Islands and Continents: Short Stories by Leung Ping-kwan

In this kaleidoscope of stories, translated from the Chinese, P.K. Leung, one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated literary figures, presents his personal vision of the city, evoking in his inimitable voice the local and international dimensions of this extraordinary place, capturing its poignant ambivalence as a postcolonial territory on the fringe of China. Writing in his uniquely unpretentious and honest style, he brings to life for the reader an unforgettable gallery of characters, with their shared memories and ties with Hong Kong. He portrays ordinary lives against the background of local history, mingling subtle pathos with realism and humour. This is a collection for all general readers of fiction, for all those interested in Hong Kong literature, and for the many who already know and admire P.K. Leung and his work. This collection acquaints the reader with contemporary Hong Kong’s most eloquent voice, a writer whose gentle humour is shot through with a lingering sense of melancholy, and whose involvement in serious intellectual and cultural issues is tempered by a childlike and engaging naïvety. – From the Foreword by John Minford