What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Drunkard
Liu Yichang · Book · 2021
If you loved The Drunkard, start with The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 films, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Drunkard across media.
You were drawn to the way The Drunkard maps the internal fragmentation of an individual struggling against an indifferent, decaying urban landscape.
Films on the same thread
A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick · Film · 1971
Explores: Free Will vs. Determinism, Societal Control, Violence and Redemption.
Just as the narrator of The Drunkard feels alienated by a philistine society, you will recognize the same jarring confrontation between an individual identity and a dehumanizing, coercive social structure.
The Lost Weekend
Billy Wilder · Film · 1945
Explores: Alcohol Addiction, Self-Destruction, Existential Crisis.
The descent into addiction portrayed in The Drunkard finds a raw, claustrophobic reflection here, focusing on the harrowing psychological isolation and existential dread that accompanies a professional writer's downward spiral.
Chungking Express
Wong Kar-wai · Film · 1994
Shares a thread with The Drunkard: Existentialism.
If the atmosphere of Hong Kong in The Drunkard captivated you, this film offers a complementary, dreamlike exploration of urban solitude and the ephemeral nature of human connection within that city.
Ikiru
Film · 1952
Shares a thread with The Drunkard: Existentialism.
Both this film and The Drunkard center on a protagonist facing the crushing weight of existential disillusionment, forcing a profound confrontation with the meaning of life amidst a monotonous existence.
Series on the same thread
The Prisoner
Patrick McGoohan · Series · 1967
Shares a thread with The Drunkard: Existentialism.
The Kafkaesque sense of entrapment and identity loss defining the protagonist of The Drunkard is echoed in this series, as it examines the struggle of an individual against systemic suppression.
The Wire
David Simon · Series · 2002
Explores: Systemic Corruption, Moral Ambiguity, Urban Decay.
You will appreciate how this series mirrors the cultural degradation and systemic rot explored in The Drunkard, shifting the focus to a broader, institutional scale of societal decay and bureaucracy.
The Singing Detective
Dennis Potter · Series · 1986
Explores: Hallucination, Disease, Memory.
The stream-of-consciousness style of The Drunkard finds a visual counterpart here, as the protagonist's physical suffering triggers a blurred, hallucinatory navigation through his own memories and distorted reality.
Black Books
Dylan Moran · Series · 2000
Explores: misanthropy, dysfunctional friendship, alcoholism.
This series captures the darker, cynical humor found in The Drunkard, depicting a protagonist whose intellectual disillusionment and heavy drinking serve as a shield against a world he deeply despises.
Podcasts on the same thread
Desinteligencia Artificial
Podcast
Shares a thread with The Drunkard: Existentialism.
This podcast extends the critique of cultural degradation found in The Drunkard, applying a similar lens of existential skepticism to the complexities and structural failures of our modern technological society.
The Blindboy Podcast
Blindboyboatclub · Podcast
Explores: art, culture, satire.
The eclectic, reflective nature of this podcast mirrors the intellectual wandering of the writer in The Drunkard, offering a space for social satire and creative exploration of the human condition.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Drunkard considered a stream-of-consciousness novel?
Yes, The Drunkard is recognized as one of the first full-length novels written in Chinese to utilize the stream-of-consciousness technique. It captures the internal experience of its narrator as he navigates his descent while living in Hong Kong.
When was The Drunkard first published?
The Drunkard was first published in 1962. It originally appeared as a serial in a Hong Kong evening paper before being established as a significant work in Chinese literature.
What does the narrator in The Drunkard represent?
The unnamed narrator in The Drunkard represents the plight of the intelligentsia and a broader culture during a period of degradation. As a writer struggling against a philistine world, his personal decline reflects the social and intellectual tensions of his environment.
Why is The Drunkard often referred to as the Hong Kong Novel?
The Drunkard is called the Hong Kong Novel because it serves as a definitive literary reflection of the city. Originally serialized in a local evening paper in 1962, the work captures the specific cultural and intellectual atmosphere of Hong Kong during that era.