Cantonese Love Stories: Twenty-Five Vignettes of a City

by Dung Kai-cheung

A collection of 25 narrative sketches, Cantonese Love Stories offers an intimate look into the cultural, commercial, and romantic milieu of Hong Kong in the 1990s. Two lovers ruminate on the power of their photo booth stickers to keep them together. Peach-pocket Girl reads stolen love letters at a café. Pui Pui knows a Portuguese egg tart is authentic if she dreams of riding a boat-like egg tart. Each character inhabits a different corner of Hong Kong’s dreamscape; together they bring to life Dung Kai-cheung’s imaginative vision of the city.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, China

124 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

Dung Kai-cheung, a Chinese fiction writer born in Hong Kong, 1967. He received his B.A. and M. Phil. in comparative literature from the University of Hong Kong. He is an author, journalist, playwright and essayist. He works at a part-time lecturer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and mainly teaches Chinese writing. His wife, Huang Nian-Xin works as associate professor at the Chinese department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His most important novels include "Atlas", "Histories of Time" and other award-winning books. Different from other local Chinese writers, Dung translates his own work into English versions. Dung is devoted to the education of youth writers. He writes preface and prologue for Hong Kong youth writers, some are his students in the Chinese department of Chinese University of Hong Kong.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

These 25 short stories felt a little like random, four-page samplings of the lives of different people living in Hong Kong in the late 90s. Storywise, I have to admit that it was not really my cup of tea. However, I did enjoy it in at least two ways. First, I really appreciated the descriptions of places I have visited. The island Cheung Chau in particular, where I would spend whole days just walking around. Second, it made me think about all the lives that are lived separate from mine in a city like this. It felt like jumping from bubble to bubble.

That said, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad reading this. These stories are set 20 years before I went to Hong Kong, just after the handover to China. Locals will tell you that the city has changed a lot since then. Independent stores closing down, malls and big chains popping up in their places, more cynicism. I don't know. I understand that all cities change. I just hope that the people of this city will get a bigger say in how exactly they will change going forward. If nothing else, these vignettes were nice little peeks into an era of Hong Kong I will never experience.

[Andrew Yuen]

Tragic and captivating. Each story serves as a character study, mostly around people that are neurotic and broken in some way. The stories are very open ended, which will probably either frustrate or captivate you, depending on your preference for these kinds of things.

There is a deadpan quality to the narration and description of the characters- we read very little of what their thoughts are, almost as if they have no inner lives as a consequence of some neurosis. Reading this reminded me of being frustrated with some of the people that I've met, the kind that are blatantly stuck in their own self enclosed patterns, forever unhappy and unwilling to examine themselves.

But regardless, I can still empathize with the behavior of the characters in these stories and their imperfect, but endlessly creative coping mechanisms- eating nothing but a particular brand of jelly, destroying old photographs, literally running away from conflict. The truth is that the human condition- especially big city life- provokes trauma, trauma that is forever hidden, implicit in its danger.

Its a good book to try reading- you'll find very quickly whether you like it or hate it. Most of the stories are 2-3 pages in length. I don't recommend reading it all at once though.

[Mashed Potato · Rating 2 out of 5]

it felt pretty nostalgic but i think the translation didn't work out so well. some stories ended rather abruptly and confusingly.

[Jasmine A. N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally have success with Hong Kong fiction and I cannot be more stoked. I think there is something to be said about the fact that my first instance of success is a translated work WHHOOP. I don't think this translation is perfect per se. As someone who does understand and speak Cantonese, and is marginally literate in traditional Chinese text, some sections were clunky and I do think a lot of nuance was missed (especially with the names of characters; English is deceptive in the sense that anyone who is fluent in any other language realises how decidedly unnuanced English is, it is a very boring language).

There were also some cultural references that I feel were mistranslated? We don't have suburbs here, so I found the mention of 'suburban' anything very confusing. I also think some aspects of university culture here was totally missed (O-day is not compulsory, but you definitely socially ostracise yourself if you don't attend it; there is also stuff I can say about hall culture). That said, I don't think I can be all too mad because I feel like this is one of the most grounded takes of Hong Kong I've read, and one that doesn't pander to the Anglophone (*whispers* expat) audience and we love to see it. My issues with it are miniscule in comparison to other stuff I've read.

The stories here are very whimsical and weird, and barely any end on a satisfying note. Yet, I feel like they were all still very distinctly Hong Kong in their madness and I cannot pin why? Maybe I am so deprived of good narratives that anything that mentions our public housing complexes and, god forbid, the New Territories immediately has me going, 'AHA!' I think the emphasis on materiality and Hong Kong pop culture was deeply amusing. All in all, I really liked it? Very whimsy, very fun, very for the HK kids who grew up in HK-HK even if it is a little bit outdated sometimes.

[Enitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As this was part of the furniture of our hotel in Hong Kong ive decided to read it. To be honest, I’d probably given it two stars if I wasn’t in Hong Kong while reading this. The power of some stories is most probably lost in translation, however I did enjoy that I recognized some things.

[Cristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

My favorite stories were "Pastéis de Nata," "The Cockroach," "The Waist Bag," and "Made in Hong Kong."

[Joey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't quite like translated books most of the time because I know of the challenges faced in finding the right words in the right context to convey the essence of the original script through the course of my work. This book suffers from exactly this problem because the stories here would have been more interesting to read if it was in Chinese. In addition, the stories presented in this book are not quite typical because they are too short (usually 4 to 5 pages long) so the story is over before you know it. As such, I found it rather bewildering that there is no clear "moral of the story" or message which the writer is trying to convey. The title of the book is also rather misleading and unsuitable because some of these stories can hardly be considered as love stories.

Perhaps the sole redeeming factor in this book is the use of some cultural elements unique to Hong Kong during the 90s which I can relate to. However, these items do not always resonate with the story's theme so I would have wanted to see a stronger relation between them to justify the use of such an item as the title of the stories. It was a pity to have to start the new year with such a lacklustre book.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read, but it's a) abridged, and b) requires a whole lot of context to fully appreciate. This is essentially 25 brief "sketches" excerpted from a larger book with 100 of them, and each one is lovely and eerie at the same time. On the other hand, there's a set of larger themes that are clearly being built towards, but their full impact isn't all there. I'm not sure if this would be different with the full collection, but it's worth investigating.

Much of the context revolves around 1990s Hong Kong - an exciting, if disappointing time of tumult and change - and a basic familiarity with certain period artifacts like Cockroach magazine and the film This is Hong Kong would be very helpful in unpacking the various allusions and references sprinkled throughout the sketches.

Nevertheless, these are lovely portraits, vignettes, fleeting images of a lost period in time, and it's worth reading these just for that. Looking forward to the rest of the Penguin Hong Kong series.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with a sense that much was lost in translation (even though the text was translated by the author himself). This was probably because most of the stories had non-endings that fizzled out. Perhaps this was meant to evoke a sense of hopelessness or melancholy, a reflection of what life was like in Hong Kong; but crappy and unsatisfying nonetheless.

PS. I have managed to track down the short stories in their original Chinese (actually spread across several collected volumes). May try and see if they are more satisfying in their original form.

[Shreya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a unique collection, but unfortunately I think I'm just not one for short stories or sketches (as the author refers to the stories in this collection). Just a personal preference, not a gripe with the author (I just prefer the character development afforded by the length of novels or novellas). My favourite sketch from this collection was Khaki!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read and includes vignettes from 1998 and 99 Hong Kong, each of which mainly centers around personal relationships and some kind of material good. It's a clever concept and brings me back to the Hong Kong I left in 1998.

[Jericho Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's surreal, I feel like he is trying to get a message across but it's not that clear. I just like how most of the stories are tragic.

[molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

this felt like a half-baked premise, which makes sense if only a fraction of the stories were included in the english version. the translation was bad and it was riddled with typos.

[Louis Pilard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing, surreal sketches of Hong Kong in the late 90s. A quick and pleasant read.

[Cecilia Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sublime time machine for those of us who grew up in Hong Kong’s golden years. The translation could be better.

[Michael P · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too abstract and spare for my tastes.

[Sngsweelian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting snippets of stories set in Hong Kong. Not all are what I'll call "love stories" though. Some of them have rather abrupt endings which spoils my enjoyment of the book. 3.5 stars from from.

[Mr Siegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Hurts

It has been a while since I read this charming little book. One thing that stuck to me was the bittersweet taste that the stories left in me. A wonderful read, one that gets into the mind-set of people falling in and out of love in a city with little space for such nonsense.

[Victoria Law · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you're looking for stories that pull you into Hong Kong, this is not the book for you. while there are some scenes set in specific Hong Kong places, these strange & disquieting stories of love and loss could really have taken place anywhere.