Many people feel that Yeh deserves the credit for pioneering the humorous style that is so characteristic of Taiwanese literature. But Peng Jui-chin points out that Yeh's humor is one laced with mystery, despondency, and heaviness, even cruelty and desolation. It doesn't exactly want to make you want to chortle.
西拉雅族的末裔許多人認為葉石濤樹立了台灣文學裡幽默的獨特格調，但彭瑞金指出，葉石濤的文學特色其實是夾雜著神秘、陰鬱、凝重，甚至殘酷、冷漠等生命質素的幽默，很難叫人開懷大笑。