translation to weigh in. But I've read an awful lot of literature in translation from a variety of languages, and you can just feel when a translation is working to fully realize the original style. Its a combination of rhythm, the seeming appropriateness of word choice (or rather, avoiding jarring word choices, of which there are quite a few here), the way a translation handles idiomatic phrases, etc.

That said, while a clunky translation probably isn't helping the author's cause here, a better translation wouldn't fix the structural narrative and characterization issues.

[shetreadssoftly · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi is a recommended novel that weaves magic realism into a novel with an environmental message.

Originally published in Taiwan, the narrative of The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi follows two very different people, Atile’i and Alice. Atile’i, is an exiled teen from the Wayo Wayoan tribe, who "thought the whole world was but a single island."Atile'i shared the fate of every Wayo Wayoan second son - he is exiled and sent off into the ocean in a canoe and expected to die. Instead he finds himself living on an island made of garbage. Alice Shih is a grieving mother in Taiwan who "got up early one morning and decided to kill herself." When a massive earthquake hits, she goes back to sleep with the thought that she was planning to die anyway. Rather than dying "She got up, looked out the window, and found herself standing on a remote island in the midst of an immense ocean, as frothy waves rolled relentlessly across the distance toward the shore."

The narration of the story switches between Atile’i and Alice. The two find themselves together when a tsunami causes the garbage island to collide with Taiwan. The two form a family-like bond and go on to meet a cast of others. Included is a dose of magic realism, surrealism, share cultural stories and myths, and a very pro-environmentalism message. It is very much concerned with the relationship people have with each other and especially with the earth. The progression of the narrative is not in a linear fashion, but instead has memories and stories intertwined with the plot development.

While The Man with the Compound Eyes is well written and the translation seems to capture some of the lyricism that must be present in the original version, it is also not an easy, quick read as it will take some time and dedication to start to understand the rhythm of the book and the flow of the plot. Those who enjoy hearing stories and folk lore from other cultures and magic realism will likely appreciate this book. The overwhelming arching theme, however, is that we are destroying our environment, so if that will upset you, pass this one up.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Knopf Doubleday for review purposes.