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Title: Kowloon Tong by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-395-90141-3 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 06 July, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.57 (28 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A dark, scathing allegory
Comment: Amid the hoopla and (often forced) pagentry of the Hong Konghandover, Paul Theroux deserves some credit for this courageouscontemplation of the darker side of the historic change in rule. In this decided politically incorrect view of the handover, the British, particularly in the form of the very Thatcherlike character of Betty Mullard, are portrayed as bitterly turning their backs on the Hong Kong people. Worse still, Chinese officaldom is personified as a greedy, lecherous PLA thug. Such characterizations have earned Theroux the label of racist, but those accusations have to be put alongside the sight of Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, unelected leaders who ordered the tanks to roll in Tiananmen Square, accepting the mantle of Hong Kong sovereignty from the British.
It's clear from the start of the book that Theroux's story has a rather cynical point: That Hong Kong was little more than a commercial plaything for two governments, both with little regard for the people who live there. The novel presents the British as social elitists--looking down on the Chinese who really make Hong Kong the economic engine it is. The Communist Chinese, on the other hand, are political and economic elitists--coldly removing anyone or anything that stands in their path to power. Kowloon Tong is not a travelogue nor a story of personal journey. It's a commentary on the political attitudes that, if you watched the Handover ceremony, were all clearly on view. It is unfortunate that Theroux missed some of the factual and geographical detail that he is otherwise renowned for, because this dampens the affect of the novel. But for its sheer strength of conviction--that the Hong Kong people deserve better then they got from all parties--it deserves to be read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Highly evocative of Hong Kong I knew
Comment: I first read Kowloon Tong while living in Stanley, Hong Kong, just a few months before the Hand-over. I have found its rendering of attitudes of expatriates and chinese by far the most accurate account of the Hong Kong I experienced on a day to day basis. Theroux is equally fair (and equally blunt) about British, Chinese and American residents in Hong Kong - I encountered the boorish behaviour described here everyday - that was Hong Kong, a place where people went to make money, or to escape from China (or both). Not everyone, of course, was like Bunt and Hung, but these are recognizable types.
The plot is that of Graham Greene thriller, with the sarcasm of Evelyn Waugh and Gore Vidal thrown in. I should add that I find many of the comments on this page highly evocative of the Hong Kong I knew, too - the novel was banned in China and was a painful read for some Hong Kong British, Chines and Americans I knew (especially the types well-described here -chiefly long-term residents). The detached reader should enjoy a good read that's also highly accurate in its description.
The Hong Kong I knew was about the most un-literary place on the planet. "Criticism" of Hong Kong was thought of as a pamphlet from the Tourist Bureau, an announcement from the Government Publicity Office, or the Website of a company wanting to do business in China. But that is not what novelists do.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of Several Essential Books on Hong Kong for Visitors
Comment: This Hong Kong classic is both a great read and a great help for Westerners planning to live in, or visit Hong Kong. I first read it when I lived there in the late 90's, even began reading it on the Star Ferry when it came out in early 1997. Bunt is an old "Hong Kong Belonger", British, lives atop Victoria Peak ("the" address to have), has a factory in the district of Kowloon Tong, and has a pretty easy life thanks to the protection of British rule and law in a region better known for dictatorships. But all that is coming to an end, with Britain handing over Hong Kong to China. The Chinese military bureaucrat Hung arrives to force Bunt to sell the Chinese Army his business - the Red Army wants to start making some cash, and Bunt is bewildered and soft due to his life in the colony and can't cope well. The harshness of Hunt and the fuddy-duddyness of Bunt are well-drawn depictions of actual Hong Kong types. The ending is very Hong Kong. Also very Hong Kong are the myriads of other types depicted here - Chinese, British, American. The Chinese bigot yelling "Gweilo!" Bunt's horrible mother yelling "Chinky-Chonk!" The American trying to buy a new nationality to avoid paying US taxes. Many of the anecdotes and scenes perfectly capture the harsh underbelly of the place which has its origins in the tragic influx of all those millions of Chinese refugees fleeing China to the safety of then-British Hong Kong and the huge insecurities that created. This is a book to read both before you go AND after you've lived there for a year, many of the subtler aspects of the book will be revealed to you. One thing the book the makes no concessions to is the important concept in Chinese culture of "Face" - there is nothing more importatnat than NOT losing face in China, so warts-and-all books like this are not appreciated. But the book is written for any readers who like a good read to contain accuracy of description rather than a tourist bureau spin account. The book was banned in the People's Republic for just this reason (minor shades of Tiannamen Square!) There are also several in-house jokes which will become apparent after you've been in Hong Kong awhile - for example the placing of a factory in the district of Kowloon Tong, a subtle comment on how awful that residential district was to live in - locally reffered to as "exclusive" (this is "face" at work again), it sat under the final landing path of the international airport which was next door!
If you're going to Hong Kong, also consider reading the other *Hong Kong classics* most expats have on their shelves: Jan Morris's *Hong Kong* has loads of information on Hong Kong up to 1997, including an important account of the tragic influx of all those millions of Chinese refugees fleeing China for Hong Kong, how that situation vastly overcrowded the place and made for a pressure-cooker atmosphere, and how even today it is embarressing for Hong Kong Chinese to talk about (again, it causes loss of "face"). Great info on the British days, too, and evocative descriptions of the wonderful hill-hiking Hong Kong has to offer (don't miss Plover Cove!).
Bo Yang's *The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis in Chinese Culture* is a fascinating account by a Taiwanese journalist of the stultifying effect many aspects of Chinese culture has had on the Chinese - especially the worship of the past during imperial times that led to the near-death of critical thinking. The author relates this legacy to many of the unpleasant "underbelly" - side of things in day-today Hong Kong
life - the rude crowds, bad public behaviour, spitting, etc. Though that may sound harsh, it actually helped me to appreciate things Chinese better knowing the tragic origin of these things. I appreciated more the great aspects of China - the poetry of Li Po, the classic novels Story of the Stone, etc - because of Bo Yang's book. Sadly, Bo's book is also banned in China proper.
Timothy Mo's novel *The Monkey King* is a great account of an eccentric Hong Kong Chinese family - I felt I met these people again and again while living there.
National Geographic's video *Hong Kong* is a must see portrait of the real Hong Kong - not some tourist bureau fantasy but a remarkable look into the millions of refugees who escaped to Hong Kong after the Chinese revolution.
The film *China Box*, by a local Hong Kong boy who made it to the West, is essential for potential expats - watch it for the *depiction* of the city, which is perfectly rendered. The story is a little so-so, but if you're going to live there, watch the visuals. This is what Hong Kong looks like. The depiction of the young Chinses refugee (played by Gong Li) being ridiculed for her bad accent buy older, "more established" refugees is harrowingly accurate.
Lastly, check out Austin Coate's classic, *Myself A Mandarin*, a memoir of a colonial judge in the 1950's trying to sort out the culture clashes between British Law and Chinese sensibilities.
If you're going to live in Hong Kong, ALL these books are even more illuminating read a second time after you've lived there a year.
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Title: Hong Kong: Epilogue to an Empire (Vintage Departures) by Jan Morris ISBN: 0679776486 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0804104549 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Travelers' Tales Hong Kong by James O'Reilly, Larry Habegger, Sean O'Reilly ISBN: 1885211031 Publisher: Travelers' Tales Guides Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Fresh Air Fiend: Travel Writings, 1985-2000 by Paul Theroux ISBN: 0618126937 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Monkey King by Timothy Mo ISBN: 0571129668 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T) Pub. Date: 01 April, 1988 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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