「只有眼前路，無暇身後身」獨立書店產業的現況 Only the Road Ahead｜Interpreting Independent Bookstores in Taiwan

以下是一則來自新營曬書店的口譯筆記，關於獨立書店、產業現實，以及那些「只能往前走」的時刻。

This piece is based on an interpretation session at Book Site (曬書店) in Xinying, Taiwan, where bookstore owner Zhang Wen-Bin shared his experience navigating the realities of the independent bookstore industry.

繼續留下來在窗邊工作半天的曬書店🌞

“Book Site” could be my new interpretation of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

跟著成大創意產業設計研究所的創意產業研究課程，到新營的曬書店聽老闆張文彬分享獨立書店產業的現況。

Followed along the Institute of Creative Industries Design, NCKU, to “Book Site” (曬書店) in Xinying to hear the owner, Zhang Wen-Bin, share insights on the current state of independent bookstores.

真的充滿甘與苦，第一次體認到甘苦談是一個好精闢的用字，聽了也是五味雜陳，鹹酸甜苦辣談。

曬 means to dry in the sun, and that reminds me of dried fruits. For the first time, I felt how precise the term “bittersweet” is — it captures the experience perfectly. Listening to his sharing evoked a whirlwind of emotions, like tasting all five flavours — salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy — at once.

曬書店老闆張文彬接受學生訪談 Zhang Wen-Bin, Owner of Book Site, being interviewed by students from ICID, NCKU

講者不斷重複說著「光有情懷開書店是不夠的」，但字裡行間他的情懷，就跟流沙奶黃包一樣燒燙燙滿溢，又香噴噴到整間書店，讓大家也好饞想一直翻書。

The speaker repeatedly emphasised, “Passion alone is not enough to run a bookstore.” Yet, between the lines, his passion overflowed like molten lava from a custard bun — piping hot and irresistibly fragrant, filling the entire store and making everyone crave more books.

他提到書業前輩提供的筆記 ——「活得下去的書店」具備的特質其中之一，是提供獨特的世界觀。而在一踏進書店後就感覺到，這已經不只是世界觀了吧？整家店就是一個完全不同的世界，誰會想得到新營火車站走路三分鐘的地方，就有一個這樣的地方？

He mentioned a note from an industry senior about the traits of a “survivable bookstore” — one of which is offering a unique worldview. The moment I stepped into Book Site, I felt that it wasn’t just about a worldview; the entire store itself was a whole new world. Who would have imagined that just a three-minute walk from Xinying Train Station, there would be a place like this?

也想到分享中提到，曬書店起家的時候是在客運公司的辦公室舊日式建築，在民國 40 幾年蓋的；當時新營是嘉南平原的交通樞紐，客運、運米跟各式農產的大卡車匯聚，但隨著高速公路建設，這樣的需求轉移以後就逐漸沒落。

During the talk, Zhang also shared how Book Site first started in an old Japanese-style office building that once belonged to a bus company. Built in the 1950s, Xinying (新營) was then the transportation hub of the Chianan Plain, bustling with buses, rice shipments, and large trucks carrying agricultural products. But as highways were constructed, the need for such transport shifted, and the area gradually declined.

想一想，被稱為夕陽產業的書店在沒落的鄉鎮客運辦公室，但卻還是走出一條路來，也是又甘又苦又甘。

Thinking about it — the so-called “sunset industry” of bookstores, set in the once-busy but now fading office of a rural bus company, yet still carving out a path forward — it truly is bittersweet, yet the sweetness is what lingers.

主持的林蕙玟老師收尾的時候說，她一直試著想像，「在叢林中有哪種動物是可以保有自己的生活特性，同時不被獵物吃掉的？」，但她想像不到，找不到自然界中相對應的動物——由此可知，獨立書店的現況，是一件與自然相違的事。

At the end of the session, moderator Lin Hui-Wen shared her thoughts, saying that she had been trying to imagine, “What kind of animal in the jungle can maintain its way of life while avoiding being eaten by predators?” But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of one — there was no real counterpart in nature.

From this, it became clear that the existence of independent bookstores is something that goes against the natural order.

今天的演講標題是「只有眼前路，無暇身後身」，出處是一代宗師，好悲壯。

Today’s talk was titled “Only the path ahead, no time to look back” — a line from The Grandmaster — so solemn.

收尾的是一樣力道強勁的選手吳爾芙（Virginia Woolf），這句出自《普通讀者第二輯》（The Second Common Reader）的話以前就有印象，但直到今天坐在書店，聽到在產業中翻滾完的奶黃包（？）欸不是啦是老闆，朗讀出來的時候，內心某處被撼動不已

And to close, we had another heavyweight contender, Virginia Woolf. I had come across this quote from The Second Common Reader before, but it wasn’t until today — sitting in the bookstore, listening to the custard bun that has been through the grind of the industry (wait, no, I mean the owner) — reading it aloud, that something deep inside me was shaken.

「我有時夢想著，在最後審判的那天，那些偉大的征服者、律師和政治家前來接受他們的獎賞 — — 王冠、桂冠或英名鐫刻在不朽的大理石上，萬能的上帝看到我們腋下夾著書走近時，他轉過身來，不無欣羨地對彼得說：『瞧，這些人不需要獎賞。我們這裡沒有什麼東西可以給他們，他們一生愛讀書』。」

“I have sometimes dreamt … that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards — their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble — the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.”
Virginia Woolf, The Second Common Reader

鼓勵身邊各位到天堂也沒什麼好處的朋，多多到獨立書店走走逛逛找找意外驚喜！

I encourage all my friends who see no benefit in going to heaven to spend more time wandering through independent bookstores — you never know what unexpected treasures you might find!

有生之年可以見到大通路跟獨立書店達成協議嗎？不清楚

Will we ever witness a future where major book retailers and independent bookstores reach an agreement? Hard to say.

但會不會現在就已經是某種平衡了？
（突然又沈重起來？）

But… could it be that we’re already in some kind of equilibrium?

(Why did that suddenly get so heavy again?)

.

曬書店 張文彬
Zhang Wen-Bin, Book Site

「只有眼前路，無暇身後身」獨立書店產業的現況
Only the road ahead, no time behind

國立成功大學 創意產業設計研究所 創意產業調查課程
Creative Industries Investigation, Institute of Creative Industries Design (ICID), NCKU

-2023.05.31-