What do you think?
縫身
還沒有真正到夏天，海水溫度大抵還徘徊在攝氏十七八度左右，水上聯歡會已經開始了。
遊艇雪白的一隻隻並列在本市山最明水最秀的菠蘿灣，年青男女揮手與鄰船的友人打招呼，他們模仿歐洲人出海的打扮，泳衣外邊套一件大毛衣或毛巾衫，苗條的兩條腿已經曬成金棕色，這樣的活力這樣的青春，看上去的確令人心曠神怡。
恆昌號長五十公尺，第一次落水，簇新的甲板上坐著幾個少女，正在調笑。
有人說：「聽說宦暉與宦楣就要回來工作。」
另一個嗤一聲笑出來，「那真是一對活寶貝。」
「是你的令表兄同令表妹哪。」
「嘿，宦楣要帶一個洋人回來，她媽不准，還在講條件，講不攏不一定回得來。」
「去年不是已經帶過一個紅眼綠頭髮的回來住了一個暑假？」
「那個已經拆開，」有人搶著說：「她一向喜歡外國人。」
「你最關心宦家的事了，哈哈哈，那是你未來小姑，做嫂子的有沒有想過要約束約束她？」
那少女忽然拉下了臉...
(展开全部)
金牌华语电影人深度访谈，讲述不为人知的幕后故事。受访对象包括徐克、陈可辛、顾长卫、许鞍华、尔冬升、赖声川、刘镇伟、陈德森等。详细讲述当今最具影响力的导演们的电影情感及心路历程。访谈文字如朋友间促膝交谈，真实洒脱而无矫饰，或睿智或诙谐，读者可于问答间翻开一幕幕光影，得窥著名电影人作品背后的喜怒哀愁，在回忆中拼接出一段段光阴，咀嚼摄影镜头之外的时代变迁。
帶領您與諸帖素面相對
進入一千七百年前
看流雲舒卷，看積雪凝寒，看花開爛漫
也看見──最荒謬絕望的時代 最率性真實的人生
「手帖其實不是書法，手帖是洞澈生活的空靈明淨小品。」
這些「手帖」──文人間的書信便條，因為書法之美，流傳下來，成為後世臨摹寫字的「帖」。然而，「帖」更是同時具有「私密」、「隨性」卻又極為貼近「真實」、「率性」的文體。曖昧迷離、若即若離，構成讀「帖」時奇特的一種魅惑力量。
●陸機《平復帖》
●王羲之《十七帖》、《適得帖》、《遠宦帖》、《快雪時晴帖》、《寒切帖》、《嚴君平帖》、《漢時帖》、《成都城池帖》、《蜀都帖》、《鹽井帖》、《旃罽帖》、《藥草帖》、《上虞帖》、《服食帖》、《積雪凝寒帖》、《姨母帖》、《二謝帖》、《得示帖》、《喪亂帖》、《頻有哀禍帖》、《憂懸帖》、《兒女帖》、《妹至帖》、《執手帖》、《初月帖》、《衰老帖》、《轉...
(展开全部)
《不文集》是黃霑廿多年來最受歡迎的經典著作，前後已加印過60版。書中有不少霑叔自創的不文笑話，亦會引經據典解釋大家經常掛在嘴邊的粗言穢語；更介紹了不少廣東不文歇後語，甚至追溯恥毛、做愛等研究。「不文」二字，自此就跟霑叔形影不離，而別號「不文霑」亦隨之而來。
《不文集》是不少香港人的集體回憶，為了表示對霑叔的最後致敬，現將《不文集》重新包裝為方便收藏的《不文集典藏版》，讓他的作品永留香港人心中。
小说是一部悬疑而又诡异的出租屋的故事。详细描述了每个人的外型、特征、癖好，运用一个思想怪异的房东把他们串联成一个个恐怖的故事。
一个继承出租公寓的无业游民，在东海大学附近贴起招租布告，他不要家世清白的乖乖牌学生、不要收支稳定的上班族、不要勤俭质朴的小家庭，他只要“正常人”，像任何符合正常定义，有混乱潜质的正常人，能满足他偷窥正常面具下的黑暗面的正常人。因此，有家暴前科的体育老师老张、黏在网上的大学生伯彦、失婚的王先生和纯洁像天使的王小妹、神秘作家颖如、同性人令狐和郭力、上班尤物陈小姐一起搬到了出租公寓。八个房客还有一个变态房东，六个房间外加一堆秘密。人性潜在的可能性，使我们无法预测每个房间到底还有多少隐私。
《无爱纪》(香港卷)是上海、台北、香港三城记系列小说之香港卷。《无爱纪》(香港卷)收录香港2000——2001年度25篇优秀小说，主编侧重选取在形式技巧上有创新的香港短篇小说。其中，黄碧云的《无爱纪》以“写生命的畸恋遗恨、阴鸷犀利”而成为本书中最有分量的作品。王良和的《鱼咒》、昆南的《天堂舞哉足下》和西西的《解体》等从多侧面反映了香港这个“迷人的异化都市”。
作为20世纪中文小说100强的《台北人》，是一部深具复杂性的短篇小说集，由十四个一流的短篇小说构成，串联成一体，则效果遽然增加，不但小说之幅面变广，使我们看到社会之“众生相”，更重要的，由于主题命意之一再重复，与互相陪衬辅佐，使我们能更进一步深入了解作品之含义，并使我们得以一窥隐藏在作品内的作者之人生观与宇宙观。《台北人》之人物，可以说囊括了台北都市社会之各阶层：从年迈挺拔的儒将朴公（《梁父吟》）到退休了的女仆顺恩嫂（《思旧赋》），从上流社会的窦夫人（《游园惊梦》）到下流社会的“总司令”（《孤恋花》）。有知识分子，如《冬夜》之余嵚磊教授；有商人，如《花桥荣记》之老板娘；有帮佣工人，如《那血一般红的杜鹃花》之王雄；有军队里的人，如《岁除》之赖鸣升；有社交界名女，如尹雪艳；有低级舞女，如金大班。这些“大”人物、“中”人物与“小”人物，来自中国大陆不同的省...
(展开全部)
2008《風箏家族》獲選開卷十大好書
2009《灰花》獲第三屆紅樓夢文學獎推薦獎
連續兩年榮獲亞洲週刊中文十大小說
香港文學新天后韓麗珠
2010不可思議的年度長篇代表作《縫身》正式公開
為了經濟考量，立法機構定立了《縫身法例》，成年者可透過身體配對中心提出縫身申請，根據兩人身高、體重、膚色、年齡和新陳代謝的速度，進行縫身配對，並可自行選擇連體部位，連生人的工作能獲得優先保障。為了順應連生人的需要，被迫提早退休或失業的人們紛紛被召回原來的工作崗位，製造數以萬計專供連生人使用的生活用品，並重新規劃適合連生人生存的環境工程，此法的頒布，大幅促進了經濟成長，失業率驟降。
愈年輕的人進行縫身手術，對另一伴身體的排斥便愈少。醫生告誡：勿產生任何負面的感覺，一旦成了習慣，沒有任何藥物可供治療；接受縫身手術後，再進行分離手術幾乎不可能成功，即便勉強分割，也得付上沉...
(展开全部)
遊艇雪白的一隻隻並列在本市山最明水最秀的菠蘿灣，年青男女揮手與鄰船的友人打招呼，他們模仿歐洲人出海的打扮，泳衣外邊套一件大毛衣或毛巾衫，苗條的兩條腿已經曬成金棕色，這樣的活力這樣的青春，看上去的確令人心曠神怡。
恆昌號長五十公尺，第一次落水，簇新的甲板上坐著幾個少女，正在調笑。
有人說：「聽說宦暉與宦楣就要回來工作。」
另一個嗤一聲笑出來，「那真是一對活寶貝。」
「是你的令表兄同令表妹哪。」
「嘿，宦楣要帶一個洋人回來，她媽不准，還在講條件，講不攏不一定回得來。」
「去年不是已經帶過一個紅眼綠頭髮的回來住了一個暑假？」
「那個已經拆開，」有人搶著說：「她一向喜歡外國人。」
「你最關心宦家的事了，哈哈哈，那是你未來小姑，做嫂子的有沒有想過要約束約束她？」
那少女忽然拉下了臉...
(展开全部)
金牌华语电影人深度访谈，讲述不为人知的幕后故事。受访对象包括徐克、陈可辛、顾长卫、许鞍华、尔冬升、赖声川、刘镇伟、陈德森等。详细讲述当今最具影响力的导演们的电影情感及心路历程。访谈文字如朋友间促膝交谈，真实洒脱而无矫饰，或睿智或诙谐，读者可于问答间翻开一幕幕光影，得窥著名电影人作品背后的喜怒哀愁，在回忆中拼接出一段段光阴，咀嚼摄影镜头之外的时代变迁。
帶領您與諸帖素面相對
進入一千七百年前
看流雲舒卷，看積雪凝寒，看花開爛漫
也看見──最荒謬絕望的時代 最率性真實的人生
「手帖其實不是書法，手帖是洞澈生活的空靈明淨小品。」
這些「手帖」──文人間的書信便條，因為書法之美，流傳下來，成為後世臨摹寫字的「帖」。然而，「帖」更是同時具有「私密」、「隨性」卻又極為貼近「真實」、「率性」的文體。曖昧迷離、若即若離，構成讀「帖」時奇特的一種魅惑力量。
●陸機《平復帖》
●王羲之《十七帖》、《適得帖》、《遠宦帖》、《快雪時晴帖》、《寒切帖》、《嚴君平帖》、《漢時帖》、《成都城池帖》、《蜀都帖》、《鹽井帖》、《旃罽帖》、《藥草帖》、《上虞帖》、《服食帖》、《積雪凝寒帖》、《姨母帖》、《二謝帖》、《得示帖》、《喪亂帖》、《頻有哀禍帖》、《憂懸帖》、《兒女帖》、《妹至帖》、《執手帖》、《初月帖》、《衰老帖》、《轉...
(展开全部)
《不文集》是黃霑廿多年來最受歡迎的經典著作，前後已加印過60版。書中有不少霑叔自創的不文笑話，亦會引經據典解釋大家經常掛在嘴邊的粗言穢語；更介紹了不少廣東不文歇後語，甚至追溯恥毛、做愛等研究。「不文」二字，自此就跟霑叔形影不離，而別號「不文霑」亦隨之而來。
《不文集》是不少香港人的集體回憶，為了表示對霑叔的最後致敬，現將《不文集》重新包裝為方便收藏的《不文集典藏版》，讓他的作品永留香港人心中。
小说是一部悬疑而又诡异的出租屋的故事。详细描述了每个人的外型、特征、癖好，运用一个思想怪异的房东把他们串联成一个个恐怖的故事。
一个继承出租公寓的无业游民，在东海大学附近贴起招租布告，他不要家世清白的乖乖牌学生、不要收支稳定的上班族、不要勤俭质朴的小家庭，他只要“正常人”，像任何符合正常定义，有混乱潜质的正常人，能满足他偷窥正常面具下的黑暗面的正常人。因此，有家暴前科的体育老师老张、黏在网上的大学生伯彦、失婚的王先生和纯洁像天使的王小妹、神秘作家颖如、同性人令狐和郭力、上班尤物陈小姐一起搬到了出租公寓。八个房客还有一个变态房东，六个房间外加一堆秘密。人性潜在的可能性，使我们无法预测每个房间到底还有多少隐私。
《无爱纪》(香港卷)是上海、台北、香港三城记系列小说之香港卷。《无爱纪》(香港卷)收录香港2000——2001年度25篇优秀小说，主编侧重选取在形式技巧上有创新的香港短篇小说。其中，黄碧云的《无爱纪》以“写生命的畸恋遗恨、阴鸷犀利”而成为本书中最有分量的作品。王良和的《鱼咒》、昆南的《天堂舞哉足下》和西西的《解体》等从多侧面反映了香港这个“迷人的异化都市”。
作为20世纪中文小说100强的《台北人》，是一部深具复杂性的短篇小说集，由十四个一流的短篇小说构成，串联成一体，则效果遽然增加，不但小说之幅面变广，使我们看到社会之“众生相”，更重要的，由于主题命意之一再重复，与互相陪衬辅佐，使我们能更进一步深入了解作品之含义，并使我们得以一窥隐藏在作品内的作者之人生观与宇宙观。《台北人》之人物，可以说囊括了台北都市社会之各阶层：从年迈挺拔的儒将朴公（《梁父吟》）到退休了的女仆顺恩嫂（《思旧赋》），从上流社会的窦夫人（《游园惊梦》）到下流社会的“总司令”（《孤恋花》）。有知识分子，如《冬夜》之余嵚磊教授；有商人，如《花桥荣记》之老板娘；有帮佣工人，如《那血一般红的杜鹃花》之王雄；有军队里的人，如《岁除》之赖鸣升；有社交界名女，如尹雪艳；有低级舞女，如金大班。这些“大”人物、“中”人物与“小”人物，来自中国大陆不同的省...
(展开全部)
2008《風箏家族》獲選開卷十大好書
2009《灰花》獲第三屆紅樓夢文學獎推薦獎
連續兩年榮獲亞洲週刊中文十大小說
香港文學新天后韓麗珠
2010不可思議的年度長篇代表作《縫身》正式公開
為了經濟考量，立法機構定立了《縫身法例》，成年者可透過身體配對中心提出縫身申請，根據兩人身高、體重、膚色、年齡和新陳代謝的速度，進行縫身配對，並可自行選擇連體部位，連生人的工作能獲得優先保障。為了順應連生人的需要，被迫提早退休或失業的人們紛紛被召回原來的工作崗位，製造數以萬計專供連生人使用的生活用品，並重新規劃適合連生人生存的環境工程，此法的頒布，大幅促進了經濟成長，失業率驟降。
愈年輕的人進行縫身手術，對另一伴身體的排斥便愈少。醫生告誡：勿產生任何負面的感覺，一旦成了習慣，沒有任何藥物可供治療；接受縫身手術後，再進行分離手術幾乎不可能成功，即便勉強分割，也得付上沉...
(展开全部)
229 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2010
About the author
Hon Lai-chu
6 books10 followersHon Lai Chu was born and raised in Hong Kong, where she currently resides, and is the author of several novels, including Mending Bodies and The Border of Centrifugation, as well as a recent book of short stories, Lost Caves. With Dorothy Tse, she co-authored the 2012 short story collection A Dictionary of Two Cities, which won the Hong Kong Book Prize in 2013. In 2004, she was awarded the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Fiction) for her short story collection Silent Creature. Her 2006 novel Kite Family, first published as a novella, won the New Writer’s Novella first prize from Taiwan’s Unitas Literary Association; the extended version was selected as one of 2008’s Books of the Year by the China Times in Taiwan. Andrea Lingenfelter’s English translation of Hon Lai Chu’s The Kite Family was published in 2015.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
May 4, 2025
The government of a dystopian Hong Kong passes the Conjoinment Act, encouraging people to literally attach their body to that of another person, often a near stranger. It says humans were not meant to be alone and will find greater fulfillment as part of a pair. It also offers practical benefits, like guaranteed jobs for conjoined partners of employed people. Critics say the government is just trying to fuel the economy (there’s a huge market for clothes, furniture and cars designed for conjoined pairs) or worse, keep people too distracted to dissent. Our main character is a student working on a dissertation about conjoinment, who ends up going through the procedure herself…and then questions whether that was the right decision.
I ate this book up. The prose is straightforward and yet beautiful. There’s an absurdist feel to the narrative, and yet the main character’s interiority lends it a sense of authenticity. The themes kept me thinking about the story long after reading it. I definitely recommend it to readers who loved the quiet dystopia of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and the offbeat tone of Earthlings by Sakaya Murata.
I’m so glad I read this one, and I need more of you to read it so we can talk about it!
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book.
I ate this book up. The prose is straightforward and yet beautiful. There’s an absurdist feel to the narrative, and yet the main character’s interiority lends it a sense of authenticity. The themes kept me thinking about the story long after reading it. I definitely recommend it to readers who loved the quiet dystopia of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and the offbeat tone of Earthlings by Sakaya Murata.
I’m so glad I read this one, and I need more of you to read it so we can talk about it!
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book.
May 27, 2025
‘—some people went to the hospital and got a new face, some left the town where they were born and never went back, and some threw large pieces of furniture out the window one by one, smashing cars and the heads of strangers. “To me, sleep disorders are just types of self-regulation,” I said.’
Spectacular prose with so much to offer. A wild biblio-trip this was, to say the least. Definitely giving — (vibes akin to) Yorgos Yanthimos’ film, ‘The Lobster’ only with the elements and bits of the absurd, surrealism and grotesque amped up a thousand times more/further — horrifically, frighteningly brilliant — freakishly mind-blowing. Perhaps (I should ‘say’) more dystopian than ‘surreal’, but all in all this was undoubtedly fantastic. Fuller rtc later maybe?
‘—my eyes dried like the shriveled wings of a dead moth. Then I heard her voice — “There’s no need to be afraid—everyone must experience loss through necessary sacrifice. This is how we make this place better, to guarantee our lives. You don’t need to worry that it’s a bad decision, because it’s not a decision, but an obligation. Everyone else our age has already experienced loss, whether or not they can bear it. What right do we have to demand that we live as our whole selves?” I don’t know when I stopped hearing her; I probably fell back asleep before her last sentence—.’
‘I was reminded of the dog May used to have—May’s apartment was in a building where dogs were prohibited, so she had to tie her dog to its cage in the kitchen and teach it to guard its mouth so that it never barked and attracted the attention of prying neighbors. May told me that countless birds and pets lived in that building, and to survive, all of them had learned to silence their voices and hide away their bodies.’
‘My heart was cut out and transplanted into a woman’s body. My right arm was preserved and sent to my aunt, who paired it with her left arm and put them in a blue brocade box with desiccants—I left the muscles around my chest for Lok, but most of them were chopped off by the surgeon performing our separation and thrown out with other surgical waste. The remaining bones and flesh, steeped in a bottle of tea-colored solution, were given to my mother. Whenever her relatives and friends visited, saw the bottle, and gave their polite condolences, my mother would sigh and say, “It’s better to have a boy if you want children. Boys are stronger—have a daughter, and this is all that’s going to be left of her.’
“Which one of my selves should I tame, and how?” I asked her.
“Which one do you wish to kill?” she asked me.
“Which one of them deserves to die?” I asked back.’
Want to Read
May 30, 2025i got rejected for the ARC but that's okay because I'm stubborn and it actually just makes me want to read this MORE
April 30, 2025
I liked the story and prose, but a lot of this book went over my head. It was sometimes hard to decipher what the author was trying to say through her metaphors and stories. I also struggled at times with the narrator’s actions. She was clearly searching for a deeper understanding of herself, but the journey was often profoundly sad. The idea of conjoinment, in particular, felt incredibly bleak to me.
Much of the book explores themes of identity and personhood, without offering any clear-cut answers. While it’s categorized as sci-fi, it definitely reads more like literary fiction. Overall, I was intrigued by parts of this book, but I struggled to grasp other parts. Maybe, like the main character’s dissertation, it was just a bit too theoretical for me.
Much of the book explores themes of identity and personhood, without offering any clear-cut answers. While it’s categorized as sci-fi, it definitely reads more like literary fiction. Overall, I was intrigued by parts of this book, but I struggled to grasp other parts. Maybe, like the main character’s dissertation, it was just a bit too theoretical for me.
January 18, 2026
Thesis stress, insomnia and oppression from societal expectations coalesce in a dreamlike narrative where the only way forward seems mutilation of the self
Does whether or not I liked it matter once it’s already done?
Mending Bodies is a surprisingly propulsive read, featuring a women in a dystopian Hong Kong where, to stimulate the economy and limit the potential for descent, extreme body modification is actively stimulated by the government. Initially the focus is on the impacts of joining bodies together, a metaphor for both societal expectations around marriage and a commentary on control of population and reducing our impact on the environment while stimulating the economy with all the new stuff needed to fit conjoined people.
But then we move to a thesis advisor who is weird and something of a mental breakdown that happened in the life of the main character, which also seems to be reflected in the opacity of the narration. The book is interspersed with the thesis on Diprosopi (beings with two faces) the main character is writing and sleep therapy that goes much too far.
Plot wise I guess the book could have been taken further but the premise is brilliant and the writing really good, so this is 3.5 stars only narrowly rounded down.
Quotes:
I’m just thinking.
About what?
The future.
That’s not something we can deal with now.
Life isn’t as abundant and free as we wish it to be.
All the while, my insomnia worsened, and I grew to understand that in certain states of existence, to live was really just another form of death.
An empty heart will always find a way to fill itself.
“There’s no need to be afraid. In this city, everyone must experience loss through necessary sacrifice. This is how we make this place better, to guarantee our lives. You don’t need to worry that it’s a bad decision, because it’s not a decision, but an obligation. Everyone else our age has already experienced loss, whether or not they can bear it. What right do we have to demand that we live as our whole selves?”
It can be seen that the self proliferates as incessantly as mold.
Once we connect our bodies with another person, we inevitably become a bystander to their lives.
I never tried to break the truth to him, harmony being worth more than sincerity.
That’s all right. Our selves tend to grow and shed like hair when we least expect it. It’s a process that happens over and over again.
In all likelihood, we were codependent and spiralling toward our downfall, but neither of us was willing to admit it.
Our proximity only accelerated our boredom with each other.
Yet, as with countless other things in life that were difficult to accept, they just lived with it, and their days continued on.
We are born to die in abundance, and mend bodies so we can cut them open.
Does whether or not I liked it matter once it’s already done?
Mending Bodies is a surprisingly propulsive read, featuring a women in a dystopian Hong Kong where, to stimulate the economy and limit the potential for descent, extreme body modification is actively stimulated by the government. Initially the focus is on the impacts of joining bodies together, a metaphor for both societal expectations around marriage and a commentary on control of population and reducing our impact on the environment while stimulating the economy with all the new stuff needed to fit conjoined people.
But then we move to a thesis advisor who is weird and something of a mental breakdown that happened in the life of the main character, which also seems to be reflected in the opacity of the narration. The book is interspersed with the thesis on Diprosopi (beings with two faces) the main character is writing and sleep therapy that goes much too far.
Plot wise I guess the book could have been taken further but the premise is brilliant and the writing really good, so this is 3.5 stars only narrowly rounded down.
Quotes:
I’m just thinking.
About what?
The future.
That’s not something we can deal with now.
Life isn’t as abundant and free as we wish it to be.
All the while, my insomnia worsened, and I grew to understand that in certain states of existence, to live was really just another form of death.
An empty heart will always find a way to fill itself.
“There’s no need to be afraid. In this city, everyone must experience loss through necessary sacrifice. This is how we make this place better, to guarantee our lives. You don’t need to worry that it’s a bad decision, because it’s not a decision, but an obligation. Everyone else our age has already experienced loss, whether or not they can bear it. What right do we have to demand that we live as our whole selves?”
It can be seen that the self proliferates as incessantly as mold.
Once we connect our bodies with another person, we inevitably become a bystander to their lives.
I never tried to break the truth to him, harmony being worth more than sincerity.
That’s all right. Our selves tend to grow and shed like hair when we least expect it. It’s a process that happens over and over again.
In all likelihood, we were codependent and spiralling toward our downfall, but neither of us was willing to admit it.
Our proximity only accelerated our boredom with each other.
Yet, as with countless other things in life that were difficult to accept, they just lived with it, and their days continued on.
We are born to die in abundance, and mend bodies so we can cut them open.
August 21, 2026
3.5 stars
I absolutely loved the premise of this dark body-horror dystopia. Our young female narrator suffers from insomnia and lives in a (near future?) Hong Kong where the government has implemented a Conjoinment Act to encourage citizens to permanently fuse their body with another’s for the ‘greater good.’ Themes of existential loneliness, individualism, societal compliance and obedience and over-reaching government control are presented in a sparse and surreal way. This world is dreamy and bleak and the inhabitants behave oddly.
Interspersed are case studies of historical Conjoined twins and their varied experiences with being separated.
It’s a slight book of just about 200 pages and I would’ve loved a bit more fleshing out of the themes introduced, but the writing was good and the way the story was presented was engaging.
Although the style and prose were not at all similar, I was reminded of A Spare Life by Lidija Dimkovska which also uses Conjointment as a political allegory quite effectively, if not a smidge on the nose (and incidentally is also published in translation by the excellent Two Lines Press. I have a couple more of their books and my bank account gets nervous every time I go to their website to browse their titles. Their plans to open a dedicated translated-literature bookstore in San Francisco in 2027 will obviously necessitate a return trip to that city!)
I absolutely loved the premise of this dark body-horror dystopia. Our young female narrator suffers from insomnia and lives in a (near future?) Hong Kong where the government has implemented a Conjoinment Act to encourage citizens to permanently fuse their body with another’s for the ‘greater good.’ Themes of existential loneliness, individualism, societal compliance and obedience and over-reaching government control are presented in a sparse and surreal way. This world is dreamy and bleak and the inhabitants behave oddly.
Interspersed are case studies of historical Conjoined twins and their varied experiences with being separated.
It’s a slight book of just about 200 pages and I would’ve loved a bit more fleshing out of the themes introduced, but the writing was good and the way the story was presented was engaging.
Although the style and prose were not at all similar, I was reminded of A Spare Life by Lidija Dimkovska which also uses Conjointment as a political allegory quite effectively, if not a smidge on the nose (and incidentally is also published in translation by the excellent Two Lines Press. I have a couple more of their books and my bank account gets nervous every time I go to their website to browse their titles. Their plans to open a dedicated translated-literature bookstore in San Francisco in 2027 will obviously necessitate a return trip to that city!)
August 21, 2026
A quiet dystopian that harrowing, claustrophobic, desperate and disquieting. A very price way of showing themes of capitalism, societal conformity, alienation, body autonomy and the climactic nature of trying to reclaim individual power.
December 8, 2025
Political allegory about a dystopian Hong Kong where government exerts extreme control over people's bodies in the name of the greater good for society. Well written and convincing.
August 7, 2026
RTC I understand why people don’t like it but I absolutely loved it. It’s a meditation on bodily autonomy, capitalism, and the illusion of choice.
June 4, 2025
Very interesting ideas here, and the translation is better than for The Kite Family. But I have similar reservations with the writing and treatment.
May 9, 2025
This book left me feeling like I wasn’t quite smart enough to fully grasp what it was trying to say. The writing is beautiful and there are some interesting ideas, but a lot of it went over my head. The metaphors were dense and abstract, and I felt like I was missing the deeper meaning behind the narrator’s actions. I think readers who enjoy more metaphorical and philosophical writing will get more out of it than I did.
October 14, 2025
3.5-4 stars. I liked the concept was a little meh on the execution. I was expecting a character whose full purpose in the novel was to undergo and experience the mending while navigating existing in a world where mending is required. And it's that to an extent, but our narrator doesn't experience it first hand until after a slow walk to it. The novel is more like a meditation on a couple of things: 1) mostly, on the phenomena of conjoined twins as told through the narrator's dissertation; 2) the mending of her aunt (?) and, later, herself. The writing was solid, the narrative flowed, jumping as it did between her life and her paper but it didn't excite me all that much.
After mending with her partner, the logistics of it were sort of glossed over or minimized. Like, if you have a whole other person attached to you, there will be some adjustment, there will be long days and weeks of learning to walk together, to use your arms and hands in a symbiotic way. She said they were attached at the chest but does that mean face to face? Are they in a perpetual hug? Her aunt (?--I'm forgetting if it was even her aunt) had to lose an arm when she got attached, but we're never told if our narrator had to lose any body parts--I presume not. Then she talks about their different schedules, the need for privacy, and how this is accomplished by taking sleeping pills. Ah, it crumbles the more I think about this part of the book.
After mending with her partner, the logistics of it were sort of glossed over or minimized. Like, if you have a whole other person attached to you, there will be some adjustment, there will be long days and weeks of learning to walk together, to use your arms and hands in a symbiotic way. She said they were attached at the chest but does that mean face to face? Are they in a perpetual hug? Her aunt (?--I'm forgetting if it was even her aunt) had to lose an arm when she got attached, but we're never told if our narrator had to lose any body parts--I presume not. Then she talks about their different schedules, the need for privacy, and how this is accomplished by taking sleeping pills. Ah, it crumbles the more I think about this part of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2025
Concise but mind-bending, deeply disturbing but oddly beautiful. So much depth within a limited set of characters.
At the outset of the book, I expected it to be mainly political commentary. The book is set in a city in which people are encouraged and incentivized to surgically conjoin their bodies with another person for economic, environmental, and supposedly psychosocial reasons.
As the book progresses, and as the narrator’s opinions and actions develop, the story explores the concepts of selfhood through an evolving landscape of interpersonal relationships; independence and interdependence that accompanies merging two bodies— or two lives— together; and decision-making as a product of constrained choice within a given social and political landscape.
This story was equally thought-provoking and emotionally stirring; both magnetic and repulsive. I already expect that I will want to reread this.
At the outset of the book, I expected it to be mainly political commentary. The book is set in a city in which people are encouraged and incentivized to surgically conjoin their bodies with another person for economic, environmental, and supposedly psychosocial reasons.
As the book progresses, and as the narrator’s opinions and actions develop, the story explores the concepts of selfhood through an evolving landscape of interpersonal relationships; independence and interdependence that accompanies merging two bodies— or two lives— together; and decision-making as a product of constrained choice within a given social and political landscape.
This story was equally thought-provoking and emotionally stirring; both magnetic and repulsive. I already expect that I will want to reread this.
September 11, 2025
Mending Bodies explored what it looks like to coalesce with other humans, ultimately merging physical bodies and the subsequent effects it has on identity, society and self.
Will we receive ultimate life fulfillment when experiencing life as a conjoined pair? I think this hits on a point even greater than coupling up with others, than cohabitation, or even codependency but the ultimate bleakness in which conjoining is a government initiative.
Will we receive ultimate life fulfillment when experiencing life as a conjoined pair? I think this hits on a point even greater than coupling up with others, than cohabitation, or even codependency but the ultimate bleakness in which conjoining is a government initiative.
December 14, 2025
really neat premise, the ending made me go :/
May 15, 2026
I don’t think I’d ever love someone that much that I’d willingly spend my entire life sewn to their side.
This book had such an interesting premise where couples are expected to get surgery to conjoin themselves as it’s seen to benefit both themselves and society.
There’s a lot of praise for the prose in this book but I fear I did not feel the same. I just couldn’t get into the writing style, it felt like so much was being said yet nothing at all. I found myself disconnected from the characters as it was a lot more telling rather than showing. A more emotional side and insight to our main character’s thoughts in regards to the whole conjoinment idea being pushed on the public would’ve made me feel more invested.
The case studies aspect was a good feature. Showing past examples of conjoinment with the positive and negative perceptions from those people and how it affected them. I thought it added helpful context and parallels to what society was pushing on the general public vs people who have already lived it.
This was more body horror in a psychological sense. I think I would’ve liked the physical aspect to be more explored, but not necessarily in a gory way. So, if you’re someone who’s not totally into the horror genre and more into psychological fiction I think you’d enjoy this.
This book had such an interesting premise where couples are expected to get surgery to conjoin themselves as it’s seen to benefit both themselves and society.
There’s a lot of praise for the prose in this book but I fear I did not feel the same. I just couldn’t get into the writing style, it felt like so much was being said yet nothing at all. I found myself disconnected from the characters as it was a lot more telling rather than showing. A more emotional side and insight to our main character’s thoughts in regards to the whole conjoinment idea being pushed on the public would’ve made me feel more invested.
The case studies aspect was a good feature. Showing past examples of conjoinment with the positive and negative perceptions from those people and how it affected them. I thought it added helpful context and parallels to what society was pushing on the general public vs people who have already lived it.
This was more body horror in a psychological sense. I think I would’ve liked the physical aspect to be more explored, but not necessarily in a gory way. So, if you’re someone who’s not totally into the horror genre and more into psychological fiction I think you’d enjoy this.
August 8, 2026
2.5* rounded up.
Not quite for me, unfortunately.
Not quite for me, unfortunately.
October 1, 2025
what an ending! i was a bit confused ngl but wow
June 28, 2025
This book is so hauntingly beautiful. I read this after going to an event with the author and translator at lost city books, and hearing them talk about the process of translating this book into english (15 years after it was originally published) was super interesting - the prose throughout a lot of the book is pretty abstract/strange and as I read it, it was cool to think about what a feat it was for the the translator and author to bring such a unique tone to life in english. Idk how to explain what this is about but like every couple pages there was a passage that made me want to put my head through a wall (in a good way) - highly recommend.
November 6, 2025
A solid 3-star read, maybe closer to 3.5, Mending Bodies is without a doubt an interesting book, but it felt a lot less interesting than it seemed to be aiming to be. I was hesitant to pick up the book because of the use of the phrase "body horror" on the back cover (of the US English edition, at least), but it's very much not a horror novel and even as a work of "sci-fi" or dystopian fiction or whatever, it's pretty low-key and at times even tame. It feels like it's trying to quietly shift the reader's thinking, rather than blast forward with its message and ideas. This means that it's generally pretty mild, but also that it just... doesn't do all that much. Thoughtful, but not mind-bending, I suppose? I have a feeling this one won't last very long in my memory, but we'll see...
May 17, 2025
I feel like the strong theming and ideas got lost in the plot. There's a lot to notice about this novel, starting from the concept at its core, but the plot is rather confusing and meandering, in a way that makes it feel too disjointed. The questions the book raises about autonomy and assimilation (related to the individual but also the nation, considering that the author is from HK the political angle is impossible to miss) are fascinating, but their development didn't truly work out for me, hence the low-ish rating.
May 11, 2025
a fascinating and morbid concept, i enjoyed exploring the “what ifs” of a society that believes that conjoinment surgery will achieve fulfillment for everyone who undergoes such a procedure.
a shame that most of this novel’s idea is buried by slightly surreal and kooky subplots
a shame that most of this novel’s idea is buried by slightly surreal and kooky subplots
January 21, 2026
now that’s how you do a dystopian allegory!mythological conjoined fish as a metaphor for prejudice & control right off the bat goes crazy
absolutely loved the beginning & a lot of the conjoined content but the insomnia stuff felt nebulous & unrelated in the middle there. the use of fables & allegories & anecdotes throughout was very entertaining, but often lost me as it trailed away from the main plot. I wish it was a bit more physical with the world building too
great motif about the physical spaces our bodies inhabit & fill & own & become a part of & vice versa it was a very cogent train of thought bobbing throughout the book alongside these themes of autonomy & fascism & conformity & self-dignity
definitely some ideas/sentiments/attitudes lost in translation, especially with the soul work & insomnia details because I felt like it was often either overly literally or completely irrelevant or just totally nebulous to me, but a lot of that could be chopped up to translation. I would definitely consider reading this again after some time has passed to see if my perspective/understanding changes with experience 3.75⭐️
here lies some other random thoughts I jotted in my notes app while reading:
curiosity/independence as danger/sin. a rash as a rather unoriginal manifestation of/metaphor for an unwillingness to conform.
“Bak’s voice on the phone sounded like a tumble of boulders being pushed down a cliff, plunging into the depths of the sea one after the other.” - this writer (& translator) killed it w this figurative language gahdamn
at some points I will be so lost & then bam they hit you with the most beautiful, grounding thing you’ve ever read
I would love to sit down & annotate this book type beat
“Toward the end of the corridor, I could still hear the crowd cheer but couldn’t understand why they were so excited. After thinking about it for awhile, I recognized they weren’t cheering for us but for themselves: us becoming part of the conjoinment population was an encouragement that strengthened their beliefs and validated their own choices.”
absolutely loved the beginning & a lot of the conjoined content but the insomnia stuff felt nebulous & unrelated in the middle there. the use of fables & allegories & anecdotes throughout was very entertaining, but often lost me as it trailed away from the main plot. I wish it was a bit more physical with the world building too
great motif about the physical spaces our bodies inhabit & fill & own & become a part of & vice versa it was a very cogent train of thought bobbing throughout the book alongside these themes of autonomy & fascism & conformity & self-dignity
definitely some ideas/sentiments/attitudes lost in translation, especially with the soul work & insomnia details because I felt like it was often either overly literally or completely irrelevant or just totally nebulous to me, but a lot of that could be chopped up to translation. I would definitely consider reading this again after some time has passed to see if my perspective/understanding changes with experience 3.75⭐️
here lies some other random thoughts I jotted in my notes app while reading:
curiosity/independence as danger/sin. a rash as a rather unoriginal manifestation of/metaphor for an unwillingness to conform.
“Bak’s voice on the phone sounded like a tumble of boulders being pushed down a cliff, plunging into the depths of the sea one after the other.” - this writer (& translator) killed it w this figurative language gahdamn
at some points I will be so lost & then bam they hit you with the most beautiful, grounding thing you’ve ever read
I would love to sit down & annotate this book type beat
“Toward the end of the corridor, I could still hear the crowd cheer but couldn’t understand why they were so excited. After thinking about it for awhile, I recognized they weren’t cheering for us but for themselves: us becoming part of the conjoinment population was an encouragement that strengthened their beliefs and validated their own choices.”
December 8, 2025
I'm kind of between 3 and 3.5 on this one. It was very interesting in a bummer kind of way. Lots of government control over people's bodies and decisions. Societal pressure to conform. I feel like there are several lenses through which you can look at this book. It had me thinking about the societal pressure that exists for marriage. It's just not for everyone. And the government has no place in any of these decisions. I don't know, this is difficult to write a review about but I'd enjoy a verbal discussion about it. Bottom line for me: it's okay to be an individual, it's okay to be single and pursue whatever you want in life.
I was intrigued by all the reviews saying this book went over their heads or they were too dumb to get it. I don't think it's that inaccessible.
Also, I'm confused. It says this book has 240 pages but mine ended at 209. No idea if I got a defective copy, it's the same ISBN as this listing.
I was intrigued by all the reviews saying this book went over their heads or they were too dumb to get it. I don't think it's that inaccessible.
Also, I'm confused. It says this book has 240 pages but mine ended at 209. No idea if I got a defective copy, it's the same ISBN as this listing.
September 11, 2025
A weird dystopian future Hong Kong. The government is encouraging citizens to undergo a new surgical procedure, conjoinment, when two people are stitched/joined together. This is not a marriage (and marriage is not discussed--but is this an allergory for marriage?)--this is two separate people who learn to walk together, to sleep at slightly off schedules just for a bit of quiet privacy, to work seperate schedules as needed since obviously both have to be in the same place at the same time.
It's weird and I have so many questions, but the back of the book describes it as a political allegory. My questions don't need to be answered, as things (science, etc) not making exact sense don’t matter in an allegory or in the future.
Our narrator is a student studying conjoinment--and then decides to undergo the procedure. She finds her match in Lok. But after the procedure she is very unhappy, and he does not seem happy himself. She wonders why the government encourages this--is it really "to use less resources" as implied, or is it actually to use more, as conjoinment stimulates the economy. Conjoined couples need new clothing, new furniture, special cars, etc.
This would be such a fascinating book to read in a book club--I would love to discuss this in a group.
It's weird and I have so many questions, but the back of the book describes it as a political allegory. My questions don't need to be answered, as things (science, etc) not making exact sense don’t matter in an allegory or in the future.
Our narrator is a student studying conjoinment--and then decides to undergo the procedure. She finds her match in Lok. But after the procedure she is very unhappy, and he does not seem happy himself. She wonders why the government encourages this--is it really "to use less resources" as implied, or is it actually to use more, as conjoinment stimulates the economy. Conjoined couples need new clothing, new furniture, special cars, etc.
This would be such a fascinating book to read in a book club--I would love to discuss this in a group.
December 22, 2025
Body horror is really interesting as a genre, but this book did it especially well. Pretty PG considering what it was describing which I enjoyed. I spent a lot of the book just wrapping my head around where bodies would be conjoined (what organs would touch, how would the skin stretch, etc) which I found very fun. Definitely difficult to have to think deeply about how much autonomy we have over our own bodies and what we are willing to part with. Maybe everything, maybe nothing.
June 8, 2025
I bought this because it felt Cronenbergian but almost immediately picked up on the One Country, Two Systems/One China allusions. There were some interesting reflexions on autonomy, agency, free will, dependence, and self, but the academic bits made it unclear if this was actually based on something factual or still fully fictitious. It’s like Hon was going for Breezy Bolaño.
July 15, 2026
I will definitely have to reread this one. I really enjoyed its commentary not only on governmental overreach and climate change, but also its commentary on codependency and what it means to be an individual human being. Very striking and uncomfortable concepts.
April 21, 2025
Beautiful descriptions of horrifying concepts.
September 2, 2025
I can now confidently call my favorite genre “weird body stuff”
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