A Girl Like Me and Other Stories

by Xi Xi, 西西

This is an enlarged edition of the first anthology of translations from the work of Hong Kong's most distinguished fiction writer. There is in these stories a haunting, often morbid, lyricism, an intense feminine sensitivity, reacting to the unique environment of Hong Kong and its fusion of East and West, tradition and modernity. With Xi Xi, Hong Kong literature can be said to have come of age.

With three additional stories, the enlarged edition presents samples from Xi Xi’s entire writing career, ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s. It includes excerpts from Elegy for a Breast, an intensely personal account of her own battle with cancer.

Genres: Short Stories, China, Fiction, Literature, Asia, 20th Century, Chinese Literature

89 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1984

About the author

Xi Xi (Chinese name: 西西) was born in Shanghai in 1937 and moved to Hong Kong in 1950. She is one of the most acclaimed writers in the Sinophone world. Hailed by critics as a major and unique voice in global Sinophone literature and a stylistic innovator across genres, she has published more than 30 books of different genres in addition to newspaper and magazine columns and screenplays. Xi Xi is the winner of the 6th Newman Prize for Chinese Literature in 2019.

Reviews

[Adina ( not enough time ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in Found in Translation anthology.

Xi Xi was a Chinese female writer who was born in Shanghai in 1937 and moved to Hong Kong in 1950. She wrote in different genres. A woman Like me is the story of a woman (duh) who loses all her friends and possible lovers due to her profession, a cosmetician for dead people. Since Chinese people were deeply superstitious, she is rejected as soon as she shares her profession with someone. It was a gentle and sad story, I really felt for the narrator

[Wong Tsz Ling Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

聽老師說這本是必看的書，然後就去看了，女主角是入殮師，是給死人化妝的職業，她有一個很溫柔的男朋友，她對他隱瞞了自己真正的職業，她很害怕被他知道，因為這個職業不被世人討好，故事的結局是開放式的，給了讀者想象。我看完這本書的當下是對女主感到痛心，憑什麽做入殮師要被人搞得好像死神一樣，就如你說死這個字會被人們說不吉利，但字本身沒有錯，多說幾遍也不會多死幾次，但其實我們也是一樣的，即使表面上對某些事情是接受的，但當它影響到你的時候多多少少會有些反感，我們憑什麽說自己能接受得了。

[Yules (some notifications are dropping whyyyyy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

To be fearless in the face of love and death - it is a great gift, but not enough to make one a desirable wife or a multidimensional character. You may be upset about the former, but the latter is much more disheartening for me, who seeks to make characters out of such things.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were really great (e.g. the title story, the cold, the drawer) -- sparse, frosty, and emotionally blunted in a compelling way. but this collection spans, like, 20 years and there was some early work included here that probably could've been left out. her stories dealing with non-Chinese cultures felt a bit clunky and anthropological -- maria, in particular, I thought was dreadful. Interesting point: the afterword bemoans Hong Kong's Cantonese vernacular, claiming that this holds it back from participating in the Mandarin literary tradition. I'm sure a lot of people feel differently, and I'd be interested to hear recommendations for other literary criticism on this topic.

[nideen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5)

a mournful yearner... no one gets her like i do......

[Daisy Hoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

像我這樣的一個女子是不適合談戀愛的。穿著玻璃鞋吃著蘋果，咬一口希冀它有童話的毒力，醒來時世界已太平。

[하요진 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually it is a 4.5
《像我這樣的一個女子》是西西的短篇小說集，有些散文短點，有些像一個整體的故事，當中有不少文章令我反思。

在《煎鍋》裏，父親升職，但不懂得英文，而全家只有小弟懂英語。父親卻願意學習英文，姐姐也出上英語課。在時代變遷，需要緊貼潮流，追求新知識。當年老一輩學英文充實自己，現在的社會就學習使用電腦、手機，可見知識日新月異，也要保持終身求學的精神。

《抽屜》這篇散文引起我反思現今社會的狀況。作者以身份證作出比喻，文章寫道：「我的身份證就可以詳詳細細地告訴我我是誰。」表現出現代人們使用社會的標準去判斷我們，以他們的定義變成了「身份證」，可惜他們的定義並不代表我們，亦不是現實中真正的自我。漸漸，人們失去了自己，就以社會的標準局限了自己，放棄了自己真正的面目，實在是可惜啊。

《感冒》是短篇小說，裏面的女主角被迫與不相熟的男子結婚，而是因為父親們的商業關係而結婚，這段婚姻就變得商業化，婚禮亦變得很僵硬和冷淡。女主角常形容自己為一條魚，因為她很愛游泳，而游泳能給她有暢快、自由感覺，能暫時放下因逼婚而感到束縛的鬱悶和無奈。有一天她毅然決定離家出走，只帶一個旅行袋，隨便外出走走，步伐變得輕鬆而活潑，就像一條在海裏自由自在的魚。我非常敬佩她有出走的勇氣，我認為有時候可以脫離現實，放下生活包袱，隨心所欲地做一些自己喜歡的東西，也能像女主角般心情變得更輕鬆和活潑。

《蘋果》是本書的最後一篇散文，故事介紹在一個市鎮裏舉行的蘋果節，不同界別的人士都舉出心目中重要的蘋果，然後作出投票。最後白雪公主裏面的蘋果贏得大眾心目中最具意義的蘋果。此後，大家都瘋狂買蘋果，餐廳不斷推出蘋果食品，書店售罄白雪公主故事書，最後卻發現這市鎮的人連自己市鎮的名都忘記怎樣寫了。作者通過這故事，諷刺現今社會人們的羊群心態，追求不切實際的幻想。在今時今日，許多人都抱着追求潮流時尚，都不禁起羊群心態，人要我要。甚至在疫情下掀起的購物潮，人們都瘋狂搶購口罩、酒精、防疫物資等，出現大量恐慌，形成在《蘋果》這篇文章出現的狀況：忘卻了我們生活中還有更重要的是有家人、朋友的陪伴。

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb collection of short pieces written in 1980s, which surprisingly still resonate with current situation in Hong Kong. Maybe our society hasn’t actually evolved much regarding humanities. Nevertheless, the various formats of the short pieces are very entertaining to read.

[Chun Ying · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
其實中學早就看過了《像我這樣的一個女子》那篇故事，想不到事隔多年後才有時間把其餘的都讀一遍。西西的短篇故事可謂精品，淡泊而離奇，重點多不在人物，而在描述與設定。

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

a girl like me, the drawer, the cold, and Maria were my favourite pieces ... would be interesting to read the original text rather than translation one day

[Tan Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

作者除了文笔形式多元化（传统形式小说、散文、游记、童话等），各篇内容亦涉及广泛如人文学、时事、旅游业引发的城市化效应、职业歧视、身份意识等哲理性议题。虽然这让选集阅读感受整体参差不齐，但又整恰恰呼应了人类之间的不同与共同。

[Graham Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories landed in terms of idea, though a few did not. However, there was a flatness of language throughout - hard to know how much was translation.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great book for Chinese sba but need searching on the net to understand the story.

[Kate Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

「從事如此令人難以忍受的職業，世界上哪一個男子不喜愛那些溫柔、暖和、甜言的女子呢？而那些女子也該從事一些親切、婉約、典雅的工作。但我的工作是冰冷而陰森、暮氣沉沉的，我想我個人早已也染上了那樣的一種霧靄，那麼，為什麼一個明亮如太陽似的男子要娶這樣一個幽暗的女子呢」

[Slow Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's one of the most extraordinary living chinese writer with a very low profile. Her work should be read more and i truly hope to read more of her other work.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

他的確是快樂的，於是他坐下來喝咖啡。我們有過那麼多快樂的日子。但快樂又是什麼呢，快樂總是過得很快的。

[iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love when women

[ChJus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed several short stories within the collection, especially the titular《像我这样的一个女子》and《感冒》. Prominently explores the impact of societal expectations on marginalized populations and women.