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HALLUCINATION IN HONG KONG - novella - audiobook
Genres: LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism
Age Groups: 18+
Formats: Ebook, Audio
https://www.rohanquine.com/hallucination-in-hong-kong
In "Hallucination in Hong Kong" by Rohan Quine, sliding from joy to nightmare and back, a plane-flight frames a journey into Jaymi's and Angel's polarised identities and perceptions, where past and present merge in an obsessive fantasy of love, death, horror and apocalyptic beauty. At take-off, warmed by the presence of his friend Angel beside him, Jaymi starts to doze, and enters a fog of horror in seeming to remember that their destination lies in the past, not ahead … forcing him to explore those hellish possible events lying beneath the surface of our present and future, always ready to break through into reality. A Distinguished Favorite in the NYC Big Book Award 2021.
As their plane takes off, Jaymi is warmed by the presence of his beloved friend Angel beside him. They are bound for Hong Kong, to perform a grand concert of unearthly music from a stage set high on the Peak. Jaymi starts to doze ... and enters a fog of horror in seeming to remember that this concert lies in their distant past, not their imminent future: it happened nine years ago, and straight after that triumphant occasion there occurred unexpected disaster and the permanent catatonia of Angel. Those terrible events were rendered all the more poignant by the idyllic chapter they had experienced upon first meeting and falling in love, which he now recalls in great detail.
In reality (it would seem), Jaymi is on this flight alone, on a mission to put a compassionate end to Angel's life, in view of his continued catatonia. And in an atmosphere of escalating nightmare and disjunction, incongruously set against the beauty of night-time Hong Kong as seen from the Peak and the Midlevels, this grim mission of euthanasia is accomplished—perhaps. That nightmare atmosphere is magnified by the obsessive flicker of Jaymi's mind through complex permutations of his own possible guilt at betraying Angel, and the latter's possible knowledge of this guilt ... because hadn't there actually been a mirror on the ceiling above the bench where Angel lay supine years ago, unnoticed by Jaymi at the time but in fact revealing to Angel certain things about Jaymi's movements that he hadn't known Angel could see?
Sliding from joy to nightmare, then back to a joy stained by the flavour of vanishing nightmare, "Hallucination in Hong Kong" explores those hellish possible events lying beneath the surface of our present and future, always ready to break through into reality if they become so inclined. In this journey, it conjures up from Jaymi's and Angel's polarised identities and perceptions an obsessive fantasy of dark androgyny, ironic horror and apocalyptic beauty.
REVIEWS:
https://www.rohanquine.com/press-media/the-novellas-reviews-media
VIDEO-BOOK:
https://www.rohanquine.com/h-h-k-video-book
and
https://www.rohanquine.com/h-h-k-video-book/short-teasers-for-hallucination-in-hong-kong-video-book
BUY:
https://www.rohanquine.com/buy/hallucination-in-hong-kong-novella-audiobook
and
https://www.rohanquine.com/buy/hallucination-in-hong-kong-novella-ebook
and
https://www.rohanquine.com/buy/the-platinum-raven-and-other-novellas-paperback
Rohan Quine, Hallucination in Hong Kong, literary fiction, litfic, magical realism, horror, dark fantasy, cyberpunk, contemporary, science fiction, gay, transgender, LGBT, Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, Mid-Levels, Central, plane flight, concert, catatonia, paralysis, mirror
Reviews
Iris Murdoch
I have now been reading "Hallucinations" with great pleasure [...] you are indeed a star.
[This endorsement appears in a letter from Iris Murdoch to Rohan Quine, a scan of which appears at Quine's website at the link below. ("Hallucinations", published in print in the US only, was the previous title of this publication "The Platinum Raven and other novellas"; it contained somewhat earlier versions of "Apricot Eyes", "Hallucination in Hong Kong" and a few chapters of "The Platinum Raven".)]
Dan Holloway
Rohan Quine is one of the most brilliant and original writers around. His "The Imagination Thief" blended written and spoken word and visuals to create one of the most haunting and complex explorations of the dark corners of the soul you will ever read. Never one to do something simple when something more complex can build up the layers more beautifully, he is back with a collection of 4 seamlessly interwoven novellas. [...] suffice to say he is the consummate master of sentencecraft. His prose is a warming sea on which to float and luxuriate. But that is only half of the picture. He has a remarkable insight into the human psyche, and he demonstrates it by lacquering layer on layer of subtle observation and nuance. Allow yourself to slip from the slick surface of the water and you will soon find yourself tangled in a very deep and disturbing world, but the dangers that lurk beneath the surface are so enticing, so intoxicating it is impossible to resist their call.
Suzi Rapport, Amazon
A kaleidoscope quality to its shifting depictions and exhanges between romance and horror.
In its dramatically intense focus upon monstrous possible events that never quite happen, this novella has the kind of unsettling effect that I expect will be seen through those near-future Mixed Reality glasses that will soon be available to us. There’s a kaleidoscope quality to its shifting depictions and exchanges between romance and horror, which makes it stick in the mind long after one’s finished reading.
Awards
New York City Big Book Award -- Distinguished Favorite, Anthology category
Nov 30th, -0001