Из кожи вон. Правдивая история о том, что делает нас людьми

by Cai Chongda, Цай Чунда

В 27 лет Цай Чунда стал самым молодым человеком, занявшим директорскую должность GQ China. А еще 5 лет спустя основал крупный модный бренд Magmode. «Из кожи вон» освещает путь становления личности с нуля до вершин.

Детство Цая прошло в сельской рыбацкой деревне в провинции Фуцзянь. После того, как отец был частично парализован инсультом, Цай принял на себя роль главы семьи и работал на износ вместе с матерью и старшей сестрой, чтобы сохранить гордость семьи и оплачивать медицинские счета. Сестра Цая так и не смогла найти мужа, так как семья не могла выплатить ее приданое. Цай выучился в университете и переехал в Пекин, в итоге став директором по отчетности GQ China.

Подобно «Стеклянному замку» и «Ученице», «Из кожи вон» не романтизирует и не осуждает людей и обстоятельства, которые сформировали жизнь молодого человека, а вместо этого предлагает путь вперед, показывая, как традиции могут обогатить современную жизнь. Это также история семьи и история поколения китайцев, история о важности самых родных друг другу людей, поиске своего места в мире и, главное, — история мыслей и чувств, понятных человеку любой страны.

С момента выхода в 2014 году и по сегодняшний день «Из кожи вон» является нон-фикшн-бестселлером № 1 в Китае. Книга была включена в школьную и университетскую программу. Права на экранизацию в 2019 году достались гонконгской звезде Энди Лау («Дом летающих кинжалов»). Всего продано более 4 000 000 экземпляров книги.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, China, Biography Memoir, Chinese Literature, Literature, Asia

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

We often tries to answer the question of life with a yes or no. Study, work, married, die. Yes? Live a life of vanity and spend money on traveling. No? We never have an answer. What is the real life? Or should I say, what is the life we should live? The book had stories over stories of lives. All with their own, mindless pursuits. We are nothing more than skins. Because we often identifies the soul that have a pursuit, that drives us towards our goal. However, what are we, more than skins trying to stumble onto some kind of a meaning? And so we have to answer all these questions that comes up in life. We keep escaping, afraid of the unknown, afraid of an absurd, meaningless life. So we live on, blindfolded. It is unstoppable when it starts, we are on this train track. Many people often get one job and stay there forever. So we never think. Yet these questions are engraved onto our bones. The questions for meaning. Is this worth it? Is he living the right life? What are we? The author talked about hating the big cities. They are nothing but useless skins, lights blazing. He likes the countryside because there is many things to discover. We all live in the countryside in some ways. Live in chaos, surrounded by things we don't understand. So we build our own understandings. We understand it in our own ways. And thought turns to actions. Like many great minds agrees, to humans, it is not the truth that matters, but the subjective truth. It is these truths that can charge us with an energy to act.

We are no more than skins, because we are all meaningless creatures. Yet isn't that the beauty of humanity? These beautiful imperfections. The things we don't understand the meaning of, are what keeps us going. We are uncovering the unknown. "Mother was then willing to believe in spirits. 'I think having these spirits are really good because I discovered that there is something we can't take by ourselves." We understand stuff, know stuff isn't bad. But we need things that we don't understand. We need a fuel for us to move forward, in life. That's what makes us living, imperfect skins.

Although at the end of the day, as my dad always says: Living a life and worrying how to live life is like checking instructions for how to look at instructions. Live! Find a meaning! That meaning, will answer, at least many of your questions. These questions are perhaps not all your personal questions, but questions for everyone in society. Meaning is not all personal, because we are not along on this planet, and not caring about anyone else is simply ignoring carvings on our bones.

This is perhaps the best Chinese fiction book I've ever read. I don't know if it is an autobiography or fiction stories, but I suppose what really matters is the meaning entailed in this book.

[Faqiang Zhang · Rating 1 out of 5]

很惊讶这本书有这么高的评分。 本着负责任的态度来说，刚开始虽然可以认真阅读，但到书的后半段已经是浏览了。甚至开始觉得看这书在浪费时间。借用看来的一个书评，写的太用力，感觉在费尽的用力想抓住读者。

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chongda Cai can tell a story. Some of the episodes in this collection are as crisp and memorable as a well-crafted fictional narrative. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the book as a whole. The most significant downfall may be in the marketing - after reading the synopsis, I expected a linear account of the author’s life in a small coastal Chinese town, increasing my knowledge of the cultural essence thereof. What I found instead was a seemingly scattered set of personal essays (he even calls them such in the afterword) in which Chongda Cai reminisces on various relationships he has had at different points in his life and gleans lessons from the memories. I don’t know why they are in the set order, and the cultural knowledge I gained was tangential at best.

Rarely do I choose to read personal memoirs unless they have a broad historical or social relevance. Had this one been depicted more accurately, I probably would not have selected it, and I would have saved myself a disappointing read. The book is not bad in and of itself; it is just not a good match for me.

Thank you to Chongda Cai, Harper Via, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

[littlefairyyyyyy · Rating 3 out of 5]

一本书能不能感动读者不单单靠作者的文字功力与笔触，更要看书中的故事是否使读者感同深受。作者蔡崇达在书中的文字在我看来有些略显不自然的文艺腔。前半本书中讲述亲情的文章，虽不至于感动到痛哭流涕但也是打动到了我。但反观后半段夸张的情感描述与更加不自然的文艺腔可以看出这部分人生经历作者并没有文字表达出的那么深的情感。—hqc

“我们的生命本来多轻盈，都是被这肉体和各种欲望的污浊给拖住。阿太我记住了。肉体是拿来用的不是拿来伺候的。请一定来看望我。”

“我们要多珍惜彼此了，生活是个漫长的战役，他是我们当中阵亡的第一个人.....”

“生活中，我一直尝试着旅客的心态，我一次次看着列车窗外的人，以及他们的生活迎面而来，然后狂啸而过，我一次次告诉自己要不为所动，因为你无法阻止着窗外故事的逝去，而且他们注定要逝去。我真以为，自己已经很胜任旅客这一角色，已经学会了淡然，已经可以把这种旅游过成生活。”

“其实我并不愿意旅行，其实我更愿意呆在一个地方，守着我爱着的人，生根发芽。”

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

AI works to my advantage when I hit the randomize option in Libby when looking for an audiobook-- this one popped up and I'm glad I borrowed it. A memoir of a guy growing up in a rural part of China and his experiences (he's a writer now so you can see how that went) with his father who had several strokes and was half-paralyzed for several years before he finally passed and living with and then supporting his mother who had her own lived experiences that were in contrast as times with Cai's-- how she tolerated her husband, how she worshipped, how she persevered in building a new home with little money for the sake of reputation and sheer will.

It's a peek inside a different experience, in rural China where laboring and toil is the best and worst kind of existence but one that teems with life and love and how he looks back on his life is a great writers dreams to be able to capture the way he did.

[Hazel P · Rating 1 out of 5]

When the writer writes about China’s family tradition, how can he not offer any criticism or reflection at all, the book is mainly focused on his love towards his Dad, and his Dad’s been exploiting his mother and sister from my point of view. And not surprisingly, both his mother and sister are silenced in the stories, their only agents are serving as side characters to emphasise the family’s love, mainly to his Dad. I can’t get over the masochism.

And here and there I can see some highlights, but most of them derive from a man’s reflection on his journey of climbing the social ladder. I’d like to see his comments on the ladder and built in system but can rarely see any, and his words about himself lack the brutality of self-scrutiny. Everything reads like glorified. I’ll prefer to read stories in magazines.

[shubiektywnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Najbardziej interesowały mnie fragmenty dotyczące relacji Cai z rodzicami i jego powrotów do domu na wsi, trochę mniej angażowałam się, kiedy opowiadał o znajomych i czasach studenckich, a że jego wspomnienia nie były do końca poukładane chronologicznie, to mój poziom zainteresowania podczas słuchania tej książki przypominał sinusoidę. Jakkolwiek, wiele wydarzeń z życia autora było naprawdę poruszających i przykrych i podziwiam siłę i determinację, z jaką stawiał im czoła. Książka jest napisana bardzo ładnym językiem, Cai miał interesujące, choć wcale niełatwe życie, ale mimo wszystko zabrakło nam jakieś nici porozumienia.

[Justanearthling · Rating 3 out of 5]

蔡崇达擅长写人，尤其是家人。「皮囊」「母亲的房子」「残疾」这几篇尤其深刻细腻，其他刻画「人」的故事也不差，而剩下几篇无关「人」的散文全是多愁善感的自说自话，没有任何亮点让人提不起兴致。我想蔡崇达与这个时代的大多数人一样，还是太浮躁了。他若是再多等几年，继续打磨自己的故事，或者多写一些「人」的故事，这本「皮囊」才会成为真正经得起时间考验与推敲的好作品。甚至我觉得他大可直面自己的成长轨迹，写一写他姐姐的故事。他写了父亲母亲阿太，邻居朋友，唯独对自己的姐姐轻轻一笔带过。他可以在父亲卧床时远赴北方专注学业事业，他姐姐却守在家里照顾父亲。而她也早早出嫁（当然也许他姐姐可能大上他许多岁，但书里没有任何关于姐姐的信息）。作为擅长写人的一位作家，蔡崇达大可以剖析从小到大，他的家庭与小镇对他与他姐姐的区别对待，但他没有。我猜他对他姐姐的感情是复杂的，复杂到不敢写，因为他是愧疚的。也许直到他可以诚实面对自己，他的作品才真的能破茧成蝶。

[Viv · Rating 5 out of 5]

cry die me

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably one of the essay collections I like the most so far. The essays are mainly a reflection of the author’s formative experiences – how his friends from university affected him, how his feelings towards his parents evolve, etc. – and much of what he’s experienced is relatable.

I especially like his essay 《厚朴》. Not sure how much artistic license he took with this, but it’s about his friend, whose name is literally the phonetic translation of “hope”, and who is determined to spend his life chasing his hope and dreams.

The thing about having some Grand Ambition, though, is that actually making it happen is always less sexy and more time-consuming than you’d think. There is so much grunt work you have to do, so many times when reality will show you how idealistic your ambitions are – to actually stick it out and keep trying takes a lot of ambition and perseverance.

在北京的时候，我偶尔会想起厚朴，犹豫着要不要鼓励他来到这样的北京。北京这个梦想之地，从表面上看，似乎是厚朴天然的生存之所，然而，我也知道，在北京发生的任何理想和梦想，需要的是扎扎实实，甚至奋不顾身的实践。我隐隐担心，厚朴这几年一直活在对梦想的虚幻想象中，而不是切实的实现里。我没把握，当他看到梦想背后那芜杂、繁琐的要求时，是否会有耐心，是否具有能力，是否能有足够的接受度——梦想原来是卑微的执着。

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, warm, coming-of-age-esque series of essays, and I’ll leave you with this quotation below:

人各有异，这是一种幸运：一个个风格迥异的人，构成了我们所能体会到的丰富的世界。但人本质上又那么一致，这也是一种幸运：如果有心，便能通过这共通的部分，最终看见彼此，映照出彼此，温暖彼此。

[Stephanie Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The greatest kindness you can do someone is to try to understand them. When you sit down with them, look them in the eyes, and listen to them speak. Wide words from a young writer and journalistic editor. Cai certainly writes his memoir with emotion and vulnerability, two traits that are not in modern Chinese literature. He mainly focuses these sets of essays around his father’s stroke and illness for eight years. He regrets overworking himself and not spending his time with his father. There are some glimpses of local traditions and histories of his small village where he grew up. For some reason, I didn’t feel attached to Cai. The essays were not much about him but of others. His parents, his friends and classmates. He certainly is quite self aware but I felt some of his insights aren’t new in the Western world, but perhaps in China it is. A common lesson he emphasizes is spending time with friends and loved ones rather than chasing the dream to get out of the small town. He also romanticizes village life after living in cities during his later life.

[Yujia · Rating 5 out of 5]

记得是这书预售的时候在微博上看到韩寒推荐我就让爸妈下了单，过了几年到17年高中毕业典礼大概才被妈妈背到美国，因为我刚打开就看到爸爸妈妈在美国的机票夹在书里，莫名好笑。题目的原因，我一直以为是跟女鬼有关系的故事，所以到了2023年才从书架中把它拿出来看。很庆幸我打开了它。

它的确不够文学，很白话，但是每一句的描写却又准确的恰到好处。有人觉得它过分煽情，我只是觉得这是一个内心敏感的文青真情的流露，搞笑的是，每一章的接近结尾处都可以把我弄哭。我看这个书的节奏基本上就是每章哭一回。

这是一个非常中国的书，讲的都是中国人民的生活状态和情感。里面的无数细节的描写，让我联想到看过的电影电视剧纪录片，这一些些的，都是文化。我近来越来越感兴趣广东那边的文化，好像那边中国文化的传统会更被大众保留下来，那里拥挤的街道，各种各样的信息的流动，混乱中处处都是生活的味道。我最近听了几期一个叫做“不把天聊死”的播客，里面是几个广东年轻记者聊天。他们好像都是比较内向的人，轻声说着广普，却把生活中好多细节和内心情感准确的抓住，他们会体会到别人错过的细节，在讨论中讲给你听。我时常感叹这就是受过优秀文学教育的人的魅力。就声音属性上，这怎么也不是让人能认真听下去的节目，但是却每次让我听过内心宁静又充沛，可以让我静下来，好像他们的声音就是我的冥想。我看这本书就想到了他们。

最后，我很犹豫要不要给这本书5分，我给的5分很少，但我觉得如果大家都是4分就没有意义了对吧，5分不等于完美，但它给了我很棒的观感。我了解到了泉州的文化，我看到了新的看事物的角度，我不知道我总在哭泣是不是因为我也想念了我的家乡。我似乎也像厚普那样内心有野心也有矛盾，想去挣扎又不清楚未来的规划。但我们好像都是这样的。所以我大概要继续去野，也选择性的回家看看。我想这样就好。

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sleepless night. An amazing deep look into China through the author’s life. The first few essays are very sad and about his dad’s health problems, but still interesting. The essay about the ICU is the only thing I’ve read about a hospital that didn’t give me the creeps. It was so human and beautiful and helped me get over my fear of hospitals a little. I loved the essays about the boys from school. Overall this memoir truly gives a deep and very varied look into China over the past several decades, from suburban to urban life, from the mythical and spiritual side of Chinese culture to social norms, reflections on on death and life.

[Rosan Bishwakarma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stories feel like diary entries and are quite easy to read for an intermediate Chinese learner. The stories revolve around questions about life, faith, disability, and death, so be prepared to encounter multiple ways to describe death.
While I quite enjoyed the stories, my Chinese teacher felt that they were melodramatic, so I won't continue reading this book.
Still, it is a nice book that I might go back to in the future.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

《残疾》这一章写得还蛮好了
《我的神明朋友》写得不错 可我好像没有被打动
《张美丽》怂逼发狠也是怂 #男的不行
《阿小和阿小》怎么讲 我还是一直觉得 有些人玩得起 因为他们有安全网 别把自己当成他们
《天才文展》这么长一篇 不过是说一句心比天高 命比纸薄
《厚朴》1. 家境不好不要乱玩2. 这作者感觉上就是个苦逼兮兮摩羯座 金牛座 行吧 也是苦逼兮兮土象星座
《海是藏不住的》这标题不错 看到这标题我就很想去海洋馆玩（本来这几天没有很想去海洋馆了的 遂买了票 明天去海洋馆玩啦～本来以为买不到票了 就抱着试一试的态度 没想到居然还能买到票～

读完了 最大的感觉就是羡慕他妈妈 有一个那么那么爱的人 爱了那么那么久 爱得那么那么用力 原来死亡也分不开一对恋人

[Tong · Rating 5 out of 5]

在飞那里她推荐给我这本书，看完之后心里思绪万千。书里的每一句话都让我觉得厚重，沉甸甸的，他想要表达的感情浓烈又准确地传递给了我。

看到他在父亲去世后，偶然看到父亲床头自己那被父亲摸的发白的照片的描写，眼泪忍不住冲了出来。我也不知道当时脑子里闪过多少东西。我想到了小贱给我讲她爸爸去世后她那段的心路历程，我想到旅行途中对爸爸妈妈的不耐烦，我想到我爸想带我出门散步我拒绝了他，我想到人生无常最爱的人很可能突然离开我们。我忽然很自责很后悔，我应该对爸爸妈妈再好一点，再多点耐心的。

不知道以后全家一起旅行的机会还有多少。

最后一天在小区里我们四个拍全家福，我站在妈妈后面，忽然发现妈妈头顶白发怎么忽然多了那么多。

之后每天和爸爸妈妈相处的日子里，我都要提醒自己，时光飞逝，要耐心耐心再耐心，不要日后想起来自己的某个语气，某个表情后悔万分。

[Zhixuan Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

花了一下午时间读完这本书，并没有太大的触动。不可否认，这种没有过多矫饰的朴实的文笔是我喜爱的，但不能吸引我的是这些故事通篇的相似。

父亲大粒仔，天才文展，香港阿小，老家阿小，张厚朴hope，这一个个人都有着相似的命运，一开始有各自的天性和理想，最后在作者的笔下回归一个无可奈何的萧索结局。而作者能做的只不过是感叹几次命运无常。

或许是我没有读懂，我应当承认自己的浅薄，希望以后有机会再读会有新的感悟。

ps，医院那一篇是我私以为最好的。

[Annie Yang-Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

这本书，确实像韩寒前言里说的，不忍一次读完，一次只读一篇，心里的五味杂陈可以翻涌很久，久久不散。写父亲母亲的那些篇目最为动人，几乎每篇都下泪，人无完人，那一生一世死心塌地的爱情究竟是如何沁人骨髓变得惊天动地的，我好奇。写对大城市渴望的部分最引我深思，段段令我自比，虽然我成长在被小地方人羡慕想象的“极乐世界”中，那种对未知光明顶的向往我却懂，而那永远不安的躁动我也在学着与之相处。这本书，提醒我更好地看见自己看见身边人，也让我自问那始终要回答的问题：人要如何享受自己的生命。愿我这一生终能积攒足够的智慧来珍惜已有的、享受可得的。

[Lee Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

读了几篇。就挺好的。这种现代散文，比近代散文要好。因为作者写的生活我们经历过。《母亲的房子》，我小小的时候，执著于电子游戏机，不要命的攒零用钱……《疾病》，父亲两年前也得了中风。他比作者的父亲坚强的多。脑中风后，借病欺负护理的亲人最混蛋了。你看作者怎么粉饰的：“可爱的父亲”。你写不出、不想写，他能把生活的苦难，包装一下，写给你看。你感动的都要哭了。这种随笔我也写过，自信有作者6成功力，但是掬给别人看就觉得很尬。有人说不好，就觉得很恼火，毕竟这都是自己的真情。下面声明，不含贬义：“真情是用来伺候的，不是用来写成书赚钱。”

[Jnet W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories from a man who escaped his rural upbringing & found success in the city. More a reflection of aspirations of rural folk but ending in melancholy. Was hoping for some hope but sadly every story had a sad ending

[Angela Sorby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in translation but that version is not findable (at least not by me) on Goodreads. What a tour de force memoir: profoundly Chinese but also profoundly universal in its attention to the "big questions." I am just sorry that Hope's band, The World, didn't hit it big!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

可以看到，对自己的人生有规划，能吃苦，有毅力的人，到达的层次更高。到达更高层次以后，会反过来问，人生的意义是什么，什么让自己快乐。这些问题都做了很好的回答。

[CindyShiUK · Rating 4 out of 5]

推荐 - 之前没有读过蔡崇达的书，并不知道他的文字会是如此的打动人心。他以散文的叙述方式把他对自己的家庭和朋友的一些故事和感悟描写的生动感人，让人感受到许久没有感受到的温暖和力量。

[Leticia Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

相应了我的那些生活中微妙的烦恼，非常贴近人心的一本书。作者很会描述现代生活的最原生态的样子与它的点点滴滴。

[Jlwt · Rating 4 out of 5]

分享一句：

“肉体不就是拿来用的，又不是拿来伺候的。”

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

能看出来作者是一个很有智慧的人，但同时也传统、现实。他能在回忆中重新审视往事，再去评判得失。但也是这点让人不由想到，他也被禁锢在了某种意识中，而他笔下的所有人都因为和这个意识不同而分道扬镳

[Zhuo Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the essays about his father. The other characters in other essays are not as well-built as his father. Some of the sentences in the essays about his father is really touching.

[Haina Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

"人生或许就是一具皮囊打包携带着一颗心的羁旅”
每个人都披着不同的皮囊，过着类似的生活。作者看似鸡汤似的矫情文字称其矫揉造作，但体现出了作者对故乡的忧愁与敬畏。整本书透露着淡淡的忧伤，特别是《皮囊》和《残疾》这两篇文章，确确实实地打动了我。虽然后半部分的描写明显有所下降，但把自身经历赤裸裸展示给世人，这无疑需要很大的勇气。

[Lanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

这本书写的不是皮囊，而是皮囊下包裹着的那颗心。以及由此衍生出来温暖又复杂的爱，回忆，情感，还有用手可以触摸的痛苦喜悦交织的真实。细碎简单的文字，把敲击灵魂深处的沉重和醒悟，带给我，带给我们。

[Emily Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

看了一下大家的短评 作者写的是很个人的东西 感觉他一方面也是在通过书写去理解自己身上发生的事情 很多评价太刻薄了 写作不一定要有立场 何谈嘴脸