[CNQ]∎ Libro Gratis Gweilo Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth 0000553816721 Books

Gweilo Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth 0000553816721 Books

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Gweilo Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth 0000553816721 Books

Okay, my 20-something-year-old son lives in Hong Kong so I'm biased right from the start, but I'll have to say, I was immediately hooked on the story of Martin's innocent curiosity as he rambled his way through the streets of Hong Kong under British rule. The locals he met; the foods he tasted; the independence he exerted all on his own make for one engaging story...one I didn't want to have come to an end. It would make a great movie.


Tags : Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood [Martin Booth] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Evocative, funny and full of life, this is a beautifully observed childhood memoir of growing up in colonial Hong Kong in the 1950s. As an inquisitive seven-year-old,Martin Booth,Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood,Bantam Press,0553816721,Biography & Autobiography General

Gweilo Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth 0000553816721 Books Reviews

If you lived in Hong Kong, this book is probably a 5-star as it names streets, landmarks, food, customs etc that is probably magical to read - IF you lived there. I have only visited Hong Kong and just for a few days and although I fell in love with it, I of course could not relate to the book in the same manner.

Nevertheless, that shouldn't be a necessity for a great book and I really didn't find this great. I found it just a basic recounting of little incidents in his life there, with little insight or reflection, more just a statement of facts (or visual descriptions) which is fine but in this case didn't translate into anything meaningful. Again, if you lived in HK I am sure that is meaningful enough as one fills in their own memories of the locations and sights.

It lacked context - very little information was given of his family before the move to HK and none after the move out of HK. That left a big hole in feeling any connection to these people. There was no underlying theme to give these little episodes a connection to a greater whole. They feel suspended out there and that robs them of meaning. Nothing felt important.

The only 'theme' that was brought up throughout the book was his parents bad marriage, their constant bickering and his hatred of his father. I assumed the marriage must have been a quickie war one where the parents barely knew each other (why else would the idealized mother marry such a lout?) but in one of the very few little tidbits we are given of his past, he writes that they grew up practically next door to each other. Well that gives the mother some responsibility in the marriage if she knowingly went into it. We are lead to believe that the father had not been like that before but had changed - umm unless he had a head injury, it seems unlikely that he could change so drastically. I actually felt a little sorry for the father and did not share the author's opinion of his mother as blameless - his mother seemed to deride his father at every chance, with the son's full consent, she gave as good as she got and it felt like the 2 of them against the father.

This I found really depressing to read as to me it didn't seem a clear case of saint and devil. It's much easier to read about distructive marriages if one agrees with the author's prespective but in my eyes, his mother was also quite to blame and the whole sad alienation of the family was a sad waste.

What happened to them? We don't know, the book doesn't say. Perhaps the author was too sick to continue as he had cancer when he wrote this and died shortly after.
Definitely among the best books I've read recently, and it -- and the reviews here from expats in Hong Kong -- make me extraordinarily envious of all those who have the opportunity to be exposed to a different culture at length during childhood. It is expertly written, and while I share with another reviewer my doubts about how the author could have remembered so many events in such detail, I am willing to grant him literary license.

What I'm less inclined to forgive is the one-sided examination of his parents' marriage. This imbalance becomes especially disconcerting toward the end of the book, when his dad is portrayed in an increasingly bad light. Initially I was prepared to see it as merely reflecting the author's perspective from that of childhood, but as the "Daddy bad, Mommy good" drama went on, I became increasingly uncomfortable with it. As we grow older, we recognize the complexity of relationships, and, barring unusual physical cruelty, forgive (even if we can't forget) our parents' various transgressions. On a more general note, there's a delicate balance between respecting one's own culture and "going native"; and if his father was too inclined to the former, to me it's a pardonable sin.

But please don't let the above paragraph deter you from reading this book. It is glorious, and should give you hours of pleasure.
I am just finishing the book for a third time. I love it. Beautifully written memoir. It is hard to believe an eight year-old boy was allowed to wander the streets, squatters camps, dangerous walled city where opium was the norm ( he had been forbidden to go there) etc. He learned the language, immersed himself fully into the Chinese culture learning to speak Cantonese fluently. His parents marital problems are a part of the memoir as they were a part of his awareness. I think, as one reviewer put it, "bashing" too strong a sentiment to be used when he tells in passing of the abuse the father heaped on him and the mother;it was his reality. I can't recommend this book enough. My copy, bought in the States is called " Golden Boy."
Newly arrived in Hong Kong when I read this book, there was much to recognise in the Cantonese language and character of the local population that is evoked in this book. Other landmarks have long disappeared under the weight of towering skyscrapers that dominate the Hong Kong skyline. A beautiful book, very honestly written.
Well written - entertaining and genuine. A good picture of Hong Kong in the 50s through a child's eyes.
Really took me back home to Hong Kong, I have been gone for 35 years but this book made it seem like it was yesterday I left Kai Tak Airport!!
You must read this book. Martin Booth adored Hong Kong and its inhabitants. His view of Hong Kong life in the early 1950's is so clear, so non-judgmental, that you feel you are living those years with him, in the body and mind of a 7-10 year old boy. What a great curiosity, what a deeply compassionate heart this little boy had! I wish Mr. Booth were still alive and that I could meet him. I'd love to hear more of his stories, more of his life, this time in person.
Okay, my 20-something-year-old son lives in Hong Kong so I'm biased right from the start, but I'll have to say, I was immediately hooked on the story of Martin's innocent curiosity as he rambled his way through the streets of Hong Kong under British rule. The locals he met; the foods he tasted; the independence he exerted all on his own make for one engaging story...one I didn't want to have come to an end. It would make a great movie.