Chopsticks is a collection of five related short stories penned and collaborated by a handful of novelist from Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Rating: 4.8 stars.
The first short story (by Shinzō Mitsuda) takes place in Japan serves as the beginning of the curse about the Chopsticks-sama and a serious of strange dreams of a mysterious high school is really interesting!
The second story The Bone of Coral is set in Taiwan, it is about a crazy mother and her superstition of a mysterious deity 'Immortal Wong' and her cruel treatment to her son, the story and the plot twist in the end is also very interesting!
The third story, Fishes in a Web of Curses is about an urban legend about the curse of the Chopsticks-sama which haunted the netizens of Hong Kong, an actually exist infamous haunting site (a.k.a 'The Bride's Pool', or rather, 'the Ghost Bride's Pool') and a seemingly impossible crime (which got accidentally broadcasted online), the story is quite good, the explanation is also good enough.
The fourth story is again set in Taiwan, at the beginning a hooker with a tragic past told her many customers of her upbringing in a Taiwanese village as a child bride having to serve her 'parents-in-law', her 10 years old future husband and his twin sister. This nameless narrator later fell in love with a handsome college student from the same village. The girl wound up pregnant and then lost her baby, shamed and abused by her parents-in-law, the desperate girl prayed to the 'Immortal Wong', whom she believed resided in a pair of coral chopsticks, for revenge.
On the other hand, years later, the twin sister married the man of her dreams but then the pair divorced, now the ex husband found out his own son was cursed by no other than the mysterious 'Immortal Wong', and he was desperate to find a way to break the curse before his son was put in harm's way.
This fourth story is the one with the most interesting storylines and the mysteries are very tricky too.
The last story is again set in Hong Kong, it serves as the conclusion for the mysteries of the curse of the coral chopsticks and it's a finely crafted tale with the mysteries satisfyingly explained, and I also like that the detective character turns out to be . I also like the adventure + crime-solving tone of the story.
陳浩基《亥豕魯魚》 作為讀本書之前唯一有讀過的作者,對守尾門的陳浩基期望也頗大,然後在讀到這篇三分之一的時候開始產生「what the hell am I reading」之感。這話比較中性,並非誇讚腦洞也並非指其胡鬧,而是literally的無所適從,因為陳浩基完全把前面四篇接龍積累的風格拋棄,如果說薛瀟二人玩的是fusion,陳做的就是reshape,以至於整個評價體系都不知道該怎麼擺,但細想他又確實沒有離題。不過比起陳這種放手一搏,我更想吐槽的是大佬,你的愛情視角真的很直男,麻煩update一下性別審美好嗎。
最後補充強調,記得要看後記哦。這種拼盤接龍的寫作,和最終出品一樣有趣的就是創作過程。作為一個文字愛好者對我來說閱讀這類作品過程中很特別的一點是可以參與到創作的想像裡,似乎能體驗到每個作者的意念從from the scratch到come into being的那雜亂糾結卻又妙趣橫生的過程。例如讀完瀟湘神那篇,我就在替陳浩基著急還能怎麼接,結果讀後記看到他自嘲道當初接下尾門就是懶叻地認為有後設這一殺手鐧,沒想到提前被人用了,讓我忍俊不禁。類似的會心一笑的點還有很多,是從其它形式的作品很少能得到的樂趣。
Truyện là sự kết hợp của 5 cây bút đến từ Nhật Bản, Đài Loan, Hồng Kông, Trung Quốc. Ban đầu mình cứ nghĩ là 5 câu chuyện khác nhau, độc lập, nhưng các tác giả đã tương đối khéo léo kết nối chúng lại, trở thành một thể thống nhất.
Về cơ bản thì các tình tiết của truyện khá ổn, bắt đầu từ những thứ tưởng như siêu nhiên nhưng lại được giải quyết theo hơi hướng trinh thám, suy luận.
Hơi tiếc là cái kết không mang tính khoa học, mình cứ nghĩ là thuần trinh thám nhưng thật ra lại không phải vậy. Nói chung là không thoả mãn.
The stories have many layers and interconnected. They are enjoyable to read. I find it amazing that they are written by five different authors from three countries. Recommended.