Poetries from the Bookstores
I watched 《Poetries from the Bookstores》,a documentary, on Douban. Its Taiwan director Hou Jiran features different bookstores using different shooting techniques. The documentary comprises 40 episodes, 3-5min per episode, totaling 120min. The director tries to show the distinct features of each bookstore in the shortest time.
In the 106th year of the Republic of China, or 2017 A.D., I went to Taiwan alone, carrying a camera, an AKG, three cell phones and one bag. I had invited Pangge to go with me, but he complained about how poor he was. So I went on the trip alone. Looking back, I totally agree with Pangge’s comment on me.
You are crazy.
Oh, yeah~
Every episode contains a monologue of the manager, an image of the bookstore and background music. There is no uniform theme. Different bookstores that carry the stories between books and people, people and people, people and city, city and books, and managers of different age groups that hold varied experiences, operating ideas and attitudes towards life write down the stories of bonds in the form of a book.
This is why it is so fun.
In Episode 16, I felt I had seen the bookstore and the manager before. So I watched it repeatedly. Later, I accessed my QQ photo album, which recorded all my footprints from 2009 to now. I found I visited that bookstore and that manager in Hualian, on September 24, 2017. I was asked by Mengge to help him with replenishment. I found this bookstore on google maps. The name “Old Bookstore” impressed me for its simplicity. Upon entering the store, the manager greeted me in Southern Fujian Dialect:
「Excuse me, what can I do for you?」
『Do you have Miyuki, H2 and Slamdunk?』
「Adachi?」
「Readers of Adachi are not common these days. I’ll look for them for you. I remember we have. Please wait a minute. I’ll search for them in the warehouse.」
『Okay.』
「Excuse me, we have a set of Miyuki. The others should be in my home. I’ll search after I go back. Tomorrow is my day off. How about next week?」
『Next week? I’ll soon return to Taipei and then the mainland.』
「What a pity. What a pity. I remember I have the books you want. Next time, then. I’ll retain them for you.」
『Alright.』
「Taiwan will greatly reduce the proportion of classical Chinese in the examination. We will lose the legacy passed down from our ancestors. How about on the mainland?」
『Not yet, we test classical Chinese in gaokao.』
「There must be many bookstores on the mainland since it develops so fast now.」
『That’s not the truth. Because of the network.』
「Well, what a pity.」
『Yes, what a pity.』
Now, I really understand what the manager meant by saying “what a pity”. The monologue of the manager in the film will attract you. How to say? It can bring you a sense of history, a kind of imagination about the past, and, most importantly, something beyond the existing world.
It is not easy to survive at this age. In this age of “fast food”, everything is instant. People entertain themselves with people, computers, cats and exercisers. They greatly reduce thinking, dissatisfaction with reality and undertaking. Cigarettes taste light. Such a lifestyle is defined as “Buddha-like”.
It is despicable to sell people’s cultural and geographical feelings. But I know a piece of paper, a paragraph, or a book really cannot tell the vicissitudes of life.
Perhaps this is the last age for bookstores.
PS: I remember the store manager gave me his contact information. I have enough time to watch the film. So now, I turn on my cell phone and log on to Facebook.
END
Taiwan . Hualien