Wu Ming-yi
Three stories told interspersed. The story of Alice, a Taiwanese writer/professor who lives on the eastern seaboard. She has lost her husband and son, has aboriginal friends who look after her and is struggling to find purpose in life. The story of Atile'i, a pacific islander who journeys off his Island, finds a big world and seeks to understand it in terms of his existing worldview. The story of Sara and Detlef, European scientists on personal journeys to understanding their connection and responsibility to the earth. In fact, all of these stories are about connection to earth and the responsibility of humanity to understand the earth and act accordingly. The unifying event in these stories is a large storm that breaks up the great trash vortex that has been collecting in the Pacific gyre and sends it on a collision course with Taiwan. Each story is independently engaging, and the connections between them are natural and unforced. Wu does not feel the need to make explicit connections with plot, but allows the reader to feel the connections just by acknowledging that the characters inhabit the same space. May be one of the most environmentally persuasive books I have read.
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