A few years ago, this column intro- duced a collection of absurd sto- ries, Clumsy Operation (Chinese Writers Publishing House, August
2014), written by well-known Macau playwright, Lawrence Lei. In the stories, a group of Macau residents see no hope of buying a house, given the soaring property prices, and thus plot to kidnap several real estate moguls in the name of “doing justice” in order to own a home of their own…
The black comedy is a clever mix of Quen- tin Tarantino and Mr Bean. The film rights were purchased recently, and I very much look forward to seeing the crazy and unlikely scenes recreated on the big screen.
Last year, Lawrence Lei published his new novella, Blood Maze (Macao Daily News Press, August 2019). This time he returned to the depiction of the “old Macau” era he is known
for. From 1982 to 2017, several families coming from Macau, Mainland China and Hong Kong went through key moments and events in the history of the city: the wobbling society under the former Portuguese Macau government, the boom after the liberalization of the gaming industry, struggling street peddlers in the early days, the frenzy of “quota speculation”, the grave financial crisis, and the casinos generating shovel-loads of money every day…The fate of the characters in the novella are closely linked to the path of the city. Lawrence has been working in Macau theatres for years. He has written and directed many wonderful stage works, gaining rich experience and consummate skills. The opening scene of Blood Maze depicts the graphic hunt of a runaway piglet in a slaughterhouse in Barra, a shocking and clear indication of the theme of the entire book: an urban metaphor of the slaughterer and the slaughtered.
Looking back at the historical changes of Macau, many individuals have struggled to survive the ups and downs of the times, and the roles of the slaughterer and the slaughtered are constantly being shifted and reshuffled, reflecting the cruelty of reality, and urging readers to ponder – Am I the slaughterer or the slaughtered? Are we stuck in this either-or dilemma? Can Macau people change their fate and find the exit to the maze?
The story of our city for nearly half a century is concentrated in this small book of about 100,000 characters. But the time span and structure of Blood Maze has already exceeded the capacity of a novella. If the author could further unfold this rich and complicated story in a novel, it may be more detailed, profound and touching.
