Monologue of a Doomsday Survivor

"June 4th is a grave, burying the 34-year-old me!"

In 1989, Liu Xiaobo was arrested for his participation in the June 4th Tiananmen Square student movement. After being held in custody for over a year, he was released after writing a confession. But his freedom did not bring peace to this kind-hearted intellectual. "I was tormented by questions. Although my life appeared peaceful on the surface, the struggle within me never ceased. The most fundamental question was: Do I have the courage and wisdom to face myself and take responsibility for my actions, thoughts, and intentions?" Faced with the dead, those imprisoned, the monstrous lies about June 4th spread both inside and outside China, and his own experiences and inner world, Liu Xiaobo had no choice but to confess. Confession was his only way out of this mental prison.

In this book, he attempts to expose all the lies and contradictions surrounding the June 4th Incident! His rigorous self-analysis, accountability, and repentance are heartbreaking, and the inner torment and intense struggle between falsehood and sincerity are disorienting. He mercilessly despises the incompetence of the intellectual elite and criticizes the power struggles and utilitarianism of student leaders, offering readers a different perspective on the student movement. His transparent, naked, and painfully candid descriptions create the most comprehensive and heartbreaking memoir and confession of June 4th to date.

"From the time I boarded the flight home in New York on April 26, 1989, to the time I was arrested and imprisoned around 11 p.m. on June 6, 1989, only forty-nine days passed. Yet, this period was the most thrilling of my thirty-four years. Whenever I think of it, it feels so long and profound. It is an unhealable wound in my soul, one that the passage of time has not erased but has made more vivid. My life seemed to be stuck in this period forever. It was a grave, burying the thirty-four-year-old me and giving birth to the me who did not know who I was." -------Liu Xiaobo

The original title of this book is: Monologue of a Doomsday Survivor: About Me and June 4th
Second edition, first print, August 11, 2017

2017-08-15

時報出版

320

9789571370965