While visiting Word by word bookstore, we came across a visitor from Japan who told the shop owner such. Her comment in Cantonese felt frank and cute, especially with a hint of Japanese accent.
Lui Ka -chun, the founder of Word by word bookstore and food journalist with over 10 years of experience, said, “I like editing, and that is the only thing I know how to do. When I tell others I engage in editing work, others do not exactly know what I do.” In fact, the food-themed bookstore is like a magazine. Things including the decor, furnishing, choice of books, arrangement of books and tableware are all set up meticulously so that every corner of the space has a story to tell. “When you come in, the four books you see on the desk are like a book cover. You will first see Food Classic, a classic on Cantonese cuisine by Chan Mong-yan, followed by Vegetables Politics by Leung Ping-kwan, which is a free verse poetry collection. The third book, Objects of the Dragon Kiln, examines historical local tableware of Hong Kong while In Praise of Shadows is an important work on Japanese aesthetics by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. These four books talk about food from the four perspectives of Classic dishes, poetry, history and aesthetics, which thus set the tone for the bookstore. The books not only set the tone in terms of content, but their covers also provide a unique collage that stimulates the senses with contrasting colours. Like editing, I take visual aesthetics and appeal into account when managing the bookstore.”
Upon entering the store, one is greeted with popular recipes and books relevant to local tastes and themes. Then, the deeper one gets into the store, the more in-depth books get in terms of historical and social issues until they get to the last section of sentimental food books. Lui says that he hopes to utilize the space and arrange books in a way that leads customers to what they would not read otherwise. Hongkongers value practicality, so he chooses reference books to cater to that taste. However, the mission of magazine making is to bring new perspectives to readers and nurture aesthetic taste, so he also chooses books with unconventional themes and aesthetic beauty.
“Regardless of whether a book is published by me or simply chosen, it has to stand the test of time through its substantial content and not be gimmicky.” Word by word bookstore is a bookstore as well as a publishing house. Lui said that it is easier to manage a publishing house than a bookstore because the profit of selling books is minimal and prices are rarely marked up over the years. “365 days of soups (《365日日好湯》)by soup recipe columnist Natalie Lai is like a calendar as it introduces a soup a day according to the season. The joke I always make is that if I follow 30 of its recipes each year, this book would be worth 10 years of reading, not to mention that it could be passed on to the next generation. How practical and economical”
“Lately, I have been reading J.W. Henley’s Migrante, which depicts a Filipino fisherman who went to a Taiwanese fishing fleet. In the narrative, he is forced to work on the fishing boat under a captain who is very harsh to him. As the book reveals, he is only one of thousands subject to exploitation and oppression in the fishing business. Some of the illegal workers are even forcefully captured for work against their will. These issues are relevant because we eat fish every day. Even though the topic is a heavier one, I am interested in such documentary content due to my journalist background.”
During the interview, Lui talked about observation a lot. He said he got trained to be observant when working as a reporter, but this quality is also essential for food journalism. “I like Shu Guo-zhi’s food writing. “The rhythm of his writing is very slow and seemingly boring, but when you are into it, you will feel its elegance and extraordinary perceptivity. He gives off a vibe of unique simplicity and laziness. A slow pace of living enables him to feel what others fail to notice in life. I admire his ability to truly see everything.” Shu once mentioned in an interview that one who is eating can feel the energy of the cook; Lui thinks that one can even taste the cook’s character. “Some Hong Kong-style diners (Cha chaan teng) have long knives which they use to cut different food items like bread, lemons, and butter. If they cut butter with a knife previously used to cut lemons while making pineapple buns with butter, the butter would taste sour and ruin the dish. Through observation, you will notice whether the chef has cleaned or changed their knife which affects the taste of food.”
Having studied Hong Kong food culture for years, Lui said that he wants to do more about food research by recording local foods, and hopes to motivate others to do so together. “I think there are people who yearn for in-depth food reviews. I do not find it difficult to write food reviews because I know the recipes. When I taste a dish, I would know which step went wrong, and that is helpful when I review and observe restaurants. Without such, my writing would be vague. However, it is interesting to note that food critics easily fall into the trap of aloofness to speak authoritatively. In fact, eating can at the same time be very personal without a definite right or wrong, and such peculiar phenomena are beyond me to explain.”
Whenever someone pushes through the door, Lui looks up upon the jingling of the doorbell to greet them and would passionately chat with them about the books they like. “I hope the bookstore can motivate different kinds of people to read. They do not need to pick difficult books, nor do they need to feel inspired by them, but I hope they can at least have fun. Thus, I have created a comfortable and relaxing space to welcome people to read and do research. I even thought of changing the store into a library or reference room for people to do research since the profit of selling books is minimal anyway.” With a chuckle, he pulled out a Cantonese recipe collection published decades ago from the bookshelf behind him and said that there were many out-of-print gems here. “Let’s say a book is sold at HKD120 and we say that is the value of the book. If the customer tells me the book is awesome afterwards, I believe its value has gone beyond the monetary level; the satisfaction a book can provide rises beyond its price. If the reader has come to understand certain lines in the book which proves to be helpful for them at work or even in life, that meaning created is way beyond the set price.”
