#AusReadingMonth2022 Louisa Lim

by Louisa Lim

Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Indelible City (ISBN: 9781922458513)

 

Bad news: This is NOT essential reading on the subject of Hong Kong and the protests of 2019. I was looking for more hard-nosed reporting not affected by feelings and Ms Lim had decided to include too much of herself and not enough of the Hong Kong news about the 2019 seismic shift in the city.

 

Personal: I’ve been fooled again. I assumed that a book about Hong Kong would center around account of protests in Hong Kong during 2019 along with very thorough analysis on actions and reactions between people. 70% of the book is around Ms Lim’s reminiscences of memories and a quick scan of history as view through an atlas with very old maps. The theme connecting all of this is Ms Lim’s writing about a quirky “King of Kowloon” (old man writing calligraphy graffiti around the city). Only 30% (last section) refers to the uprising that set the city on fire.
No, this is not my kind of book…too “touchy-feely” about Hong Kong. But if that is what you are looking for…be my guest!

• PS: If you want to read an EXCELLENT book about Hong Kong and the protests
• I would recommend Antony Dapiran’s  (Australian lawyer, writer based in  Hong Kong)
• City on Fire (2020) – REVIEW