Category: Books
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In Hong Kong, you often find the UK and US versions of books sitting next to each each on the shelves. And generally the US version is significantly cheaper, but for many books from the UK I don't want the US version. Because they change stuff. I remember reading the first of the Charlie Bone…
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Wellcome are currently running a promotion which features Paddington, the bear from Darkest Peru who lives in London (at 32 Windsor Gardens) with the Brown family. What shouldn't have surprised me, I suppose, was that people in Hong Kong wouldn't have any idea about Paddington or that there are a whole series of books about…
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Someone kindly recommended www.bookdepository.co.uk a few weeks ago. They ship books to Hong Kong and they don’t charge for delivery. Hurrah! Amazon (both UK and US) also ship to Hong Kong, and offer much bigger discounts. The problem is the delivery charge – Amazon UK add £4.99 per shipment plus £2.99 per item (i.e. £7.98…
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Sometimes the price of books in Hong Kong is almost beyond belief: Jamie’s Ministry of Food Page One, Kowloon Tong HK$474 Cover Price £25.00 HK$292 Amazon.co.uk* (shipped to Hong Kong) £17.97 HK$210 Typical UK bookstore price £12.50 HK$146 £1 = HK$11.68 * Amazon price is £9.99, plus a delivery charge of £7.98 (£4.99 per shipment…
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When I first saw the books, I thought that it was simply a bit of clever marketing, but it turns out that they have updated the Famous Five for the new millenium with four new characters (Jo, Max, Allie & Dylan) who are supposed to be the children of George, Julian, Dick & Anne. That…
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Sun Gai Gweilo was complaining recently about the price (and availability) of English language books in Hong Kong. And, yes, I am sure I will be criticized for writing this, but English is an official language of Hong Kong, so you might hope that books would be readily available at a reasonable price. And they’re…
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Having watched the film (which opened a few weeks ago in Hong Kong), and read the book, I have to say something about the horrible job they have done of adapting this children’s classic for the cinema. In the book, the story starts (as it should) with the Pevensie children. They are on a railway…
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I don’t know all the background to this strange story: ASIAN AUTHOR Nury Vittachi, co-founder of the Hong Kong Literary Festival, is to be sacked by the organization’s board in a row about racial insensitivity and improper business links. The novelist, probably Hong Kong’s biggest literary export, alleges that the board fired him after he…
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I came across my copy of this book recently, and it made me wonder whether it is the worst “Hong Kong” novel ever written by a well-known author. The characters are two-dimensional, the plot is flimsy, and the author knows nothing about Hong Kong – as demonstrated by the fact that the factory owned by the main character is located in that well-known industrial…
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There was (I think) a time when obituaries were written with great care so as not to cause offence. Not any more – this is from the Daily Telegraph (several months ago – I forgot about this and have just found it again): William Donaldson, who died on June 22 aged 70, was described by…
Ordinary Gweilo 