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Guixing Zhang : 野豬渡河 (Crossing of the Boars)

One of the first things we notice about this book is the large number of animals involved. This is not a paradise with harmony between animals and humans but, on the contrary it is open warfare. We see the boys with their slingshots killing birds, as much f0r fun as for food. But we will soon see wild boars eating the farmers’ yams and the crocodiles eating both the locals and a little bit later on the Japanese invaders. There are numerous different species, some of which I have heard of and some of which I have not heard of they will continue throughout the book.

Though our author lives and works in Taiwan, he is originally from Borneo where this novel is set. It is mainly in and around the village of Krokop, near a petroleum refinery. It opens. sometime after the war. We plunge straight into it, with a wildfire threatening the village, and of course threatening both the human and animal inhabitants. While the wild fire is going on Ah-Fung hangs himself. At the time, his son Bag-rhong is observing the coucol birds. We learn about the relationship between father and the son and how the father, who had no hands but managed to cope using his toes, for example to fire a rifle , ride a bicycle to the general store where he worked or climb up the rope and hang himself.

We do learn about the relationship between father and son prior to the father’s death. However the key issue here is the Japanese invasion.

The Japanese invade nine days after Pearl Harbor and are guided to Krokop by a former resident of the village, noted for his harmonica playing. It turns out that this is not actually an ideal place for an invasion, not le helped by the fact that they arrived during the. monsoon, with thunder, a lightning.and heavy rain. Some of the Japanese are killed including those that fall into the sea and are eaten by the crocodiles and we also learn about the various birds that enjoy eating the Japanese corpses.

The local who guided the Japanese to the village is now called Private Second Class Itō Yū. He continues playing his harmonica , but we also learn ultimately about his brutal death and the Japanese reaction to it.

We also get a good account of the colonial history of the region, featuring in particular James Brooke. We have already had a hint of magic realism but we get it more in Brooke’s story. Particularly in relationships with animals and the bullets that he may may not have been hit with. We also get the story of his adversary Liu Shan Bang. The Brooke e family will remain there to the Japanese invasion in 1941.

We jump backwards and forwards both in time and in the focus of our attention. We get to meet a whole host of characters and how they cope with the various situations they face. One of the most interesting may be the one that is indicated in the title of this book. While the Japanese invasion may be key, there is another key battle. As we have seen there is war between the humans and some of the animals and the biggest war is between the humans and the wild boars. The boars seem to be highly intelligent animals and also well organised. They do get pushed around by various events such as the arrival of the Chinese when oil is discovered but they are not going to give up. The locals have various groups which go out hunting the boar and it becomes something of a rite of passage for some of the boys to go with these expeditions though they first have to prove themselves worthy. However, on one occasion, the boars organise a full frontal attack and the humans have to be very smart to deal with this attack. The battle of the locals against the boars is not the only animal versus human story. At one point the Japanese occupiers launch a war against the macaque monkeys.

While following what happens with the boars and the Japanese, we also follow many individual stories and how the various people cope and of course love and romance feature . Quite a few of these characters have nicknames and quite a few interesting quirks in their behaviour

We soon learn at that the Japanese are unremittingly cruel and our author does not hold back on this topic. The death of Itō Yū prompts an orgy of killing not just of adult men, but also women and children.

Things are starting looking bad for the Japanese as the Americans, Australians and British are getting nearer and also bombing them. However, the Japanese in this book, who the local call the devils, are not going to go without causing more havoc.

Many of the locals have fled to the jungle and are surviving there and even carry out guerilla raids on them, with the men being supplemented by assistance from women and children. Not surprisingly the devils show no mercy to anyone. We follow the liberation, which is quite complicated as a Japanese continue to fight the locals to the very end. We follow the stories of a few key people. And how they deal with the Japanese and how the Japanese deal with them.

T there are two key plot elements. Firstly, the Japanese had managed to get hold of a list of those who had supported their enemies before they invaded Krokop. Who gave him the list and why rae issues and of course we wonder why.Ah Fung has no hands. While these plot elements are revealed, right, at the end, they do tend to get submerged in the overall activity.

I thought this was a superb book as it was full of action. You are never bored as someone is fighting someone else or about to and when they’re not they are engaged in colourful and often dubious actions for example opium is key here and several of the characters are users, sometimes with disastrous results.

With lots of action, a host of colourful characters a whole zoo of animals, lots of obvious bad guys , Magic realism, and a vibrant culture. You will never be bored reading this book despite its length.

Publishing history

First published in 2006 by麦田出版
First English translation in 2026 by Columbia University Press
Translated by Christopher Rea and Julie M. Wang