Naked Mountain (Han Li-chu's first novel in eight years)

"All those who are lost will one day return. You must believe this."

Hon Lai-chu's first new full-length novel in eight years

An empty city, two movements, three exposed lives

Engraving the unseen cruelties, sacrificing all downtrodden souls

Hon Lai-chu has always been a novelist sensitive to the "body": In "The Stitching," holes are drilled into the chests of partners, stitching skin, muscle, cartilage, and tissue together, binding two bodies forever. In "Centrifugal Belt," people inexplicably afflicted with a drifting syndrome find their bodies becoming lighter and lighter, eventually floating uncontrollably. In "Empty Face," people are inexplicably plunged into prolonged sleep, and a "face-swapping" law is "legally" passed, requiring all residents to adopt "a standard face."

A careful reading reveals that Hon Lai-chu's writing about the body is not about exploring sensual desires, but rather focuses more on "relationships"—the relationship between oneself and oneself, between oneself and others, and between oneself and the nation.

In 2019, Hong Kong entered a dimension entirely different from the past. Hon Lai-chu, who rarely wrote essays previously, daily recorded instant observations of the city, watching the smoke and changes with unique and vigilant eyes, which led to "Black Sun." As time marched on, with a great pandemic looming and life in an intermediate state, she continued to observe various cruelties and absurdities. At the same time, she did not forget to extend her resilient reflections, looking back at the past, pondering the future, and arriving at the present, which resulted in "Half-Eclipse." These two essay collections are accidental amber.

Finally, after eight years, she returns to fiction.

Still the body: unarmed bodies, indomitable bodies, scarred bodies.

Her latest full-length novel, "Naked Mountain," weaves a kaleidoscopic tapestry, picking up fragments scattered through time. Through a narrative closely aligned with reality, it meticulously depicts how two generations growing up in an empty city experience drastic upheavals in their lives after two protest movements.

What is the ultimate nakedness in your eyes?

Is it stripping yourself bare? Or shouting out the slogans you believe in?

Is it witnessing others' secrets in broad daylight? Or having nothing left to steal in the dead of night?

In the empty city, two art students, Yaren and Nuannuan, meet in an oil painting class. Both participated in the Occupy movement, unaware that their future would be altered, and even less aware of how another protest movement years later would permanently change their lives. "Naked Mountain" not only portrays the creators' persistence and struggles on the path of artistic exploration but also depicts an unprecedented creative teaching environment.

Yun, who lost her child in another protest movement, chooses to become a domestic helper. She accidentally enters Yaren's life, and through repeated cleaning and tidying for others, she also tries to reorganize and compartmentalize her relationship with herself and her past. It is about a parent and child trying to mend what is broken, a husband and wife whose past has not truly passed, and of course, a hollowed-out city and her heart.

Under a black sun, with a half-eclipsed heart, the physical body is a naked mountain capable of action, and names rush towards their own destinies.