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Collected Hong Kong Stories
The 'great' Hong Kong novel is probably still to be written. But for a definitive account of what the people of the city live by and die for, look no further than David T. K. Wong. At last a native son has captured brilliantly the essence of a unique society. A range of characters, from barmen to laborers, from scholars to wealthy businessman, infuse these memorable stories with the dreams and concerns of those living in a British colony turned into a special administrative region of China. These stories are carefully crafted in the grand tradition of O. Henry, Maugham and Saki. They can be dipped into and savored over time or devoured in one sitting. But in whichever way they are read, they are filled with insights into the soul of one of the greatest cities in the world.
- GenresShort Stories
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
5 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
David T.K. Wong
11 books7 followersDavid T. K. Wong was born in Hong Kong and received his early education in China, Singapore and Australia. He has degrees in political science and journalism from Stanford University in America and a post-graduate diploma in public administration from the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague. Later, he also became a Fellow in Economics at Queen Elizabeth House at Oxford.
He worked as a journalist in Hong Kong, London and Singapore for a number of years before joining the Administrative Service of the Hong Kong Government. After retirement from public service, he became the Managing Director of an international trading firm for eight years before emigrating to London to embark upon a writing career.
He has published four collections of short stories and two novels. His short stories, some of which have earned him a number of awards, have appeared in various magazines in the United States, Great Britain, Hong Kong and other Asian countries.
Many of his stories have been broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in Britain, RTHK in Hong Kong and other stations in Ireland, Holland, Belgium and elsewhere. A number of his short stories have appeared in anthologies.
He is now resident in Malaysia where he is currently working on a multi-volume family memoir, of which this is the first volume.
He is the founder of the annual David T. K. Wong Fellowship in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in the UK. The Fellowship awards £26,000 to a successful candidate to write a serious work of fiction set in the Far East.
He worked as a journalist in Hong Kong, London and Singapore for a number of years before joining the Administrative Service of the Hong Kong Government. After retirement from public service, he became the Managing Director of an international trading firm for eight years before emigrating to London to embark upon a writing career.
He has published four collections of short stories and two novels. His short stories, some of which have earned him a number of awards, have appeared in various magazines in the United States, Great Britain, Hong Kong and other Asian countries.
Many of his stories have been broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in Britain, RTHK in Hong Kong and other stations in Ireland, Holland, Belgium and elsewhere. A number of his short stories have appeared in anthologies.
He is now resident in Malaysia where he is currently working on a multi-volume family memoir, of which this is the first volume.
He is the founder of the annual David T. K. Wong Fellowship in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in the UK. The Fellowship awards £26,000 to a successful candidate to write a serious work of fiction set in the Far East.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 6, 2018
I loved it and want to read it again. Very well written with many uncommon words (sometimes a challenge, a good one ;-) and a great way to revive Hong Kong memories for someone who lived there.
I particularly liked it because it reminded me of many cultural aspects from Hong Kong. Perhaps it would be a boring book for others. I think it is really well written, eg, the stories are very vivid in my mind that while reading I had the impression I was watching a film.
Note: many the stories are related to the past of Hong Kong, which I liked but just wanted to leave in note in case someone was expecting more about Hong Kong today.
I particularly liked it because it reminded me of many cultural aspects from Hong Kong. Perhaps it would be a boring book for others. I think it is really well written, eg, the stories are very vivid in my mind that while reading I had the impression I was watching a film.
Note: many the stories are related to the past of Hong Kong, which I liked but just wanted to leave in note in case someone was expecting more about Hong Kong today.
January 5, 2024
Sigh. I didn't want to start 2024 as a hater but here I am.
I can't help but feel disappointed with a lazy female characters. They are all introduced as sexualised, some sort of romantic interest, or defined by their marriages or looks. I would understand if this was used more purposefully to portray how woman are viewed throughout history but in all 18 short stories there is not one memorable woman that doesn't fall into the above categories. Each story centers around a man, except chapter 4 is a story about a failed ballet dancer but mainly her, yep, relationship with a man. Frustrating.
The premise of the book is interesting on paper and I enjoyed how the book delves into different perspectives (tho just of men lol) in different periods in Hong Kong. But the wall that the author has created between us and complex, nuanced female characters is too high. With each successive story it just kept happening again and again and again and its so hard to see anything else when you realised what a huge shame it is.
There's also an unnecessary amount of age gap relationships and borderline underaged sexual relationships. From a quick flick through here are some examples:
Chapter 1: "She must have been fresh out of school for she could be no more than twenty"
Chapter 5: "The sight of Miss Tsushima reminded Yung of his daughter, whom he last seen as a little girl"
Chapter 14: "Little more than twenty at the time"
This book is a collection of short stories featured in various publications and this is obvious in hindsight. The themes could be excused as an artistic choice perhaps when read in singularity, but published together, you question whether this is truly the case.
At worse it's misogyny. At best it's just plain repetitive.
The Bechdel test would not touch this book even with an extra long piece of bamboo scaffolding.
I can't help but feel disappointed with a lazy female characters. They are all introduced as sexualised, some sort of romantic interest, or defined by their marriages or looks. I would understand if this was used more purposefully to portray how woman are viewed throughout history but in all 18 short stories there is not one memorable woman that doesn't fall into the above categories. Each story centers around a man, except chapter 4 is a story about a failed ballet dancer but mainly her, yep, relationship with a man. Frustrating.
The premise of the book is interesting on paper and I enjoyed how the book delves into different perspectives (tho just of men lol) in different periods in Hong Kong. But the wall that the author has created between us and complex, nuanced female characters is too high. With each successive story it just kept happening again and again and again and its so hard to see anything else when you realised what a huge shame it is.
There's also an unnecessary amount of age gap relationships and borderline underaged sexual relationships. From a quick flick through here are some examples:
Chapter 1: "She must have been fresh out of school for she could be no more than twenty"
Chapter 5: "The sight of Miss Tsushima reminded Yung of his daughter, whom he last seen as a little girl"
Chapter 14: "Little more than twenty at the time"
This book is a collection of short stories featured in various publications and this is obvious in hindsight. The themes could be excused as an artistic choice perhaps when read in singularity, but published together, you question whether this is truly the case.
At worse it's misogyny. At best it's just plain repetitive.
The Bechdel test would not touch this book even with an extra long piece of bamboo scaffolding.
April 25, 2023
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香港華人英文創作先驅
⭕️優秀的中文作家，香港向來不乏。但如陶傑所言，英文從未真正生根發芽。不同其他英屬殖民地，單是印度已經出產了多少個英文大文豪，例如英國第一個諾貝爾文學獎得主Rudyard Kipling（吉卜林），還有V.S. Naipaul（奈波爾），Salman Rushdie（鲁西迪）等。而香港人寫英文所為何事？公文，法律，考試，完
在文藝創作上，這本可說是華人以英文書寫香港的首批開山鼻祖
⭕️作者黃子奇（David T.K.Wong）有一個私人網站，上面可免費欣賞他的英文短篇，長篇小說，和自傳。書局也可找到他最出名的短篇小說集《Collected Hong Kong Stories》。你手上的版本是舊書店偶遇的初版（1990），名叫《Lost River》，故事一共16故事，跟新版大抵相同，除了有幾篇以新加坡，馬來西亞等東南亞國家為背景
⭕️中文的話，你大抵會譯為《逝水》
滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄。只是故事中的不是長江，而是泰晤士河；淘盡的不是英雄，而是愛情與青春。角色沒有蘇軾「逝者如斯，而未嘗往也」的豁達，而是長年受困於淡淡憂傷中，不斷追憶著逝水年華
What if？這是他眾多故事的一個重要母題：沒有勇氣踏出第一步，最後一直揮不開悔恨，和What if的疑問。簡單來說，他的故事主要環繞著三種狀況：
A) 都市男女蒼白無愛的情慾關係
B) 經濟壓力與追尋理想之間角力
C) 西方殖民地的種族和文化歧視
《Lost River》:
⭕️香港女孩Jasmine對芭蕾舞頗有天分，小時候被父母送去英國舞蹈學校留學寄宿，認識了在學校打雜的英國青年Arnold。男孩立志成為偉大的作家（with an air of high purpose），他的大志和熱誠感染了女孩，他們整天互相鼓勵大家，向著各自的目標邁進，女孩畢業時，被老師告知因為不是白人，舞蹈家的前途黯淡。加上父母反對她跟異族結婚，堅持要她回香港嫁人。男孩對她的最後一番話如下：
“What you decide today will seal both our fate. If we do not cross it together now, we will lose it forever. Then that something which makes you want to dance and makes me want to write, will die. We may go on breathing and eating and talking but for all intents and purposes we will be dead. So please believe me. Let’s cross our river now.”
西方有句諺語：羅馬軍隊一旦橫過Rubicon河，便回不去（也指破釜沈舟）。但男孩力勸不果，小情人從此分道揚鑣幾十年，直至人妻再一次鼓起勇氣回到倫敦，解開多年的心魔…
🔆除了《Lost River》，其他故事如《The Legacy of Lui Pui》《Card Index》《Szeto’s Bar》《Julia》也是類似的變奏，在我看來是非常典型香港人的心理主題。放眼世界，外國人普遍較少心理，經濟，家族，面子包袱，我們口中所謂的「比較自我」，想做就做。香港人精打細算，樣樣風險管理，又怕無錢，左想右想，船頭驚賊，船尾怕鬼，變相沒有幾個敢於行動，瀟灑的性情中人....
香港華人英文創作先驅
⭕️優秀的中文作家，香港向來不乏。但如陶傑所言，英文從未真正生根發芽。不同其他英屬殖民地，單是印度已經出產了多少個英文大文豪，例如英國第一個諾貝爾文學獎得主Rudyard Kipling（吉卜林），還有V.S. Naipaul（奈波爾），Salman Rushdie（鲁西迪）等。而香港人寫英文所為何事？公文，法律，考試，完
在文藝創作上，這本可說是華人以英文書寫香港的首批開山鼻祖
⭕️作者黃子奇（David T.K.Wong）有一個私人網站，上面可免費欣賞他的英文短篇，長篇小說，和自傳。書局也可找到他最出名的短篇小說集《Collected Hong Kong Stories》。你手上的版本是舊書店偶遇的初版（1990），名叫《Lost River》，故事一共16故事，跟新版大抵相同，除了有幾篇以新加坡，馬來西亞等東南亞國家為背景
⭕️中文的話，你大抵會譯為《逝水》
滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄。只是故事中的不是長江，而是泰晤士河；淘盡的不是英雄，而是愛情與青春。角色沒有蘇軾「逝者如斯，而未嘗往也」的豁達，而是長年受困於淡淡憂傷中，不斷追憶著逝水年華
What if？這是他眾多故事的一個重要母題：沒有勇氣踏出第一步，最後一直揮不開悔恨，和What if的疑問。簡單來說，他的故事主要環繞著三種狀況：
A) 都市男女蒼白無愛的情慾關係
B) 經濟壓力與追尋理想之間角力
C) 西方殖民地的種族和文化歧視
《Lost River》:
⭕️香港女孩Jasmine對芭蕾舞頗有天分，小時候被父母送去英國舞蹈學校留學寄宿，認識了在學校打雜的英國青年Arnold。男孩立志成為偉大的作家（with an air of high purpose），他的大志和熱誠感染了女孩，他們整天互相鼓勵大家，向著各自的目標邁進，女孩畢業時，被老師告知因為不是白人，舞蹈家的前途黯淡。加上父母反對她跟異族結婚，堅持要她回香港嫁人。男孩對她的最後一番話如下：
“What you decide today will seal both our fate. If we do not cross it together now, we will lose it forever. Then that something which makes you want to dance and makes me want to write, will die. We may go on breathing and eating and talking but for all intents and purposes we will be dead. So please believe me. Let’s cross our river now.”
西方有句諺語：羅馬軍隊一旦橫過Rubicon河，便回不去（也指破釜沈舟）。但男孩力勸不果，小情人從此分道揚鑣幾十年，直至人妻再一次鼓起勇氣回到倫敦，解開多年的心魔…
🔆除了《Lost River》，其他故事如《The Legacy of Lui Pui》《Card Index》《Szeto’s Bar》《Julia》也是類似的變奏，在我看來是非常典型香港人的心理主題。放眼世界，外國人普遍較少心理，經濟，家族，面子包袱，我們口中所謂的「比較自我」，想做就做。香港人精打細算，樣樣風險管理，又怕無錢，左想右想，船頭驚賊，船尾怕鬼，變相沒有幾個敢於行動，瀟灑的性情中人....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews