The History of the Adventures of Vivi and Vera
( Chinese - 天工開物‧栩栩如真 - 2005 )
novel by Dung Kai-Cheung
translated by Yau Wai-ping
Published: Hong Kong University Press - trade paperback - 2018
ISBN: 9881604761 / 9789881604767
Hong Kong University Press - e-book - 2018
ASIN: B07G4KC6G7
contents
Weaving together two inventive narratives this novel chronicles the changes and continuities of Hong Kong in the final decades of colonial rule, and projects a futuristic vision in which postcolonial nostalgia meets postmodernist fantasia, and family romance begets science fantasy. First is the story of a novelist who recounts his family’s history against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s development from the 1930s to the 1990s. This story is built through vignettes about the protagonist’s relationship with technological inventions that shaped his life, as glimpsed through his uncertain memory and family myths. Running parallel to this is a rebellion by the novelist’s oppressed fictional characters, who attempt to break the yoke of servile obedience laid upon them by the conventions of novel-writing. The central character, Vivi, has been written into being by the author and, once created, she seems to take on a life of her own and moves from being fabricated to being real, even bravely undertaking the journey to meet her creator—the novelist—in the real world. Fantasy and realism combine to suggest that crossing boundaries is inherent part of our nature.
( Chinese - 天工開物‧栩栩如真 - 2005 )
novel by Dung Kai-Cheung
translated by Yau Wai-ping
Published: Hong Kong University Press - trade paperback - 2018
ISBN: 9881604761 / 9789881604767
Hong Kong University Press - e-book - 2018
ASIN: B07G4KC6G7
contents
Weaving together two inventive narratives this novel chronicles the changes and continuities of Hong Kong in the final decades of colonial rule, and projects a futuristic vision in which postcolonial nostalgia meets postmodernist fantasia, and family romance begets science fantasy. First is the story of a novelist who recounts his family’s history against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s development from the 1930s to the 1990s. This story is built through vignettes about the protagonist’s relationship with technological inventions that shaped his life, as glimpsed through his uncertain memory and family myths. Running parallel to this is a rebellion by the novelist’s oppressed fictional characters, who attempt to break the yoke of servile obedience laid upon them by the conventions of novel-writing. The central character, Vivi, has been written into being by the author and, once created, she seems to take on a life of her own and moves from being fabricated to being real, even bravely undertaking the journey to meet her creator—the novelist—in the real world. Fantasy and realism combine to suggest that crossing boundaries is inherent part of our nature.