HONGKONGLITERATURESERIES
SeriesEditor:JohnMinford
TheDrunkard(酒徒)isoneofthefirstfull-lengthstream-of-consciousnessnovelswritteninChinese.IthasbeencalledtheHongKongnovel,andwasfirstpublishedin1962asaserialinaHongKongeveningpaper.AstheunnamedNarrator,awriteratoddswithaphilistineworld,sinkstohisdrunkennadir,hisplightcanbeseentorepresentthatofawholeintelligentsia,awholeculture,degradedbythebrutalforcesofhistory:theSecondSino-JapaneseWarandtherampantcapitalismofpostwarHongKong.
TheoftensurrealisticdescriptionoftheNarrator’sinexorabledescentthroughtheseedybarsandnightclubsofHongKong,ofhisnumerousencounterswithdance-girlsandhisevermoredesperateboutsofdrinking,iscounterpointedbyaseriesofwide-rangingliteraryessays,analysingtheChineseclassicaltradition,thepopularcultureofChinaandtheWest,andthemodernistmovementinWesternandChineseliterature.
TheambianceofHongKongintheearly1960sisgraphicallyevokedinthispowerfulandpoignantnovel,whichtakesthereadertotheveryheartofHongKong.HongKongdirectorFreddieWongmadeafinefilmversionofthenovelin2004.
