The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir is a 2022 memoir by Karen Cheung, published by Random House.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9d/The_Impossible_City.jpg/220px-The_Impossible_City.jpg)
The book documents her growing up in Hong Kong and her familial relationships, as well the beginning of her interest in politics during the Umbrella Movement and scenes of counterculture.[1]
Contents
editThe book's narrative begins in 1997, when Hong Kong has its sovereignty transferred to China during the Handover of Hong Kong. At the time Cheung was age four; she was born in Shenzhen but went back to Hong Kong shortly afterward. She attended first an international school and then a government-funded school after her family's financial situation deteriorated.[2]
The narrative ends when the Hong Kong National Security Law is imposed on 1 July 2020.[2]
Reception
editKirkus Reviews described it as "A powerful memoir of love and anguish".[3]
Publishers Weekly stated that the strongest sections were the "personal missives about city life" and that the work is "a riveting portrait of a place that’s as captivating as it is confounding."[4]
The book was longlisted for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.[5]
References
edit- ^ Mukherjee, Sharmila (2022-03-01). "Karen Cheung's 'The Impossible City' is a tribute to Hong Kong's vanishing way of life". Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ a b Qin, Amy (2022-05-18). "In Hong Kong, the Search for a Single Identity". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ "The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir". Kirkus Reviews. 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ "The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir". Publishers Weekly. 2021-11-19.
- ^ "2023 Winners". American Library Association. October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
External links
edit- The Impossible City - On Karen Cheung's website
- The Impossible City - Penguin Random House
- The Impossible City - Random House Books