Lost Satellite

AMONG THE STANS:A CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNEY

Liu Zichao's first work "Arriving Before Midnight" is reprinted👇
https://book.douban.com/subject/35522033/
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☆ Douban Annual List·No.1 in Chinese Literature Non-fiction ☆ Fangsuo Culture Annual Book Selection ☆ Sina Reading Annual Recommended Books ☆ Sohu Culture Annual Top Ten Books ☆ Southern Metropolis Daily Nandu Top Ten Books ☆ New Weekly·Hardcore Reading Club Top Ten Non-fiction Books ☆ China Reading Newspaper·25 kinds of literary books not to be missed
We are born free, but often we are not free to do what we want.
In an age of isolation and closure, listen to the echoes of a wandering world.
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☆ Exploring the Central Asian continent and visiting the mysterious neighboring country, this is the work of writer Liu Zichao who spent nine years searching for it☆ Exploring unknown places, witnessing the journey of time, recording individual voices, and searching for the forgotten lost hearts☆ Historian Luo Xin and writer Xu Zhiyuan highly praised it, saying, "It sets a benchmark for future travel writing."
☆ Won the "True Story Award" for its in-depth writing about a corner of the world☆ Recommended by Jon Lee Anderson, a reporter from The New Yorker: A work full of humor, curiosity and adventurous spirit☆ Selected for the One-Way Street Sailor Project, starting a "new nomadic" lifestyle and going against the tide in an era of closure and isolation☆ The book comes with a hand-drawn map and 40 photographic color illustrations. The author shares his Central Asian literary and artistic list for the first time, allowing you to travel through Central Asia on paper
With Liu Zichao's book, we can proudly say that among the dazzling array of Central Asian travel literature in modern times, there is finally the first high-quality original Chinese work. - Luo Xin, Professor of History, Peking University
Over the past nine years, writer Liu Zichao has traveled deep into the heart of Asia several times, visiting mysterious neighboring countries - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan - embarking on a journey of discovery between the past and the future in this land on the edge of globalization and between the cracks of major powers.
Speeding along the border, bypassing scattered enclaves, galloping in the Pamir no-man's land, and anchored at the Soviet Union's nuclear test site, he witnessed the isolated place with the spirit of an explorer; embarking on the Golden Road of Samarkand, wandering through bloody battlefields and imperial palaces, gazing at the oldest holy books, touching the pagodas described by Xuanzang, he tried to regain the gaze of the ancients; he got to know the Tajik youth who pinned his future on the Chinese language, met the Chinese who had been trapped in the Aral Sea for seven years, and in an Uzbek bar, heard the drunken merchants pointing at the banknotes thrown into the air and shouting: "Everything you saw before was an illusion, this is reality!" Along the way, he met all kinds of people, hesitating between hope and frustration, freedom and loss.
Everything is like a satellite out of orbit, ambiguous and lost, full of vitality, loneliness and struggle. We are right next door, but we are unaware of it - until the journey begins, until we open this book.
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With Liu Zichao's book, we can proudly declare that, amidst the dazzling array of Central Asian travel literature of recent times, we have finally achieved the first high-quality original Chinese work. Its broad scope, vivid sense of the times, profound historical reflections, and calm, almost theatrical narrative set a benchmark in nearly every respect for future travel writing.
—Luo Xin, Professor of History at Peking University Zichao is the most outstanding travel writer of his generation. His narratives and feelings often remind me of Paul Theroux. Sometimes, I wish he were a little wilder and more passionate.
—Xu Zhiyuan, author and founder of One Way Space. Liu Zichao's works are delightful to read, characterized by his concise prose style, unique sense of humor, curiosity, and adventurous spirit. In this book, he takes us to the heart of Central Asia, a place that is both mysterious and unexpectedly connected to us. Liu Zichao is a keen observer of human nature and a gifted writer.
—Jon Lee Anderson, senior reporter for The New Yorker "The Lost Satellite" is far more than just a travel story. It's a rare and remarkable work of literature, a journey through Central Asia at a remarkably slow pace, like that of a Buddhist monk—a pace that, incidentally, is reflected in the book's unhurried language. Unlike most travel writers, Liu Zichao doesn't try to converse with "important figures" or pretend to know everything about the land. Instead, he engages in conversation with the men and women he meets along the way, asking seemingly simple questions that yield remarkable answers. This all lends his work an unparalleled sincerity. After reading this book, you'll feel like you've actually traveled to Central Asia with Zichao, and you'll learn more about the region than you would from reading a hundred political articles.
—Margrit Sprecher, 2019 Jury Chair of the Global True Story Awards

2020-07-01

文汇出版社

New Classic Culture

416

9787549631452