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寻找家园
《寻找家园》是一部担当之书。高尔泰用一本书书写一生，苍莽浑厚、精洁优美。他的文字是历史的真实回忆，更是对人性的深层揭示、对灵魂的深度挖掘。高尔泰用文字还原了许多琐碎小事和日常感觉,他在废墟上拾捡零落的碎片，细心擦洗、审视，慢慢地积攒、拼合，在时间缓缓的水纹中逐渐恢复其轮廓，丰富着大历史。高尔泰的故事把我们带回历史的迷雾中，和他一起目击了人的倾轧、屈服、扭曲和抗争，目击了生命的脆弱和复杂，目击了宏大事件中的精微细节。他的文字炉火纯青，朴实而细腻，融合了画家的直觉和哲学家的智慧。一种稀有的、似古君子的强健宽厚之风贯穿全书。
458 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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184 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 6, 2015
(Rewritten, posted before I had finished the review)
I rarely read introductions or forewords until I've finished the book. I wish I had stuck to that this time.
The introduction was written by the translator. It was verbose, badly-written and a struggle to get through. It had very little to say I would want to read in an introduction but it said it anyway, at length. That should have been warning enough. Interesting as the subject was it was so difficult to read, so terribly heavy, humourless and with a certain lack of emotion that meant I couldn't get attached to the narrator, the main character. Whether the translator was true to the original book or whether it was the translator's own shortcomings as a writer were coming through I'll never know, but I don't really care anyway.
The one thing that struck me before I put the book aside, was the casual way in which the narrator related without any emotion at all that the when he was a teacher, his best friend, with whom he shared a room, had denounced him as some sort of rightist. For this he had been sent somewhere or other unpleasant to perform manual labour for endless years (I didn't get that far). You might have expected a bit of schadenfreude when his room-mate was himself denounced, but no, none nor sadness when he hears that he had killed himself rather than go into exile. Who could get into such an emotionless, monotonous, one-tone book? Not me.
I rarely read introductions or forewords until I've finished the book. I wish I had stuck to that this time.
The introduction was written by the translator. It was verbose, badly-written and a struggle to get through. It had very little to say I would want to read in an introduction but it said it anyway, at length. That should have been warning enough. Interesting as the subject was it was so difficult to read, so terribly heavy, humourless and with a certain lack of emotion that meant I couldn't get attached to the narrator, the main character. Whether the translator was true to the original book or whether it was the translator's own shortcomings as a writer were coming through I'll never know, but I don't really care anyway.
The one thing that struck me before I put the book aside, was the casual way in which the narrator related without any emotion at all that the when he was a teacher, his best friend, with whom he shared a room, had denounced him as some sort of rightist. For this he had been sent somewhere or other unpleasant to perform manual labour for endless years (I didn't get that far). You might have expected a bit of schadenfreude when his room-mate was himself denounced, but no, none nor sadness when he hears that he had killed himself rather than go into exile. Who could get into such an emotionless, monotonous, one-tone book? Not me.
November 21, 2020
曾以为在画家里，文字最好的当属陈丹青。现在方知大错特错。高尔泰的经历之传奇、文字之遒劲，远超想象。强烈推荐。“希望大家都能以真我面對世界，給自己營造一個可以自由呼吸的空間。相信這些小小空間，最終會連成一片。”
December 4, 2023
更好，非常好！
January 18, 2010
I found this book strangely difficult to read. While the subject was totally enthralling, the fact that it had been written on little scraps of paper over the years made it somewhat hard to get into. That and the author's disengagement (though it's no wonder) prevented me from getting fully immersed. Too bad. It's such a vital story to be told and should have been such an enthralling account of the world of an artist under the thumb of Maoist China.
May 6, 2011
I never thought that I would ever buy a book like this. In fact, I have no idea why I picked up the book in the first place. But I am happy to say that it was worth it. I have no regrets reading this book.
It is a sad story. Tai Gao reflect his days in a labor camp. Where people who were at odds with the Chinese government or people who thought differently were sent to be re-educated through hard labor.
A sad story. But full of meaning and power.
It is a sad story. Tai Gao reflect his days in a labor camp. Where people who were at odds with the Chinese government or people who thought differently were sent to be re-educated through hard labor.
A sad story. But full of meaning and power.
November 16, 2019
If poetic realism is a writing style, then this autobiography is it. The experiences that the author had, and in the most curious of places in remote China, bring to light what so many more people experienced, and still experience, in China.
December 24, 2025
Po książkę sięgnęłam po obejrzeniu filmu “Beauty Lives in Freedom” Wang Binga, który to film jest z kolei kontynuacją zapisu historycznego istnienia obozu Jiabiangou.
Polubiłam samego Gao Ertaia. Szkoda, że polskie wydanie jego wspomnień jest tylko małym, nieuporządkowanym fragmentem oryginału.
Polubiłam samego Gao Ertaia. Szkoda, że polskie wydanie jego wspomnień jest tylko małym, nieuporządkowanym fragmentem oryginału.
September 9, 2020
用英语读了前三分之一，涉及他的画，文章和夹边沟生活。不过没耐心读完了。也许什么时候用汉语读读。
March 29, 2021
有朝一日去读台版
November 3, 2022
4.5⭐️
觀點是他寫此書時的觀點，非親歷時的觀點。是作者對自己的人生經歷和所處社會的思想凝結和confession。
從夾邊溝裡走出來並總結點東西，是此書的全部意義。
觀點是他寫此書時的觀點，非親歷時的觀點。是作者對自己的人生經歷和所處社會的思想凝結和confession。
從夾邊溝裡走出來並總結點東西，是此書的全部意義。
May 7, 2023
I read the Chinese version published in Taiwan. Absolutely stunning.
October 25, 2023
The writing style for me is like Dream of Red Mansions. The narrative isn't that solid, while the history and spirit are provoking.
October 26, 2023
Worth re-reading for another three times.
November 2, 2023
看的版本不知道是不是台版，找不到完整的版本，在内地找书简直是太难了，甚至像犯罪，怕被举报被监测。
很惭愧知道现在才知道高尔泰，听到推荐时以为是高尔基。文字好美，沉浸其中，又舍不得太快读完。接受中国传统文化教育的高尔泰，文字真美，真希望自己和孩子也能感受中国传统文化之美，这是一门巨大的功课，等我好好做做。
很惭愧知道现在才知道高尔泰，听到推荐时以为是高尔基。文字好美，沉浸其中，又舍不得太快读完。接受中国传统文化教育的高尔泰，文字真美，真希望自己和孩子也能感受中国传统文化之美，这是一门巨大的功课，等我好好做做。
November 2, 2023
到现在才知道高尔泰，刚听推荐时以为是俄国高尔基，惭愧。文字好美，先生是接受了中国传统文化教育的人，感受到中国传统文化的魅力，真希望我和我的孩子也能体会到这种美，这是一个大工程，我要好好学习。
August 31, 2025
从文笔到感情到叙事，全方面的好。
字也好，词也好，意也好
字也好，词也好，意也好
October 8, 2019
Epoka maoizmu była okresem tak absurdalnym i pełnym okrucieństwa, że każde świadectwo wydaje się potrzebne: tyle historii całych rodzin i pojedynczych ludzi pozbawionych głosu. Przeżycia samego autora, choć uniknął przemocy fizycznej, również szokują. Nie czyni to jednak mankamentów tej książki mniej dotkliwymi. Zadziwiła mnie emocjonalna i stylistyczna oschłość, irytowało widoczne poczucie wyższości intelektualnej autora; esej "O Pięknie", popełniony w wieku zaledwie 22 lat, mógłby być uznany za przełomowy (z pewnością za wywrotowy) w Chinach lat '50, ale z perspektywy czasu wywód nie wydaje się być przesadnie ostry ani nośny. Trudno powiedzieć, ile czasu minęło, zanim Gao powrócił do bolesnych wspomnień, choć z pewnością prowadził dzienniki/pamiętniki w trakcie opisanych zdarzeń, ale dysproporcje zastanawiają: dwie strony poświęcone współskazańcowi, który zmarł po 3 dniach, trzy zdania poświęcone zmarłej żonie.
Lektura wynagradza opisem jaskiń w Dunhuangu, jeśli ktoś byłby szczególnie zainteresowany tym miejscem. Sam przeczytałem w mgnieniu oka, ale w poszukiwaniu ciekawych książek o okresie radzę szukać dalej.
Lektura wynagradza opisem jaskiń w Dunhuangu, jeśli ktoś byłby szczególnie zainteresowany tym miejscem. Sam przeczytałem w mgnieniu oka, ale w poszukiwaniu ciekawych książek o okresie radzę szukać dalej.
January 2, 2021
A great book recording a dark history by one of the bravest artists in the time. The author gave the first hand account of life in Gulag of China in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He escaped death barely and he recorded as much as possible about those people perished in Gulag. On personal account, the letter to his daughter who died of suicide is a heart wrenching piece. In the Foreword, the author said if he was a mother of an infant or an infant facing the unknown future, he would not know what to think. He would worry to death. Life was too heavy, cruel, and overwhelmed by desperation.
The title of the English translation seems to suggest that book is limited to the labor camp experience. Indeed, the book consists of short stories of people and events the author met or experienced through his life time, from childhood to 1990s. There are many remarkable stories. One story relevant to the author's experience in Dunhuang in culture revolution is particularly impressive. Suffering from hunger, the author and his teammates sought to hunt wide animals. In one occasion, he hunted a yellow sheep. The sheep was hurt badly and lost one leg. The sheep kept running. The author kept running after the sheep. In the end, the sheep could not move any further. Gao looked into the eyes of the sheep and the sheep also looked at him with sadness. Gao felt great sadness. Lately, he saw the similar expression from other people. In a world of betrayal, he identified innocence from such expressions. Such a story could not be written by a person with less artistic caliber and great sympathy towards any life.
The title of the English translation seems to suggest that book is limited to the labor camp experience. Indeed, the book consists of short stories of people and events the author met or experienced through his life time, from childhood to 1990s. There are many remarkable stories. One story relevant to the author's experience in Dunhuang in culture revolution is particularly impressive. Suffering from hunger, the author and his teammates sought to hunt wide animals. In one occasion, he hunted a yellow sheep. The sheep was hurt badly and lost one leg. The sheep kept running. The author kept running after the sheep. In the end, the sheep could not move any further. Gao looked into the eyes of the sheep and the sheep also looked at him with sadness. Gao felt great sadness. Lately, he saw the similar expression from other people. In a world of betrayal, he identified innocence from such expressions. Such a story could not be written by a person with less artistic caliber and great sympathy towards any life.
January 15, 2012
Er Tai Gao's "In Search of my Homeland" is a fascinating account of his imprisonment in a Chinese labor camp. The courage and lack of bitterness he portrays demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit and power of hope. His account of the Cultural Revolution, as friends betray friends for the tiniest taste of power or favor, shows the dark side of the human experience. Originally written on hidden scraps of paper, the work is technically flawed -- parts of the story are repeated in several chapters -- but somehow that only adds to its authenticity.
Gao's accounts of the Cultural Revolution remind me of Jung Chang's "Three Daughters of China." The Cultural Revolution is surely one of the most perplexing social and political events in human history and both of these books shine some needed light on the subject.
Gao's accounts of the Cultural Revolution remind me of Jung Chang's "Three Daughters of China." The Cultural Revolution is surely one of the most perplexing social and political events in human history and both of these books shine some needed light on the subject.
November 3, 2015
I wish this book was about life in labor camp, but unfortunately it is full of Gao's thoughts about art. The story about being in the camp is very small, so maybe it's a not a good title? He didn't even describe the most interesting years - 1958-1962. I'm very dissappointed, because I thought the book is about something else.
April 3, 2015
Solzhenitsyn has nothing on Er Tai Gao when it comes to deprivations... a distressing but fascinatng read. I found the descriptions of the camp nightly 'meetings' more difficult to read than anything else for some reason.
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September 17, 2022Deep and wide, and heart breaking.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews