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囈長夜多

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  無論身在何地,穿過時光隧道
  尚能夢回生我育我的城
  ◎ 陳國球、龔萬輝、唐睿、黃宇軒 共鳴推薦
  ◎ 香港首部書寫公共屋邨的長篇小說

  疲於告別的年代裡,人可以離去、建築可以廢棄、美食可以失傳、巴士可以停運……記憶彷如忒修斯之船,一直隨城市發展清拆重建。午夜夢迴,仍使你念記的,可會是一個個有你在內的故事?

  「後來林達單獨去谷德樓天台看中秋夜景,這次林達俯望方形天井,多個樓層的住戶在走廊掛上七彩花燈,又以走廊欄杆對角牽引的方式將另一組花燈懸垂在天井半空。因此,大家對骯髒的井底突然失去戒心,在那裡燃放天燈。

  祈福天燈乍明乍滅,冉冉上升引起居民哄動,天燈四面都寫上字:友誼永固、學業進步、身體健康、心想事成、平安是福。 」  ──〈終章:七海事件〉

  《囈長夜多》是香港作家麥樹堅首部長篇小說,故事圍繞公共屋邨「谷凹邨」的小店「喜喜辦館」,以這個售賣居民生活所需的必經之地,串連起基層市民綜橫交錯的生活軌跡。辦館老闆蘇淦一家的曲折命運,折射公共屋邨以及城市的盛衰,只要曾在屋邨待過,應對小說中的文具舖、冬菇亭、家庭醫生診所等無一陌生;中秋節的萬家燭火、風季的天井雨景,乃至街坊唱K嘉年華,都成為後來難忘的風物;陰暗的樓梯轉角、隱世雀館、升降機則時時似要將人吞噬。

  公共屋邨作為香港的重要城市空間,小說中書寫的日常經驗和細節,充滿本土特色;然而,除了寫實的庶民生活,神秘詭異的傳說,也藉著緊密的鄰里關係而口耳相傳。麥樹堅筆下的谷凹邨虛實交錯,市民生活與史前巨獸奇妙交織,結局卻共同迎向一個遙遠迷離的未來。在時空的彼端回看,這個彷彿栩栩如真的屋邨、這些人們耕耘過的日子和愛恨,究竟是真實存在,還是如古代神話的通天犀,不過是有人憑空捏造的幻想?

  或者有天,讀過這本書的人會這樣說──
  很久很久以前,那屋邨不只是建築物和道路,
  還是我們一起活過的地方。

368 pages, Paperback

Published November 18, 2022

2 people want to read

About the author

麥樹堅

6 books

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87 reviews9 followers
January 10, 2024
A stunning, provocative, and trailblazing portrait of the Hong Kong public estate landscape and its people. It’s a historical fiction slash fantasy, weaving interesting facts about Hong Kong public estates into a series of short stories on a fictional public estate’s residents. The book has rich sensory descriptions, easily transporting the reader to an almost utopian old Hong Kong.

Hong Kong does not need more stories of the white expats, Chinese patriots, self-proclaimed activists, or amateur politicians. We need to hear more real human stories about a teenage boy struggles to get through (and sometimes enjoy) his life in his shoebox public estate apartment, for example.
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