I’d like to premise my review with this: I admire them for publishing the book and appreciate that the book is structured by a chronology of all the important dates of the movement (the contents page was my favourite part). However, the book fell short of my expectations. Because this was not meant to be a memoir, nor a philosophical text, the books seemed to me a jumbled mix of random interpretations of philosophical theories with personal thoughts. The philosophy parts were insufficiently elaborated and I found other parts too preachy for my liking.
Presumably written during the eventual years of 2019 and 2020, this book reads like a diary that consists mainly of rather fascinating philosophical musings. It does not necessarily offer definitive answers but suggest ways for the reader to reason and think clearly. Naturally the reader does not have to agree with the authors (and I don't) to enjoy the book. Havel, Rawls, Arendt, among many others are suitably referenced. Between chapters are some truly remarkable and impactful photographs that promise to mesmerize. On the whole, the main themes of the book are authenticity and optimism. Above all, with hope nothing is futile. Five stars.
A must read if you are living in HK during the movement. It's very well written in terms of both covering the movement timeline and related philosophical discussion.
Thanks for written this as we all need to sort out the bottled up emotion and finding meaning in these bleak time.
A superb book in explaining social movement with philosophy in a simple and easy to understand way. A book that is written with collective memories of Hong Kongers in 2019-2020.