從8A開始

林沙（2005）《從8A開始》 香港：突破。
(book comment added on 14 March; originally posted on 10 February)

• A gift presented by the author, my good friend, when I was in Hong Kong last summer.
  
• A solid and powerful witness to the mark that the SARS epidemic (2003) has made on Hong Kong people, from those who have wrestled with it and survived it, whether as patients, family members, or medical carers, or a mixure of those.
  
• The interviews are compassionate and sympathetic. But to me the most interesting parts of the book are the prelude, concluding remarks, and the 'intervals-between-sections' in which the author's own self appears vividly on the pages. Equally impressive is the last words by the photographer. Perhaps, as the author have suggested, I am biased by my personal acquaintence with them.
  
• The book represents a fine attempt to reflect from a religious perspective the SARS incident, which in my opinion is the most important incident in the collective memory of Hong Kong people since the riot / upheaval in 1967. Honest, direct, sincere, and ... not the least, touching at the appropriate moments. However, I would always hope that the book could dig deeper into the reflection. Nonetheless it represents what the interviewees think and feel; so, let it be what it is, and let them be who they are. There is no point to push. And perhaps for its target market of a general reading public in Hong Kong, it has well served its purpose.
  
• Typical of the overall style of the publisher (as well as the organisation behind), the title itself is too modest. So modest that it seems to be (unconsciouly) trying to avoid drawing too much attention to the product. As it now is, only those who have a very detailed memory of the chronology of the SARS outbreak can instantaneously realise what the book is about. I must confess on my part that it took me more than a few seconds to become aware that it is a SARS book.
  
• In any case, Hong Kong needs / deserves a substantial reflection on the SARS experience, and this book deserves better reception in the market -- both for its quality and its subject matter. I am glad that at least it has won a Christian book award.
  
• My most hearty congratulations to the author for what she has accomplished; the same to all those behind the project. Play it again, Zo!