Commuter Quick Read | "Home" sandwiched between Vancouver and Hong Kong

The name of the book is Ghost Forest, which seems a little strange, because this book is actually a story of a "home" sandwiched between Vancouver and Hong Kong, and to make it more clear, a girl who grew up in two cultures died for herself A memoir written by his father. This form of memoir is mainly based on the author's writing to mourn his deceased father, and indirectly expounds the cultural collision between living in two places, two cultures, and two countries. Unclear friction, guesswork, unexpressed love or pervasive misunderstanding...

The author's family is in Hong Kong and later immigrated to Canada. The author who grew up in Canada gradually alienated the traditional culture of Hong Kong and Hong Kong; and his father is the father of hundreds of "astronauts 👩‍🚀" who traveled back and forth between Hong Kong and Canada . In the era of great immigration, there were indeed many families in this situation. Behind this situation was the word "love" that my father could never say.

As a recommendation in the "Commute Quick Reads" section, this book wins with extremely short chapters and a concise and powerful English narrative. Each chapter of the book can basically be read in a five- to ten-minute commute time. Each chapter succinctly describes the author's past, grandmother, father and other family figures and relationships; such as independent stories and memory fragments, in fact, they are also connected everywhere, until the early death of the father, the author entangles cultural collisions with family affection Pulling everything to the maximum, the father's dedication and love for his daughters are revealed in the book...

Many books have been written on this theme, and in 2021, the famous Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "On Grief" even nominated Goodreads for the best non-fiction. However, the collection of condolences she wrote after the death of her well-known father is not known to elicit a response from many readers. Grief is a deeply personal, personal feeling, and in all likelihood it will be more difficult for the person involved to gain understanding from others. Everyone is a slave to their own past experiences , and everyone's efforts to understand others are mostly based on their own past experiences. It is difficult to write mourning words, ancient and modern. But why Lu You's mourning Tang Wan can arouse echoes that have been sung from generation to generation? Perhaps the word "love" and the resonance it evokes seem frivolous in comparison with "pain"? Perhaps the "pain" that one desires can't achieve is more arousing the pain in the feeling than the "love" that seems to be gained and lost? Or maybe it's just that the marriage, which is obstructed by the family in the culture, has always been like this in China, and it naturally resonates more.

The author's pain of losing her father seems to be torn apart by the two cities of Hong Kong and Vancouver, making her unable to find a place to rest her grief. Literature is an interesting thing. Some words can really show the pain almost intact like a mirror. Some words describe the author's grief from a distance, as if listening to the speech at a memorial service.

What attracted me more to this book was the author's description of "A Tale of Two Cities". Since leaving Hong Kong as a child, the author has no understanding of some of the culture of Hong Kong. When her father died and was buried in Hong Kong, the author described the Taoist rituals experienced in Hong Kong. Everything became foreign in the eyes of the girl who lost her father. However, she knew in her heart that everything in front of her represented her father's past. , father used to live half of his life. She tries to understand, to see, to hear, to feel.

I'm thinking that a city, even if it only carries one's childhood in the first few years of life, is unforgettable. The loneliness of going back to the homeland to see things and the past haunting dreams will always become a feeling of "loss" in my mind. This feeling is surrounded by melancholy, like sadness, it is extremely personal, how to share it with others, how to resort to writing ?

In modern society, there will always be two or more cities that play an important role in a person's life. Whether it is self-exile or leaving without saying goodbye, the city that removes "people" is a great comfort to those who leave. For me, Hong Kong is such a city.

When I was in Hong Kong, I mostly did things by myself, and I was a leisurely stroller. I found time and again that Hong Kong people are so friendly, charitable, and empathetic. I know such generalizations are inaccurate, but fortunately I met all kind and lovely Hong Kong people who are helpful, kind and lovely. Some of them I still remember and remember names; some I remember faces and voices; some I remember accents ;Everyone makes up Hong Kong, that is their home, and there is "love" in this home, that's why an outsider like me feels love.

But now, Hong Kong is going to cull more than 2,000 hamsters🐹. I am amazed and feel that it is surprisingly similar to a place. I am sad. The biggest sadness comes from witnessing the process of their "home" being gradually separated and collapsed. At the same time, I also I've been through almost the same situation myself, I understand.

Soon, many people will have two or more homes like the author. Hong Kong has never been and will not be my home, but it will always have a corner in my heart. Changes in Hong Kong will make more and more people, like the author, have two "homes"...

Last year's birthday, an old friend of more than ten years has left Germany, married a distant country, and sent a pair of interesting earrings from afar. They are made of Hong Kong's two cents coins, all in half, but they are not the queen's head, they are already post-reunion Bauhinia flowers. I happily put it on, but my heart sank.