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gigireadswithkiki's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
As the child of parents who emigrated from Hong Kong, my feelings toward Hong Kong are messy and complicated, but this memoir is the closest I've felt to being both so seen and so dissected within the polarity of my emotions.
This is a book of many faces, alternating fluidly between a deeply personal memoir recounting a childhood that closely mirrors my own, an in-depth sociopolitical commentary on Hong Kong's complicated relationships with colonization and mainland China, and finally, a evocative love letter to Hong Kong music, film , and culture. Karen Cheung's nuanced writing branched from discussing her struggles with her mental health, tying in Hong Kong's deeply underfunded and inaccessible psychiatric facilities with a cultural stigma against the realities of mental illness, to acknowledging the privileges she had in attending an international school, calling out international students' silence in the midst of city-wide protests, culminating on a sharp beacon on the vast canyon on wealth disparities in the city.
There were a few points Cheung makes that didn't really land for me, first and foremost being a Hot Take in favor of taking abuse from your parents, arguing that it's better to take the hit (figurative but perhaps also literal? the point is unclear!) than to have no family at all. Gotta love perpetuating intergenerational trauma. The other standout for me was Cheung's opinions on Hong Kong's political future; while I agree that the police brutality and dispossession of freedoms enforced by the mainland Chinese government are wrong and evil, I would have appreciated a more nuanced discussion on the push for a capitalist democracy (particularly one that is being backed by U. S. politicians), especially amidst conversation chapters where Cheung mentions the struggle for housing within Hong Kong.
However, for all its shortcomings, "Impossible City" feels more like Hong Kong than any other book I've read on Hong Kong. It shines a light on all its wonders, while also refusing to turn a blind eye to its many faults, and this, above all, is what I enjoyed most about this book.
This is a book of many faces, alternating fluidly between a deeply personal memoir recounting a childhood that closely mirrors my own, an in-depth sociopolitical commentary on Hong Kong's complicated relationships with colonization and mainland China, and finally, a evocative love letter to Hong Kong music, film , and culture. Karen Cheung's nuanced writing branched from discussing her struggles with her mental health, tying in Hong Kong's deeply underfunded and inaccessible psychiatric facilities with a cultural stigma against the realities of mental illness, to acknowledging the privileges she had in attending an international school, calling out international students' silence in the midst of city-wide protests, culminating on a sharp beacon on the vast canyon on wealth disparities in the city.
There were a few points Cheung makes that didn't really land for me, first and foremost being a Hot Take in favor of taking abuse from your parents, arguing that it's better to take the hit (figurative but perhaps also literal? the point is unclear!) than to have no family at all. Gotta love perpetuating intergenerational trauma. The other standout for me was Cheung's opinions on Hong Kong's political future; while I agree that the police brutality and dispossession of freedoms enforced by the mainland Chinese government are wrong and evil, I would have appreciated a more nuanced discussion on the push for a capitalist democracy (particularly one that is being backed by U. S. politicians), especially amidst conversation chapters where Cheung mentions the struggle for housing within Hong Kong.
However, for all its shortcomings, "Impossible City" feels more like Hong Kong than any other book I've read on Hong Kong. It shines a light on all its wonders, while also refusing to turn a blind eye to its many faults, and this, above all, is what I enjoyed most about this book.
xtie's review against another edition
5.0
I haven’t tapped into this pain in a long time. It’s still crushing. I’m crying but this is a wonderful, heartbreaking, beautiful, essential and smart account of the impossibility of Hong Kong. I am going to aggressively gift this to my friends.
vickywong710's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
lfro2013's review against another edition
It was very interesting and extremely engaging. However I found it very depressing and overflowing with sorrow. It felt like a eulogy for someone that hasn't yet died, but you have no hope of them surviving. Maybe she adds a hopeful turn at the end but I didn't have enough faith in that to overcome the overwhelming feelings of despair and hopelessness I felt in the first chapters.
kaminator's review against another edition
4.0
The author's description of her childhood in Hong Kong actually feels very similar to my experience growing up in NYC Chinatown. But then her experience rapidly diverges from mine after high school, and makes me realize how fortunate we are to enjoy the freedoms available to us in the USA.
crouchingdoctorhiddenbias's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
achi1's review against another edition
5.0
This book helps me understand thoughts I have about my hometown that I didn’t know I have or couldn’t articulate. Sometimes I felt as though I could have written some of this, albeit in different words with different stories. My own blogs over the years agonising my identity and sense of belonging echo parts of this book. I feel heard and understood.
Not sure how relevant this is for non-HKers, in the sense the author describes not merely if you live/d there. This is a book written for a very specific audience who needs no explanation of the cultural or political references.
Not sure how relevant this is for non-HKers, in the sense the author describes not merely if you live/d there. This is a book written for a very specific audience who needs no explanation of the cultural or political references.