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The Hell Screens
Cheng-Ming, a Taiwanese-American, rummages through the used-book stalls and market bins of Taipei. His object is no ordinary one; he's searching obsessively for accounts of ghosts and spirits, suicides and murders in a city plagued by a rapist-killer and less tangible forces. Cheng-Ming is an outsider trying to unmask both the fugitive criminal and the otherworld of spiritual forces that are inexorably taking control of the city. Things get complicated when the fetid island atmosphere begins to melt his contact lenses and his worsening sight paradoxically opens up the teeming world of ghosts and chimeras that surround him. Vengeful and anonymous spirits commandeer Cheng-Ming's sight, so that he cannot distinguish past from present, himself from another. Images from modern and colonial Taiwan – an island of restless spirits – assail Cheng-Ming even as they captivate the reader.
194 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 25, 2024
Intriguing novel. The author's voice feels familiar in its perceptions of Taiwanese religious culture from an outside perspective. I might have enjoyed it more if I was not so confused by the plotline(s).
"After the typhoon, the temperature rises. In the heat and humidity, the spirits grow bolder, according to reports and media who thrive off such tantalising news. Ghost stories provide chills for those who lack air-conditioning."
"After the typhoon, the temperature rises. In the heat and humidity, the spirits grow bolder, according to reports and media who thrive off such tantalising news. Ghost stories provide chills for those who lack air-conditioning."
August 28, 2021
3.5 stars, for a lot of neat concepts which go nowhere in particular, but on the way they meander into interesting places.
October 14, 2020
extra star for the delightful prose and concept, though it was so disorienting i had no idea what was going on
April 9, 2016
I really enjoyed the first third of Alvin Lu's The Hell Screens. The story was intriguing - an interweaving of the supernatural and a deeply superstitious culture, its people and stories overflowing with fear enhanced, enabled, and mutated by the threat of an elusive serial killer; the language had a poetic quality; there was a palpable sense of dread, ghosts (or the idea of ghosts) superimposed onto and infused into every surface, and the setting was both deeply foreign and hauntingly familiar. I felt Mr. Lu was onto something special, and although his presentation was unusual - not quite linear, peppered with surrealism, and soaked with disconcerting imagery - I found that if I allowed myself to be carried along without concrete expectations, I was rewarded again and again.
Then something changed. Somewhere around the middle of the book, Lu lost me. I found myself confused, over and over. (So...we're in a shop...wait. I thought we were across town. And now we're headed up a mountain? Huh?) I found myself embroiled in an internal argument over whether the author intended this as a means of imparting a dream-like quality and a mounting sense of uncertainty and the bizarre - in which case he succeeded wildly - or if it was some accident of editing, or if the author lost track of his story. (It felt almost like plot points and sections of narrative had been written out on note cards, carelessly dropped, picked up and shuffled, then re-assembled in some sort of literary experiment.) I am still arguing with myself over this.
I would read another book by this author, hoping for more of both his lyrical word-crafting and his ability to impart vague and insidious feelings in this reader. But I would hope next time for a tighter narrative, a bit more coherence. As a fan of surrealism, magical realism, slipstream, and the like, I appreciate a novel that hasn't been stamped out by the well-worn publisher's cookie-cutter, and I adore the unusual and unexpected, as well as being pulled into the author's dreams. But as this story progressed, although I found much to relish and respect, I found an equal measure to perplex and annoy me. The language was darkly beautiful, and I felt transported to Taipei, suffused with its stifling heat, cultural quirks, and sense of dwelling perpetually at a crossroads between the ancient and modern worlds. But the characters were flat and lifeless, (which in itself might be an intentional bit of metaphor) and the plot began to meander and skip about so that I felt I was slogging through thick mud in unbearable heat, uphill both ways. Evocative? Yes. Enjoyable? Not so much. Mr. Lu started a wallop of a story; with a sensitive editor, he could have ended with one, too.
Then something changed. Somewhere around the middle of the book, Lu lost me. I found myself confused, over and over. (So...we're in a shop...wait. I thought we were across town. And now we're headed up a mountain? Huh?) I found myself embroiled in an internal argument over whether the author intended this as a means of imparting a dream-like quality and a mounting sense of uncertainty and the bizarre - in which case he succeeded wildly - or if it was some accident of editing, or if the author lost track of his story. (It felt almost like plot points and sections of narrative had been written out on note cards, carelessly dropped, picked up and shuffled, then re-assembled in some sort of literary experiment.) I am still arguing with myself over this.
I would read another book by this author, hoping for more of both his lyrical word-crafting and his ability to impart vague and insidious feelings in this reader. But I would hope next time for a tighter narrative, a bit more coherence. As a fan of surrealism, magical realism, slipstream, and the like, I appreciate a novel that hasn't been stamped out by the well-worn publisher's cookie-cutter, and I adore the unusual and unexpected, as well as being pulled into the author's dreams. But as this story progressed, although I found much to relish and respect, I found an equal measure to perplex and annoy me. The language was darkly beautiful, and I felt transported to Taipei, suffused with its stifling heat, cultural quirks, and sense of dwelling perpetually at a crossroads between the ancient and modern worlds. But the characters were flat and lifeless, (which in itself might be an intentional bit of metaphor) and the plot began to meander and skip about so that I felt I was slogging through thick mud in unbearable heat, uphill both ways. Evocative? Yes. Enjoyable? Not so much. Mr. Lu started a wallop of a story; with a sensitive editor, he could have ended with one, too.
February 5, 2008
Alvin's my boss. This book is a revelation. (P.S. Alvin's my boss.)
October 9, 2018
I picked up this book randomly from Borders when it was going out of business back in the day. It looked interesting, so why not? It sat on my shelf for a long time, until I finally plucked it off the shelf to read for the Halloween season. And since there aren't many reviews, I figured I would give my two cents on here.
The story follows Cheng-Ming, a Chinese-American journalist, who is investigating ghosts and murderers in Taipei. It is ghost season on the island, and Cheng-Ming gets pulled into the folklore of spirits and ghosts. At the same time he is also interviewing a woman who claims she was a lover to a notorious killer-rapist who is on the loose- K.
There are many things I loved about this book, mostly the writing style. The author does a great job creating a beautiful landscape that is eerie and isn't cliched. I've never been to Taipei but I have a very visual landscape painted in my mind. I do know that some of the concepts with ghosts are ones that seem to follow Chinese folklore, though I am not sure if the author took some liberties to the ghost cannon.
What I didn't like about this book is the complexity. I hate saying this but it isn't a book I should of been reading before bed. It is dense, and requires the reader to be fairly sharp. As the story progresses the main protagonist becomes increasingly unreliable. Is he hallucinating? What happened when he blacked out? And towards the end, I admit, had a hard time keeping up.
What is more confusing was the second half, which changes to K as the protagonist, and I DID NOT pick this up right away, which left me a little confused. I still enjoyed reading the story, and would like to pick it up again. I am a little sad that there isn't anything else by this author, because I would of enjoyed seeing what he would come up with next.
The story follows Cheng-Ming, a Chinese-American journalist, who is investigating ghosts and murderers in Taipei. It is ghost season on the island, and Cheng-Ming gets pulled into the folklore of spirits and ghosts. At the same time he is also interviewing a woman who claims she was a lover to a notorious killer-rapist who is on the loose- K.
There are many things I loved about this book, mostly the writing style. The author does a great job creating a beautiful landscape that is eerie and isn't cliched. I've never been to Taipei but I have a very visual landscape painted in my mind. I do know that some of the concepts with ghosts are ones that seem to follow Chinese folklore, though I am not sure if the author took some liberties to the ghost cannon.
What I didn't like about this book is the complexity. I hate saying this but it isn't a book I should of been reading before bed. It is dense, and requires the reader to be fairly sharp. As the story progresses the main protagonist becomes increasingly unreliable. Is he hallucinating? What happened when he blacked out? And towards the end, I admit, had a hard time keeping up.
What is more confusing was the second half, which changes to K as the protagonist, and I DID NOT pick this up right away, which left me a little confused. I still enjoyed reading the story, and would like to pick it up again. I am a little sad that there isn't anything else by this author, because I would of enjoyed seeing what he would come up with next.
March 25, 2024
A strange, humid, and dreamy book
This book was both literary fiction and magical realism. I found the pros absolutely beautiful. I also loved the Taipei setting. It was really a unique reading experience and at times I wondered like the main character if I was lost down some magical, smokey, flood-filled alleyway, or if I actually knew what was real or what wasn’t… It’s full of very haunting, ghost stories, and incredible visual detail.
This book was both literary fiction and magical realism. I found the pros absolutely beautiful. I also loved the Taipei setting. It was really a unique reading experience and at times I wondered like the main character if I was lost down some magical, smokey, flood-filled alleyway, or if I actually knew what was real or what wasn’t… It’s full of very haunting, ghost stories, and incredible visual detail.
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July 28, 2016There are some ambitious craft elements going on and the writer obviously has talent.
June 28, 2016
I love ghost stories. And this is a noir ghost story, if you can imagine that.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews