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蕉王吳振瑞
那幾年，錢是香蕉的形狀
染滿樹汁的襯衫是好額人的衣裝
那是他締造的黃金時代，也是黃金囚禁了他的時代——
台灣首位農村之神
以水牛的堅毅打造盛世的傳奇故事
日治時期，高雄中學畢業的吳振瑞原是可以保送到台北讀大學的優等生，卻因父親「作詩不如作田」「家用長子」兩句話而留在家鄉務農。隨後，在父親的介紹下，吳振瑞進入了「香蕉試驗所」，學習關於香蕉的種種知識。
戰後，他以香蕉試驗所的經歷成為青果合作社的監事、隨後當選理事。幾年間為蕉農爭取產銷出口的「五五制」，更讓台灣香蕉以超過八成的市占率獨霸日本，在那個年代，香蕉與相關產業都富了起來。
水牛般的堅持性格讓他帶領南台灣農村起飛，卻也將他帶進了監牢。當政壇流傳著「皇后」和「太子」兩派內鬥的耳語時，吳振瑞以自身專業不斷拒絕李國鼎欲促成的律頓公司合作案，意外成為政治風暴下的犧牲品。媒體不斷抹黑，把曾經的「蕉王」打成自我圖利的「蕉蟲」，更遭大規模搜索、羅織罪名入獄。
「報紙寫的要倒反過來看」，農民都是這樣講「剝蕉案」的——吳振瑞出獄返鄉那天，地方鄉親蜂擁迎接，仍然將他當作恩人看待。然而，短短兩年多的時間裡，台蕉和水牛的光輝歲月已然流逝，當吳振瑞牽著「馬沙」在田裡緬懷式的「做行」時，耕耘機也已開進了這個時代。
染滿樹汁的襯衫是好額人的衣裝
那是他締造的黃金時代，也是黃金囚禁了他的時代——
台灣首位農村之神
以水牛的堅毅打造盛世的傳奇故事
日治時期，高雄中學畢業的吳振瑞原是可以保送到台北讀大學的優等生，卻因父親「作詩不如作田」「家用長子」兩句話而留在家鄉務農。隨後，在父親的介紹下，吳振瑞進入了「香蕉試驗所」，學習關於香蕉的種種知識。
戰後，他以香蕉試驗所的經歷成為青果合作社的監事、隨後當選理事。幾年間為蕉農爭取產銷出口的「五五制」，更讓台灣香蕉以超過八成的市占率獨霸日本，在那個年代，香蕉與相關產業都富了起來。
水牛般的堅持性格讓他帶領南台灣農村起飛，卻也將他帶進了監牢。當政壇流傳著「皇后」和「太子」兩派內鬥的耳語時，吳振瑞以自身專業不斷拒絕李國鼎欲促成的律頓公司合作案，意外成為政治風暴下的犧牲品。媒體不斷抹黑，把曾經的「蕉王」打成自我圖利的「蕉蟲」，更遭大規模搜索、羅織罪名入獄。
「報紙寫的要倒反過來看」，農民都是這樣講「剝蕉案」的——吳振瑞出獄返鄉那天，地方鄉親蜂擁迎接，仍然將他當作恩人看待。然而，短短兩年多的時間裡，台蕉和水牛的光輝歲月已然流逝，當吳振瑞牽著「馬沙」在田裡緬懷式的「做行」時，耕耘機也已開進了這個時代。
416 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2024
First read in Mandarin. Will update review once I finished the English translation.
It’s a very niche topic about banana farming post ww2 in Taiwan. I love that the dialogues are mostly written in Taiwanese with a mixture of Japanese, while the descriptions are written in mandarin. Definitely a challenging read because my Taiwanese isn’t as good—especially the details about how agriculture escaped me. It’ll be interesting to see how the English translation approaches this book that has 3 languages in it lol
I’d recommend this to readers who have a bit more background in Taiwanese history, since there are lots of references to modern TW politics that aren’t always explained in detail. I really enjoyed this aspect though. I’ve read enough Japanese colonization and 228 stories that this is a refreshing angle.
This book reminds me a bit of MATER 2-10 in that the author’s political ideology is quite obvious, and hence it can read a bit biased. In trying to demonstrate the corruption in KMT-controlled authoritarian rule for 38 years (which is ofc terrible), I feel the author was trying too hard to paint the Japanese colonizers in a good light. I think this could’ve been balanced out. Both authoritarian regimes were terrible, and TW people deserve to rule themselves. There’s no need to say one colonizer is better than the other 😅 This probably isn’t as obvious for those who don’t read about TW politics often though!
It’s a very niche topic about banana farming post ww2 in Taiwan. I love that the dialogues are mostly written in Taiwanese with a mixture of Japanese, while the descriptions are written in mandarin. Definitely a challenging read because my Taiwanese isn’t as good—especially the details about how agriculture escaped me. It’ll be interesting to see how the English translation approaches this book that has 3 languages in it lol
I’d recommend this to readers who have a bit more background in Taiwanese history, since there are lots of references to modern TW politics that aren’t always explained in detail. I really enjoyed this aspect though. I’ve read enough Japanese colonization and 228 stories that this is a refreshing angle.
This book reminds me a bit of MATER 2-10 in that the author’s political ideology is quite obvious, and hence it can read a bit biased. In trying to demonstrate the corruption in KMT-controlled authoritarian rule for 38 years (which is ofc terrible), I feel the author was trying too hard to paint the Japanese colonizers in a good light. I think this could’ve been balanced out. Both authoritarian regimes were terrible, and TW people deserve to rule themselves. There’s no need to say one colonizer is better than the other 😅 This probably isn’t as obvious for those who don’t read about TW politics often though!
November 17, 2023
4.5 描寫生動的歷史小說
June 24, 2024
這本書是介紹吳振瑞的生平以及他如何帶領台灣屏東的香蕉產業起飛，除了各人成長過程，這本書也描繪了從日治到國民政府時代的大環境變動，像是語言的使用、生活習慣、生活規矩都有很大的不同。
說真的，即使開宗明義就介紹這是小說，我在閱讀過程中也察覺不出哪些地方是虛構的，對我來說這本書所描繪的世界是非常接地氣也貼近現實的，很喜歡這本書描繪一個文人被迫放棄學業、卻依然能在各領域一展長才，也欣賞他正直的為人，以及寶愛家鄉的骨氣。
不過有點可惜的是我看完還是不太清楚為何書的開頭會說吳振瑞住在日本，沒有很清楚他去做什麼。
另外，這本書也帶來很新鮮的閱讀體驗：
過去一直都無法理解為何要將有台語讀音的漢字書寫成專門的台語文，但這本書帶給我許多新的想法（這也是我第一次大量閱讀有台語文的書籍）。
這本書我幾乎是在腦中把每個字「念」出來才能看完，而腦中的聲音是因為看到台語文所自然發出，加上這本書也有不少日文的成分，所以這本書讀起來其實是非常有聲音的。儘管我不清楚精熟台語文的人是否有辦法像看中文一樣，不透過發音就理解文義，但閱讀這本書的過程中，讓我了解到台語文能夠讓台語被實質保存，也體會到各種語言在書中、在那個時空背景被交錯使用的奇妙之處。
如果完全不會台語，讀這本書的時候需要閱讀大量的註腳，可能會有點吃力，除此之外，真的滿推薦這本書給喜歡台灣文學的人！
說真的，即使開宗明義就介紹這是小說，我在閱讀過程中也察覺不出哪些地方是虛構的，對我來說這本書所描繪的世界是非常接地氣也貼近現實的，很喜歡這本書描繪一個文人被迫放棄學業、卻依然能在各領域一展長才，也欣賞他正直的為人，以及寶愛家鄉的骨氣。
不過有點可惜的是我看完還是不太清楚為何書的開頭會說吳振瑞住在日本，沒有很清楚他去做什麼。
另外，這本書也帶來很新鮮的閱讀體驗：
過去一直都無法理解為何要將有台語讀音的漢字書寫成專門的台語文，但這本書帶給我許多新的想法（這也是我第一次大量閱讀有台語文的書籍）。
這本書我幾乎是在腦中把每個字「念」出來才能看完，而腦中的聲音是因為看到台語文所自然發出，加上這本書也有不少日文的成分，所以這本書讀起來其實是非常有聲音的。儘管我不清楚精熟台語文的人是否有辦法像看中文一樣，不透過發音就理解文義，但閱讀這本書的過程中，讓我了解到台語文能夠讓台語被實質保存，也體會到各種語言在書中、在那個時空背景被交錯使用的奇妙之處。
如果完全不會台語，讀這本書的時候需要閱讀大量的註腳，可能會有點吃力，除此之外，真的滿推薦這本書給喜歡台灣文學的人！
November 16, 2023
非常好看。晚點補心得。
March 30, 2025
4.5 Stars
An excellent depiction of the life of Ngoo Tsin-Sui (Wu Chen-jui), a Taiwanese farmer who was educated when Taiwan was a colony of Japan; experienced the brutality of the Chinese KMT colonization of Taiwan, especially the 228 Incident when a friend had been disfigured then killed in front of him and the friend’s family; and rose professionally to creating a strong banana export consortium in Taiwan that benefited Taiwanese farmers. Chairman Ngoo, as he was called after becoming the head of the several associations, was pressured by the KMT government to contribute to various causes. But in one instance, he refused repeatedly. For this, he and several colleagues were framed, the so-called Golden Bowl Affair, and jailed for more than two years.
The book also does an excellent job in capturing the language challenges for Taiwanese during these difficult transitions. The translator’s notes highlight his challenge of working with Taiwanese, Japanese, Hakka, and Mandarin, trying to capture emotions and the essence of the feelings and frustrations of the main character.
One aspect of the work I liked was Tsin-Sui interaction with his water buffalos. Even when he was working for all the banana farmers whenever he returned home, he made sure to interact with the two water buffalos in this book, Mari, the first, and her son Masa. It helps tie Tsin-Sui to the land, and it gave the story some moments of tenderness.
The author’s writing is simple, the dialog, very colloquial. At times the author jumped a great deal in time from one paragraph to the next.
FB. 4.5 stars. The story’s strengthen are its depictions of a Taiwanese life from Japanese to Chinese colonization and the fate of a man, Ngoo Tsin-Sui, now forgotten, who helped raise the standard of living of many of the banana growers in Taiwan, who was eventually brought down by the corruption of the KMT officials for his principled refusal to accept a “government” decision on trade.
This is excellent historical fiction (5 stars), told well (4 stars).
An excellent depiction of the life of Ngoo Tsin-Sui (Wu Chen-jui), a Taiwanese farmer who was educated when Taiwan was a colony of Japan; experienced the brutality of the Chinese KMT colonization of Taiwan, especially the 228 Incident when a friend had been disfigured then killed in front of him and the friend’s family; and rose professionally to creating a strong banana export consortium in Taiwan that benefited Taiwanese farmers. Chairman Ngoo, as he was called after becoming the head of the several associations, was pressured by the KMT government to contribute to various causes. But in one instance, he refused repeatedly. For this, he and several colleagues were framed, the so-called Golden Bowl Affair, and jailed for more than two years.
The book also does an excellent job in capturing the language challenges for Taiwanese during these difficult transitions. The translator’s notes highlight his challenge of working with Taiwanese, Japanese, Hakka, and Mandarin, trying to capture emotions and the essence of the feelings and frustrations of the main character.
One aspect of the work I liked was Tsin-Sui interaction with his water buffalos. Even when he was working for all the banana farmers whenever he returned home, he made sure to interact with the two water buffalos in this book, Mari, the first, and her son Masa. It helps tie Tsin-Sui to the land, and it gave the story some moments of tenderness.
The author’s writing is simple, the dialog, very colloquial. At times the author jumped a great deal in time from one paragraph to the next.
FB. 4.5 stars. The story’s strengthen are its depictions of a Taiwanese life from Japanese to Chinese colonization and the fate of a man, Ngoo Tsin-Sui, now forgotten, who helped raise the standard of living of many of the banana growers in Taiwan, who was eventually brought down by the corruption of the KMT officials for his principled refusal to accept a “government” decision on trade.
This is excellent historical fiction (5 stars), told well (4 stars).
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews