Short story collections can be a hit or miss for me, but Xu Xi’s newest collection Horizon Hong Kong, which contains 22 stories from her extensive backlist of works, was as excellent as I anticipated it would be. As someone who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in the United States where I live a life immersed in both the English and Chinese (mostly Cantonese) languages, Xu Xi’s catalogue of works has always resonated deeply with me. This collection, in particular, brings together many of Xu Xi’s best stories over the years that especially reflect the uniqueness of Hong Kong’s cultural identity – an identity that is oftentimes misunderstood by those who are not from the city or have never lived there.
University of Toronto Scarborough professor Christopher Payne aptly notes in his introduction to the book that Xu Xi’s writing is so resonant precisely because, in all her works, there is an invitation into “the politics of the personal” through her candid and detailed “exploration of the minutiae of Hong Kong and its people, how they live in their radically transforming city, and how they live overseas in the USA and elsewhere; in short, how they are often in-between, and not just in terms of place, but also an in-betweenness in regard to social status, ethnic identity, politics, and more.” While yes, Xu Xi incorporates many aspects of Hong Kong’s rich history and culture into her works (for example – the 1966 Star Ferry protests, the 1997 handover, the Occupy movement and the 2019 protests, etc.), she does so through the personal lens of each of her characters’ specific experiences. The result is an interrogation of the world at large from the point of view of the individual.
The stories in Horizon Hong Kong are arranged mostly chronologically based on setting, with the first story “Democracy” taking place during the 1966 Star Ferry protests, while later stories, such as “Insignificant Moments in the History of Hong Kong,” are set against the backdrop of the 1997 handover. Significantly though, each story that features a historical event juxtaposes that event with the personal drama experienced by its characters, sometimes using a metaphorical lens to create a microcosmic reflection of Hong Kong’s macrocosmic history (and its culture) as interpreted by those most directly impacted by them.
Indeed, Xu Xi employs a multitude of voices and perspectives to tell her stories, shifting between first, second, and third person points of views seamlessly through a varied cast of narrators, from children to teenagers to adults who come from all different backgrounds and walks of life. There are even stories told from the perspectives of animals and ghosts! In the story “Chung King Mansion,” a nine-year-old girl’s momentary glimpse into one of Tsimshatsui’s most famous buildings shatters her half-understood fantasy about an orange-haired woman whom she sees frequenting the building, while the story “The Yellow Line” gives us the perspective of a little boy from a dysfunctional family whose escapist adventures on the city’s equally famous Mass Transit Rail system (directly translated as the “Underground Iron” from the Chinese name 地鐵) ends in tragedy. Several of the stories are told from the perspectives of students, while still others are narrated by older characters, both male and female, rich and poor. The stories also take place in a multitude of locations, both within Hong Kong (such as the aforementioned Tsimshatsui, the public housing estates of Lok Fu, the more affluent neighborhood of Kowloon Tong, etc.) and all over the world, from the United States (New York, San Francisco, etc.) to Australia, and even Stockholm in Sweden. This is actually one of the aspects I loved most about this collection: the variety of the stories and the wide range of perspectives that cover the experiences of those living in Hong Kong as well as the diasporic community outside of it. As a member of this diaspora who has had to navigate the previously mentioned “in-betweenness” for most of my life, I absolutely appreciate how accurately and authentically Xu Xi depicts the transnational nuances of our daily lives.
While this is an excellent collection overall, I did end up enjoying some of the stories more than others (which, of course, is typical with these types of unliked stories). Some of my favorites include: “Democracy,” “Chung King Mansion,” “The Yellow Line,” “Insignificant Moments in the History of Hong Kong,” “Famine,” “Citizenship,” “Iron Light,” “Servitude,” “Crying with Audrey Hepburn,” “All About Skin,” “The 15th Annual Anniversary,” “Monkey in Residence,” “Before,” and “TST.”
I definitely recommend picking this collection up, especially if you enjoy the short story medium, but even if you don’t, this book is still a worthwhile read for those who are interested in understanding Hong Kong a little better. Of course, for a deeper dive into Hong Kong history and culture, I would also recommend Xu Xi’s other works, which consist of novels/novellas, short stories, essay collections, and a memoir, as well as those of other Hong Kong writers (both those who write in English and in Chinese).
Received ARC from Gaudy Boy LLC via NetGalley.
