Book Fair – A carnival of dreams and swords

Keith Ip - MA in Religious Studies, School of Christian Studies, USJ

A year has gone, and so I returned to the annual Hong Kong Book Fair in July. Again, I was there meandering for some literature impressions. The price this year is very attractive; crowd management is excellent; signage is very clear – I guess most participants will agree that the fair does such a good job to cover up the act of selling in the guise of a cultural festival.
The benefit of having a festival is, of course, to attract people. However, as the prominent professor, Leo Ou-Fan Lee rightly addresses, Hongkongers (and Macau people, I assert) generally do not cultivate the habit of visiting bookshops. In contrast, people are jostled in cinemas when new movies are on screen. Festivals are, therefore, catalysts to introduce such reading culture. From this point of view, the fair is so successful simply because it attracts tens of thousands people.
How about the cast? Many well-known authors, such as Frederick Forsyth, Andrew Roberts, and Han Han (韓寒) shared interesting insights about reading and composition. Personally I like Han Han’s sharing. Although his seminar began without any themes, and turned out to be a question and answer session about various personal agenda, he did reply in a profound way. Reading, as many people perceived, is always a serious matter. Thus this cultural event tried to regain its position as an environment for proper literature with the absence of the skimpily-clad young women, known as pseudo-models.
Seriousness may be a reason why the alluring ladies are not so welcome by the Book Fair. But Han Han, regardless of all accusations about those porn-like books, shows his acceptance towards the books: “You may think the picture books look neither comfortable, neither perhaps in bad taste, but they should exist in reality”. It is unusual for such a celebrity to defend such books. People like him are expected to observe high moral standards. However, it does not mean the books cannot exist. Han Han highlighted a valuable point; to encompass, or tolerate other cultures. And these cultures, most often, do not ally with or, conversely, oppose conventional culture.
It seems we have developed a culture of attracting people with enchanting beautiful gals. If demand and supply is the law to run our world, one must not be surprised when we are surrounded by those books. We simply have too many people who are driven by Dopamine and euphoria. My parents have long taught me that books are supposed to help us appreciate knowledge. So what are the messages behind those “aesthetic” picture books? Sorry I do not find any warmth in the photography, but view them as mere cold objects.
Books are objects if you just own them. The amount you stack up will only become your impedimenta. Physical possessions gather dust and take up space. It does not make you any wiser for having more books. Of course, if you stock good books, they can become heirlooms, which are worth being cherished. It will become a good model to your son or daughter when they open your heirloom which is full of notes and comments.
Joining the carnival each year helps me to invoke the sentiment of being bookish. But what is the future direction beyond planning a week-long man-made festival? It would be too early and ambitious to compare the Hong Kong Book Fair with the Frankfurt’s. However, one may take reference to Hay-on-Wye, a famous little book town in Wales. People simply cultivate reading culture by promoting and reading books. They would not mind displaying nude photography on an open and dedicated bookshelf, treating it equally with other subjects of books. In the town I found every customer, shop owner and the books themselves finely identified within their own world.
Whether you find fantasies in nude photography, or dissenters to argue with, books are always your friends. If you do not like it, just remove it, or else just read through it. And be aware not to stock unnecessary books.

©MDTimes/University of Saint Joseph