The one who escaped

In the breathless contemporary life, people are planning an escape from the "only normal" life, from their original families, social relationships, and crappy jobs. Where will this lead us?
·
A life experiment in which I use myself as a guinea pig—"If you don't want it, you don't want it!"
Buy a house worth 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, hoard food, keep a cat, don't work, don't socialize, don't fall in love, maintain a life of minimum desire, get off track, and isolate yourself from others.
Tracking for three years, from cyber corners to abandoned cities, and into the closed doors of strangers, veteran reporter Li Yingdi explores the tired but still small courageous hearts of our generation.
Xu Zhiyuan, Yang Xiao, Yuan Changgeng, and Du Qiang jointly recommend this book: "A practical solution to the age of burnout, an important healing experience." - Yang Xiao, author of "Re-Walk"
·
🏆 Douban's annual social documentary book ☆ Interface's annual recommended book ☆ CITIC Bookstore's annual top ten books ☆ "Phoenix Reading" annual recommended books ☆ 2024 Harvest Literature List·Non-fiction List·
Hegang, a city on the northeastern border, frequently appears in news media headlines due to its extremely low housing prices.
Behind the myth of Hegang lie towns similarly depleted of resources, economic decline, and forgotten by the world: Hebi in Henan, Huainan in Anhui, and Yanjiao in Hebei—and the specific, lost young people who flock there. This is the story of a group of escapees, and also of a new way of life.
Buying a house worth 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, hoarding food, raising cats, quitting work, socializing, and dating, relying on savings to maintain a minimalist lifestyle and isolate oneself from others. From hidden corners of the internet to snow-covered remote towns, author Li Yingdi shows us how people plan and implement their escapes.
She recorded the origins of the escapees - Foxconn workers, security guards, platform customer service, the sense of compression and wandering these jobs gave people, as well as the indifferent and alienated families and the unattainable love; she also spent her life with them after the derailment - in Hegang, facing the long dark nights, nestling in a warm old house, discussing the meaning of life, and, as well as, lonely death.
This is a long journey, breaking into cities enclosed by snow, entering the closed doors of strangers' homes, and attempting to explore the weary but still glimmering courage of our generation: Ultimately, how can we achieve freedom? Where will freedom lead us?
·
This book broadened my horizons. It turns out that a group of young people are dealing with the times in this way. Escape may be a form of cowardice, or it may be a form of courage. Sometimes, we need to derail to identify ourselves. Li Yingdi's observation and writing are both delicate and sharp. If she can present the context of the times more deeply, it will be even more perfect. - Xu Zhiyuan, writer and founder of One Way Space. This is a practical solution to the burnout era, which may also be an important healing. - Yang Xiao, writer, author of "Re-walk"
"The One Who Escaped" symbolizes a certain attitude among a new generation of nonfiction writers. The world of others is no longer merely a literary medium for reaching "civilization," "justice," or "ideals," and writing no longer sternly lectures on the basis of its unquestionable moral superiority. Instead, others are countless mirror images of the author scattered across the human world, and writing is a mundane task of dismantling the "him-me" binary and restoring the emotional connection inherent in life. Yingdi's writing, like her characters, possesses a touching simplicity and hesitation. "Escape" can sometimes be a feigned resoluteness, a reconstruction seemingly made out of destruction. In this game shaped by our times, the rules, paths, methods, and principles are all unclear, and discouragement often sets in before even being articulated. Nothing is complete, and even the writing itself carries the aura of failure. Don't panic. I firmly believe that the significance of this text lies in the future, in teaching those who come after us how the "today" of the past becomes the "yesterday" that shapes "tomorrow." — Professor Yuan Changgeng, anthropologist. I'm wondering how I would write this book, but I don't have a specific idea. I've always felt that life is like sliding down a smooth glass until we plummet into nothingness. The only thing that keeps us from falling is grasping at something as we glide. Wealth, family, achievements—you know they have no meaning, their only purpose is to mitigate the panic of falling. Even when you try to grasp them, you know they are meaningless, the only meaning is the grasping itself. This is truly the most disillusioning part of being human. Reading Li Yingdi's story, this thought became very concrete for me. —Du Qiang, media professional and nonfiction writer

2024-08-01

文汇出版社

New Classic Culture

240

9787549642649