香港書籍讀書筆記

Myself a Mandarin: Memoirs of a Special Magistrate真係好好睇，應該列為中學讀本，諗住要睇好耐最近先開始睇，Austin Coates講嘅五十年代新界鄉村根本就係另一個世界，啲人嘅諗法同做事方式同我基本上無乜關係。中間仲有講共產黨搞事、私奔事件、佢同其他官員視察荃灣做規劃。佢話係佢提議移平荃灣個山起學校（似乎係講我讀嘅海壩街官立小學，或者潮州公學、官小、官中嗰幾間都係），順便用啲沙泥填海，因為細路仔要上山讀書太辛苦。好彩移平左，唔係我讀官中嘅時候日日臨打鐘先跑返學，跑上山點掂？真係要多謝佢。

一路睇佢講新界一路覺得其實細個根本唔了解咩係傳統中國，以為自己係「中國人」其實只係一個Orientalist。同住過大陸幾年之後來香港嘅法國仔講起，佢就理所當然話香港同中國當然唔同，傳統中國亦早就唔存在，或者真係旁觀者清。

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The Private Life of Old Hong Kong (Susanna Hoe，無譯本，絕版）好值得睇，講早期香港歐裔女性生活。

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睇完《A Many-Splendoured Thing》（電影《生死戀》原著），技巧來講有啲怪，唔同文體雜埋一齊，但淨係睇佢描寫1949-1950嘅香港都值得：本身香港嘅唔同階級，加埋中國來嘅難民、國民黨傷兵、上海有錢人、被迫離開中國嘅傳教士，當時香港嘅生活、地理、社交、貨品等等，中間仲有講到重慶同韓戰。

睇埋電影版，將男主角改成美國人，個感覺差太遠，小說入面話佢係a quiet and gentle Englishman，依家變成a loud American。

We took Margaret out to dinner at the Parisian Grill. In the night we taxied up to the top of the Peak to show her Hong Kong, the hoard of a jewel thief.

"I know a shop in Brussels down the Rue de la Paix, a narrow gray shop with a perfectly circular window cut in the stone façade." said Margaret. "Spread on unwrinkled black velvet lie the scintillating masterpieces of that arch-creator, Mr. Burmah. Rivers of diamonds, fountains and sprays of rubies and emeralds, cascades of brooches and galaxies of topaz, sapphire and aquamarine. And the inscription in small gray letters above the window reads: Les Bijoux Burmah, aussi beaux que des vrais. Hong Kong at night reminds me of that circular window cut out somewhere in the wall of a world, an escape into enchantment, a glittering mirage with the frailty of a mirage about it; as if it might disappear, swallowed into dark velvet night again.”