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Bu San Bu Si
Bu San Bu Si—"not three not four." To the Taiwanese people, it's an idiom used to describe the punks, lowlifes, and losers of society—the ones who don't fit in, and never will. It's what they would call someone like Xiao Hei. Talented and self-destructive, young and reckless, Xiao Hei is the guitar player for Taipei punk band Resistant Strain. He and his band mates don't just play punk. In the vein of the music's more nihilistic Western progenitors, they take it as a lifestyle. Live Fast. Die Young. Get Drunk. Stay Broke. And yet, at the back of their minds, there it is, that gnawing lust for fame; that longing to break free of the beer-soaked dives and make a break for the big time.
Xiao Hei feels it more than anyone. He'll never sell out. But neither will he rot away in obscurity another day in a musical climate dominated by bubblegum Mando pop without taking his stab at something better. And so he seizes his chance, taking an outstretched hand emanating from the darkest depths of the Taipei criminal underworld—the hand of former mob boss Jackie Tsai.
Once Xiao Hei is bound to Jackie, everything is on the line. His family. His girl. His band. Even life itself. The question is, how much is Xiao Hei willing to sacrifice for what he wants most? How much is he willing to give, and who is he willing to give up?
Gritty yet heartfelt, punchy but insightful, Bu San Bu Si throws readers headlong into the Taipei underground metal and punk scene, showing you a side of Taiwan few outsiders will ever see. Author J.W. Henley brings to the book his experiences of the past decade-plus living in Taipei, documenting the scene online and in print, and playing in Taiwanese punk and metal bands. Bu San Bu Si is his second novel.
Xiao Hei feels it more than anyone. He'll never sell out. But neither will he rot away in obscurity another day in a musical climate dominated by bubblegum Mando pop without taking his stab at something better. And so he seizes his chance, taking an outstretched hand emanating from the darkest depths of the Taipei criminal underworld—the hand of former mob boss Jackie Tsai.
Once Xiao Hei is bound to Jackie, everything is on the line. His family. His girl. His band. Even life itself. The question is, how much is Xiao Hei willing to sacrifice for what he wants most? How much is he willing to give, and who is he willing to give up?
Gritty yet heartfelt, punchy but insightful, Bu San Bu Si throws readers headlong into the Taipei underground metal and punk scene, showing you a side of Taiwan few outsiders will ever see. Author J.W. Henley brings to the book his experiences of the past decade-plus living in Taipei, documenting the scene online and in print, and playing in Taiwanese punk and metal bands. Bu San Bu Si is his second novel.
330 pages, Paperback
Published May 2, 2017
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59 people want to read
About the author
J.W. Henley
3 books13 followersJ.W. Henley is a freelance writer and musician originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, now based out of Taipei, Taiwan. After obtaining a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of King's College in the spring of 2005, he skipped his graduation ceremony and traveled to Taiwan on a whim with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and no plan whatsoever.
That flight of fancy has now extended into the better part of a decade spent in Taiwan's capital city, during which he has kept busy writing and performing as a vocalist in various punk and metal bands. An avid traveler, his personal journeys and touring schedule have taken him around Asia and all over the world, spanning as far as the Caribbean, North Africa, the South Pacific and Northern Europe. Literary heroes include the greats of true grit, such as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, and Lester Bangs. He shares a home with his wife, Jill, and their three cats. He and Jill are constantly cooking up some sort of travel scheme to take them far, far away from the mundane. But until the next trip comes along, there is always another story to get lost in.
That flight of fancy has now extended into the better part of a decade spent in Taiwan's capital city, during which he has kept busy writing and performing as a vocalist in various punk and metal bands. An avid traveler, his personal journeys and touring schedule have taken him around Asia and all over the world, spanning as far as the Caribbean, North Africa, the South Pacific and Northern Europe. Literary heroes include the greats of true grit, such as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, and Lester Bangs. He shares a home with his wife, Jill, and their three cats. He and Jill are constantly cooking up some sort of travel scheme to take them far, far away from the mundane. But until the next trip comes along, there is always another story to get lost in.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 1, 2018
Sometimes a book lands onto your lap (well, your digital Kindle collection...) in very peculiar circumstances. Listening to one of my favorite bands, Chthonic, I had the idea to try some Taiwanese literature. Quasi-randomly browsing through titles, I found J.W. Henley's Bu San Bu Si. The first thing that struck me was a front-page endorsement by none other than Freddy Lim himself - the frontman of Chthonic. I knew at that point I had to buy the book. What an incredible discovery it turned out to be!
J.W. Henley's prose is stunning, with a lot of descriptive depth, however without any dreary or dragging diatribes on meaningless details. Every single narrative chunk serves a purpose. The characters are realistic and relatable. Reading the book description one might be fooled into thinking this is a book about a band, the music scene of Taiwan, or something of the sort. It is that, too, but first and foremost it's a story of personal tragedy.
The protagonist, like any tragic hero, is neither "evil" nor "good"; in other words, he is not stereotyped and caricatured. Like any tragic hero, his woes are a result of hamartia, an error in judgment. There is a long, painful journey in store for him (and vicariously for the reader), and it always remains realistic, self-reflecting, and meaningful. I must say, J.W. Henley's style strongly reminded me of my own - I found similarities in the way we both, as authors, approach the philosophical depths of the (seemingly) mundane, the significance of the (seemingly) ordinary, the exhilaration brought by the revelation of the (seemingly) unimportant.
The plot progression is very sense-making, and never does the author fall into the trap of sentimentalism or cheap wayouts. The ending is not entirely inevitable, but still satisfactory. All in all, a gem of a book; highly recommended
J.W. Henley's prose is stunning, with a lot of descriptive depth, however without any dreary or dragging diatribes on meaningless details. Every single narrative chunk serves a purpose. The characters are realistic and relatable. Reading the book description one might be fooled into thinking this is a book about a band, the music scene of Taiwan, or something of the sort. It is that, too, but first and foremost it's a story of personal tragedy.
The protagonist, like any tragic hero, is neither "evil" nor "good"; in other words, he is not stereotyped and caricatured. Like any tragic hero, his woes are a result of hamartia, an error in judgment. There is a long, painful journey in store for him (and vicariously for the reader), and it always remains realistic, self-reflecting, and meaningful. I must say, J.W. Henley's style strongly reminded me of my own - I found similarities in the way we both, as authors, approach the philosophical depths of the (seemingly) mundane, the significance of the (seemingly) ordinary, the exhilaration brought by the revelation of the (seemingly) unimportant.
The plot progression is very sense-making, and never does the author fall into the trap of sentimentalism or cheap wayouts. The ending is not entirely inevitable, but still satisfactory. All in all, a gem of a book; highly recommended
July 9, 2020
The title and the book cover of the “Bu San Bu Si” immediately caught my eye. I like the minimalistic, black & white style of the cover as well as the title placement in both English and Chinese.
The author tries to paint an honest picture of contemporary Taiwan. We get some spot-on observations about complicated family relations and problems of the young generation. J.W. Henley writes about Island’s turbulent past and current political and economic struggles with its dangerous neighbor. I also like how the author mixed Mandarin sentences in the English dialogs. It set the mood and gave a more realistic feel to the novel.
However, the book is full of overly dramatic, unrealistic turn of events, overplayed tropes, long-winded monologs, many inconsistencies in the story, and oversimplifications that at times it felt like reading a fanfiction written by a highschooler.
The description of women in this book are sooo versatile. We meet “pretty young nurse”, “pretty and looking to be in her early Twenties” sex shop assistant and underground activist “twenty years old, and beautiful, too”.
It’s fascinating how alcohol works in this book. The band boys never have any money, drink cheap beer from the nearby convenience store before going to a club to save money, or share one bottle of hard liquor between 6 people but still, are completely smashed and blackout on the club floor and sleep there till the morning. At one point Jin (the most inexperienced band member) drinks one glass of the gaoliang, which “instantly” (word used by the author) made his speech slurred. Taiwanese alcohol must be really something, I guess…
I don’t regret buying “Bu San Bu Si” (2,50$ on sale). I can imagine the story being turned into Netflix mini-series. Well produced but with a convoluted, unrealistic plot that still leaves you satisfied because of the production value and nice camera work (South Korean productions of this kind seem to do extremely well nowadays). As a novel, however, it does not deliver.
The author tries to paint an honest picture of contemporary Taiwan. We get some spot-on observations about complicated family relations and problems of the young generation. J.W. Henley writes about Island’s turbulent past and current political and economic struggles with its dangerous neighbor. I also like how the author mixed Mandarin sentences in the English dialogs. It set the mood and gave a more realistic feel to the novel.
However, the book is full of overly dramatic, unrealistic turn of events, overplayed tropes, long-winded monologs, many inconsistencies in the story, and oversimplifications that at times it felt like reading a fanfiction written by a highschooler.
The description of women in this book are sooo versatile. We meet “pretty young nurse”, “pretty and looking to be in her early Twenties” sex shop assistant and underground activist “twenty years old, and beautiful, too”.
It’s fascinating how alcohol works in this book. The band boys never have any money, drink cheap beer from the nearby convenience store before going to a club to save money, or share one bottle of hard liquor between 6 people but still, are completely smashed and blackout on the club floor and sleep there till the morning. At one point Jin (the most inexperienced band member) drinks one glass of the gaoliang, which “instantly” (word used by the author) made his speech slurred. Taiwanese alcohol must be really something, I guess…
I don’t regret buying “Bu San Bu Si” (2,50$ on sale). I can imagine the story being turned into Netflix mini-series. Well produced but with a convoluted, unrealistic plot that still leaves you satisfied because of the production value and nice camera work (South Korean productions of this kind seem to do extremely well nowadays). As a novel, however, it does not deliver.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews