The most sought-after delicacy these days is flaky mooncakes with a filling of salted egg yolk created by master baker Chen Yao-hsun (陳耀訓).
Priced at NT$980 a box, the mooncakes are snapped up in 10 seconds on the Internet. Even with scalpers jacking up the price to NT$2,500, there are still buyers willing to exchange it with a far pricier, hard to get concert ticket, just to get their hands on the pastries.
In sharp contrast, Cheng Da (政大書城) bookstore has announced that it is turning its final page. The owner made the complaint that publishers usually sell books at 45 percent off the cover price to online bookstores, but only 32 percent off to brick-and-mortar bookstores. For new arrivals, bookstores usually offer customers a 21 percent discount. In this way, brick-and-mortar bookstores actually make extremely little profit.
However, aside from book prices, there are other reasons bookstores are struggling to stay afloat.
Many people now buy from online bookstores, while others acquire knowledge or search for information from the Internet without paying a cent. They are spared from worrying about the disposal of books or not finishing them afterward.
There are also people who borrow books from libraries. Once, I thought about borrowing a classic book from the library, assuming that it was not a popular one. I was surprised to find dozens of people were on the waiting list.
Another reason people are now turning their backs on books is the prevalence of pictures and images. People no longer wish to plow through texts and words to understand what the author is trying to say. Instead, they want instant gratification and to acquire knowledge with the most direct, swift and exciting method, which makes them consider reading plain, old, bulky books an unattractive activity.
As a result, numerous bookstores have been remodeled into restaurants, supermarkets, youth hostels and the like. Once, I visited a major bookstore in Taichung, but after it was renovated into a fusion cafe, only a few books were left as decoration. There are more people seeking a nice cup of coffee than a good book. Eslite’s Ximen store is a relevant case.
A while ago, a book would become a bestseller because it had a beautiful and chic cover design. Many people would buy it because they wanted to take a picture with the book and upload it to their social media. It seems that people are not the only ones who have an existential crisis.
I believe the book industry is long past its heyday. Cheng Da, a bookstore that insists on selling only books, has been in the red by NT$40 million for over four years. Even though I hate to see the bookstore go out of business, it would be unfair if it remained open, yet kept on losing money. The public might be able to buy it more time by purchasing books from it, but this is not feasible in the long run.
The wiser solution might be to call on the government to establish guidelines and regulations on publishers and selling parties’ trade. Another aspect that the government should address is large and external digital platforms using news and magazine content for free. They should share their profits with Taiwanese media outlets.
Modern life is stressful, and people would rather buy a flaky mooncake, a scoop of ice cream or a bowl of milkfish congee than purchase a book for the same price.
It is certain that people are falling out of love with reading: They are opting for pastries over fiction.
Jimmy Hsu is a farmer.
Translated by Rita Wang
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS