Three-Legged Horse

The subtle gestures of the esteemed Cheng's first translated collection summon the ghosts of Taiwan's past. In 12 wistful stories, Cheng sketches characters who must reconcile their literal or cultural memories of Taiwan's politically unstable history with the routines of their modern lives. Aging Ah-Shou (""The Last of the Gentlemen""), prompted by his dear friend's death to lament Taipei's change from town to city, regrets that ""nowadays, money was to people what chicks were to a hen."" In ""The River Suite,"" a boatman communes with his deceased grandfather when he musters the courage to save a drowning man, and thereby gains the confidence to approach the woman he loves. The title story tells of a former Japanese-informant whose guilt causes him to carve three-legged horses (collaborators were called ""three-legged dogs""). Though his prose is rather choppy, Cheng's eye is sharp and keenly trained on the details of a changing society. His stories (rendered into English by an assortment of translators) succeed for being at once gentle and profound. (Jan.)