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Original Title:	Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
ISBN:	0553816721 (ISBN13: 9780553816723)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	Hong Kong

Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Martin Booth

Paperback | Pages: 384 pages

Rating: 4.14 | 1511 Users | 204 Reviews

Details Out Of Books Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Title	:	Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood
Author	:	Martin Booth
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 384 pages
Published	:	August 1st 2005 by Bantam (first published August 2nd 2004)
Categories	:	Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction. Cultural. China. Biography. Travel. Asia

Interpretation To Books Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Martin Booth died in February 2004, shortly after finishing the book that would be his epitaph - this wonderfully remembered, beautifully told memoir of a childhood lived to the full in a far-flung outpost of the British Empire...

An inquisitive seven-year-old, Martin Booth found himself with the whole of Hong Kong at his feet when his father was posted there in the early 1950s. Unrestricted by parental control and blessed with bright blond hair that signified good luck to the Chinese, he had free access to hidden corners of the colony normally closed to a Gweilo, a 'pale fellow' like him. Befriending rickshaw coolies and local stallholders, he learnt Cantonese, sampled delicacies such as boiled water beetles and one-hundred-year-old eggs, and participated in colourful festivals. He even entered the forbidden Kowloon Walled City, wandered into the secret lair of the Triads and visited an opium den. Along the way he encountered a colourful array of people, from the plink plonk man with his dancing monkey to Nagasaki Jim, a drunken child molester, and the Queen of Kowloon, the crazed tramp who may have been a member of the Romanov family.

Shadowed by the unhappiness of his warring parents, a broad-minded mother who, like her son, was keen to embrace all things Chinese, and a bigoted father who was enraged by his family's interest in 'going native', Martin Booth's compelling memoir is a journey into Chinese culture and an extinct colonial way of life that glows with infectious curiosity and humour.

Rating Out Of Books Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Ratings: 4.14 From 1511 Users | 204 Reviews

Commentary Out Of Books Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Martin Booth moved to Hong Kong with his parents in 1952, when he was eight years old. His family lived in three different places within Hong Kong, and Martin explored it all. He was amazingly independent for such a small child and visited cemeteries, temples, and an opium den. He grew to love Hong Kong as it was. So many interesting details, especially for someone like me who knows nothing of Hong Kong.

I love this book, but probably because I spent 10 years of my life living in Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong, I lived between the world of white, colonial "expat", and Chinese local. This book is about a rich, white, expat, European, colonial boy that crosses over to the mysterious side of the local (often poor) Chinese. He can cross over and experience the other side of his world because he is a little boy and can make friends with Chinese children and Chinese servants. I loved reading this book

This book grabbed me "big time" and will stay with me "long time". I have lived in Hong Kong for 16+ years and have always wondered what it was really like before WW II and in the immediate post war years before it exploded. How Booth remembered everything is beyond me but he manages to recall names and places with startling accuracy. It is also the story of a boy taking advantage of an opportunity to explore a different culture and growing up quickly in the process. In its way it also portrays

It is both linguistically and historically interesting. From the perspective of a gwailo, one can get a taste of how expats, primarily British, lived, in addition to the Chinese emigrants. It is also very intriguing to see how new-comers of two different culture blend in well with one another in a city as small as Hong Kong.

I wonder. I found it extraordinary that a 7/9-year-old boy would be allowed solitary free range in a foreign city of a couple of million people even if it was the early 50's. The Walled City, really? Do not know any mother worthy of the name that would have gone along with such a thing even in a blind eye sort of way. Also troubling was the way he constantly belittled his father. No honoring there. That aside, he presented himself as an egalitarian, adventurous and curious fellow, and I enjoyed

Gweilo: A Memoir of a Hong Kong Childhood Review Martin Booth's Gweilo is honestly one of the best autobiographies anyone will read. This final book of his will be remembered as his greatest epitaph. Returning to the roots of his childhood, he enraptures us in the marvelous city of Hong Kong. He reminds us of the start of life at the very beginning, filled with adventure, insight, and nostalgia. The story of childhood, adventure, foreignness. Booth's style is simply a masterpiece. This truly

This is beautifully written, a wonderful description of a young boy's life exploring a new and exciting world. I have a young son and am living in Hong Kong - I can only wish his experience is as fun and limitless as Martin Booth's (though I fear with the drastic changes to the city, it will be much different). For anyone who has a love of China and Hong Kong, this is a must read.