Arrive before midnight

When you can't go out, you need a travel book.
·
The biggest uncertainty in travel is not arriving, but how to arrive.
After all, travel or life is a process of figuring out how to arrive again and again.
"Liu Zichao is the most outstanding travel writer of this generation." - Xu Zhiyuan
☆ The first work of Liu Zichao, the author of the annual travel literature "The Lost Satellite", reshapes the meaning of travel literature and confirms oneself on the road☆ Return to the world of yesterday, find the lost souls, listen to the stories of ordinary people, and record the glory and suffering of the European continent☆ A spiritual journey to escape the burden and find meaning: to reach the richness of the world and the vastness of the heart☆ Won the One-Way Street Literary Award·Young Writer of the Year: refreshed the coordinates and vision of our viewing of today's world☆ Praised by Li Jian, Liang Wendao, Luo Xin, Xu Zhiyuan, and Yu Minhong: the most outstanding travel writer of this generation☆ Bookstore Literature Award·Annual Travel Writing Award, a new postscript is added to reflect on the meaning of travel in the post-epidemic era·
Arriving Before Midnight is the debut work of writer Liu Zichao.
He embarked on a solitary journey, deep into the heart of Europe, embarking on a journey of escape and search. Central Europe grew up caught between empires and powers, torn and drifting through the long river of history. It once built vast empires, ignited two world wars, and was also divided by the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.
In the brief summer, a young writer hopped a train and traveled along the endless tracks. Breaking away from the Berlin parade, he set off with three cans of beer, traveling through Dresden and Auschwitz, walking the streets where Kafka became a commodity, and escaping reality in Prague's speakeasy. On long winter nights, the lost traveler fell asleep in a bed at the Grand Budapest Hotel, only to wake up on the streets beside the Danube. He drove to the Hungarian Plain, trapped by rain in the previous day's café, only to witness a world transformed on his final night in Trieste.
Unease and pain, intimacy and comfort, light and shadow—distant Central Europe, like a mirror image, retains its timeless qualities, attracting young minds equally lost. When reality becomes too heavy, when times seem too frivolous, we journey to experience the landscape and the human world, to witness hope and suffering, to understand that "there are still people living this way in the world," and to reaffirm ourselves through repeated departures and arrivals.
·
While modern people are accustomed to enjoying the convenience of online information, Liu Zichao insists on physically entering the scene and recreating his journeys through literature. The experiences of the people he witnesses and writes about reshape our perspectives and perspectives on today's world. And those unfamiliar places on the margins and in the cracks of the world become connected to us through the presence of a Chinese writer. —One Way Street Award Ceremony The Chinese began to rediscover the world in 1840, and writers like Liu Zichao have accelerated our understanding. Time and again, he made arduous journeys, deeply understanding the local culture and history. Then, through exquisite and pertinent writing, he unveiled the world's mysteries and stirred our desire to understand the world. After reading Zichao's books, I always wish I could follow his route and write a book like him. —Yu Minhong, Founder of New Oriental In the burgeoning field of travel writing in the Chinese-speaking world, Liu Zichao is a name that cannot be ignored. His curiosity, insight, hesitation, and habitual self-absorption all exude a unique charm. Zichao is the most outstanding travel writer of his generation. His narratives and reflections often remind me of Paul Theroux. —Xu Zhiyuan, writer and founder of One Way Space. Liu Zichao's travels are unlike those of ordinary tourists. He possesses a true traveler's perspective, delving into the streets and alleys, engaging with people, and carrying on a truly remarkable tradition of travel literature. —Luo Xin, professor of history at Peking University. "Since The Lost Satellite, I've rediscovered travel literature, or perhaps it's Liu Zichao who has shattered my preconceptions about travel writing." His new book, Arriving Before Midnight, remains as captivating as ever. His accounts of what he saw and heard are unpretentious and vivid, but more than that, what interests me most is his reflections, because the author's vision, thoughts, and even heart determine the depth and meaning of travel. Many of the places in the book are places I haven't visited, yet I didn't feel unfamiliar. On the contrary, they felt familiar, as if he were describing places and lives familiar to me—past, present, and even future. A good travelogue can be truly captivating. I believe that even readers who haven't visited the places described in the book will feel a deeper connection to the stories than most who have, because the author's extraordinary sensitivity and unique perspective can better restore the truth of life itself. —Li Jian, singer I used to have a prejudice that travel literature was a genre exclusive to English-language writers, like "The Sea and Sardinia" or "To the Land of the Amu Darya," who were more like masters of this world. Liu Zichao's book corrected my prejudice. He wandered across Central Europe, through the morning mist, and produced this excellent work: We are all passers-by, but we also own this world. —Miao Wei, writer Liu Zichao's works are characterized by a concise prose style, a unique sense of humor, curiosity, and adventurous spirit, making them a pleasure to read. Liu Zichao is a keen observer of human nature and a very talented writer. —Jon Lee Anderson, senior reporter for The New Yorker

2021-08-01

文汇出版社

320

9787549635511