The book has attracted intense and widespread interest, either out of a desire to make up for the fact that nature writing was long ignored, or perhaps because Chen Fang-ming and Liu Ko-hsiang praise it to the skies in the foreword. Even setting aside these happy twists of fate, the fact is that although Wu Ming-i employs a rather ornate style, his literary accomplishment makes a deep impression on his readers.
或許是基於長期對自然寫作漠視的補償心理，也可能是因為該書序言作者陳芳明與劉克襄罕見的高度讚美，讓人無法不投以關切眼光，但除卻這些「因緣際會」，吳明益在《蝶道》中展現的文學成果，雖佈局略顯雕琢，卻讓人印象深刻！