巧在我开始读这本书正值新冠在国内爆发的前一个星期,我读到非典那一段,深感柴静的每一个描写都透着对众生的悲悯和对生命的觉察。一个个平凡而震撼的故事和人物-非典,妓女的生活,支教的外国人,得抑郁症的孩子-被柴静利落,飒爽,理性,甚至时有顽皮倔强的口吻叙述着,都是热乎乎的人性。她也让我瞥进了记者这个行业,它的操守,它的日常,它里面工作人员秉持的理想,它直向真理的利刃(or the opposite),它在这个复杂而不失恶意的世界中的无力。以下是一些摘要。
I like this book because the author, a journalist, offered a special view to some issues in China. She did not conclude simply as good or bad, but she delved deep into those people's heart and mind, presenting a complex humanity, sometimes helpless, sometimes beautiful, or maybe sometimes evil.
It's the second time I read this book. I loved it the first time and wanted to read it again.
It is a very insightful reflection as a reporter, and a very honest sharing of her growth journey. But the learning and insights go beyond her job and career.
Fundamentally, Jing discusses what is the right attitude a good reporter should have: involved but impartial at the same time, asking the right questions but without predefined judgement, build connection but without overwhelming emotion, etc.
All these are also very important for anyone who want's to build meaningful relations with other people, strangers or otherwise. More broadly, it also makes me reconsider the general attitude towards life and the world: how should I position myself in order to maximize my understanding of the world - involved but impartial, ask the right qn but without predefined judgement etc.
It is a great book and I think I will re-read it again some time later. And I am very impressed by how much Jing grows and learns constantly and reflects on her own approach.
The author described changing decade of China as a reporter. She selected 20 of the most typical and meaningful events in her career to show people how Chinese change thoughts!
My dad recommended this book to me. He told me that this book was true stories written by a famous journalist in China. The author 柴静(Jing, Chai)wrote about her experience of being a journalist. How she saw the story behind the news, how she learn to listen to different points of view, learn not to bring her own attitudes or moods during the interviews. Nothing is easy. Leaning to be journalist is not easy. Being a journalist,watching people’s lives is not easy. Living with a kind and strong heart is not easy. Even reading this book is not that easy in the result of some stories represented in this book were too ruthless and sad. One story in this book was about a wife killed her husband because of domestic violence. Does the husband deserver it? Yes, because how cruel and violent he was to his family. No, because all the pressure he got made him irrational. Was the wife right? Yes, because she had been tortured for so long. No, because she shouldn’t kill people anyways. The wife got into prison, leaving her child alone. All the problems were struggling me. The author’s opinions and actions were also struggling me. I was so frustrated when I still had a chapter left for this book. So I stopped. Then I realized that everything is not that hard after all. I kept telling myself to stop worrying. As i continued reading again, I found my self in common with the author. We both see things in tiny incident. A word that people say may make me think about everything for the whole week. But after all, we can both find a way to solve things. This book didn’t only make me think about lives but also make me find ways to comfort myself.
This is my second time reading this book. When I first read it during childhood, I did not really understand the complex societal issues that Jing grappled with as a journalist, and the thin line she walked between reporting truthful news and political propaganda. Jing's reflections on her career as a reporter teaches me how to become a better journalist for my school's newspaper as well. She encompasses all the qualities of a good and professional journalist-involved but impartial at the same time, asking sharp questions but without predefined judgement, building meaningful connections with interviewees, and resonating with their emotions without getting too carried away. She is always on the frontline, from SARS quarantining hospitals, to marginalized LGBTQ groups, to the devastating Tangshan Earthquake. Jing's writing doesn't contain much embellishments, but conveys her journey as a reporter in the most rational voice. Her refrain from sentimental phrases, however, didn't stop me from crying over her pages. Presenting the most simple facts of native cultures, such as the children left behind in rural villages when their parents labored in urban areas, unleashed a flow of emotions and reminded me of my own life in a foreign country, away from my parents and relatives. In the end, this book is worth rereading many times, and her impressive personal growth as a journalist inspires me to report truthful information and make a substantial impact in my boarding community.
Instead of being an autobiography, it’s more like a novel based on her own experiences. The way she narrate her mind work, the well-constructed story line, and even some subtle but delicate environmental description, all that make this book more like a novel, which is easier and funnier to read. A first-person view novel described an ambitious young journalist went through the early phase of new China’s society and new China‘s journalism. I’ve got to point out that means this book can be very subjective, can’t know the whole Chinese developing process through this, nor can we have a full understanding of how journalism looked alike in China.
4.5 stars the stories and messages expressed in this book reflect so many social issues that are oftentimes ignored. as a reporter, she goes into depth about the lives and feelings of these people. she doesn't simply record the surface of a problem, she genuinely wants to know and understand the people that have been impacted by its problem. she questions what it is to be a reporter, what kinds of people in our society, and how we should look at the world. our society is made up of many people. it is these people that form and shape our society to the way it is. we need to see these people.
Following this chinese reporter through her initial years of journalism and what resonated with her on some of the stories she covered: SARS, industrial pollutions, “left-behind kids” due to urbanization.
Stores based on Chai’s experiences during her journalist life. This book tells you the life of China. She is respectful for risking her career for environmental strives
It’s been a while since I read a Chinese non fiction. Not bad and learnt more about china reporter experiences. But the author was obviously pretty proud and I still didn’t connect sufficiently that it took me quite a while and skimming to finish.