Media

Book Launch on Eileen Chang's The Fall of the Pagoda

14 Apr 2010

 

The Hong Kong University Press and university's Project for Public Culture at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) will co-host a book launch for a noted contemporary Chinese writer, Eileen Chang's(1920-1995) English novel The Fall of the Pagoda《雷峯塔》on 15 April 2010. The Fall of the Pagoda is the English-language precursor to her semi-autobiographical novel "Little Reunion" (《小團圓》), which was the number one bestseller in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China in 2009.  It is the first of a two-part novel series. The second part is called The Book of Change and will be released in Sept 2010 by HKU Press.

At the launch, Dr Roland Soong, the executor of Eileen Chang's estate will donate a photocopy of the manuscripts of Eileen Chang's English novel The Fall of the Pagoda and Long River to HKU and shares his views on Chang's writing career. Perry Lam, Editorial Director of Muse, Hong Kong's leading magazine about arts and culture, will analyze the book.

Last year, Dr Roland Soong set up a HK$1 million scholarship fund at HKU in memory of the late Ms Chang, to create opportunities for students with backgrounds similar to hers, so that they could be freed from financial constraints and able to prosper and excel. The first recipient of this Eileen Chang Memorial Scholarship, Xue Jun Yuan of the Faculty of Arts, will share her thoughts.

Like Little Reunion, The Fall of the Pagoda bears traces of Chang's own life. The protagonist, a young girl called Lute, growing up in Shanghai amid many family entanglements with her divorced mother and spinster aunt during the 1930s, when the International Settlement in Shanghai was known as the "lonely isle" and relatively safe from the invading Japanese army. 

All are welcome, the details are:

Guests :
Prof. S P Chow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, HKU
Dr Roland Soong, Executor, Eileen Chang's Estate
Mr. Perry Lam, Editorial Director, Muse Magazine
Mr. Michael Duckworth, Publisher, HKU Press
Dr. Tony Ferguson, Librarian, HKU Libraries
Ms Xue Jun Yuan, First Recipient of Eileen Chang Memorial Scholarship

Date : 15 April 2010(Thursday)
Time : 3pm
Venue : 1/F, Main Library, HKU
Language : English

～"The Fall of the Pagoda begins as a comedy of manners and gradually evolves into a gothic thriller...Contradictions and aberrations are the norm in Lute's family. This is a household immersed into decaying grandeur amid the intoxicating smell of opium, but it never hesitates to pursue new and exotic things from automobiles and to movies. Desolation and decadence rule...." From the introduction by David Der-wei Wang, Harvard University.

Eileen Chang (1920-1995) is now recognized as one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, though she was completely erased from official histories in mainland China. She was the most popular writer in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II, with English and Chinese stories focusing on human frailties rather than nationalist propaganda.

The Fall of the Pagoda can be ordered at:
http://www.hkupress.org/book/9789888028368.htm paperback
http://www.hkupress.org/book/9789888028351.htm hardback

The book launch on Eileen Chang's The Fall of the Pagoda is also supported by HKU Libraries and Faculty of Arts, HKU. Project for Public Culture of JMSC is sponsored by the Azalea(1972) Endowment Fund.

For enquiries, please contact : Ms.Velentina Ma, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, HKU at velentinam@hku.hk or tel: 2219 4012/9123 0252