北京人在纽约

by Guilin Cao, 曹桂林

“如果你爱他，就把他送到纽约，因为那里是天堂；如果你恨他，就把他送到纽约，因为那里是地狱。”

这大概就是曹桂林先生在美国打拼十多年的最大感悟，《北京人在纽约》以曹桂林的亲身经历为蓝本，描绘了上个世纪八十年代到九十年代从大陆尤其是北京到美国的一批新移民的心路历程，其中的辛酸，欣喜，无助，挣扎以及东西方两种文化价值观的碰撞，恐怕只有亲身经历过的人才能体会。曹桂林虚构的王起明的形象就是这些大陆新移民的缩影。

以本书为基础改编的同名电视剧曾在中国引起了不小的轰动。

Genres: China

254 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

Reviews

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was melodrama, through and through. I understand that this wasn't written for an American audience (which is why I wanted to read it) but it really came off as heavy-handed and clunky. I don't know how much of this is because of the author's writing and how much of it is the translator's skill.

The thing is, I'm not even going to disagree with Cao's general thesis here. But it's not really subtle enough to move me and it's not self-aware enough to make me laugh.

The only thing that sticks with me is that at one point in the narrative, the protagonist buys extra life-insurance from a door-to-door salesman. I thought at the time "oh no, you've been had by crooks!" But by then end of the book, nothing had come of this exchange and it occurred to me that the sales pitch in that scene was the whole point of the scene. Life insurance and the mortal American fear of poverty are, themselves, the trap. THAT is how they get you. Not by identity theft or check fraud, but by being made to live in a system that so penalizes the poor in the first place.

Still, I can see how this would have made a very popular TV show. It's just not for me.

[Niniane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page-turner. I read it in Mandarin. The dialogue is very clever and realistic.

The plot becomes extreme, but it does a fantastic job of painting the desperation of recent immigrants trying to make it. It also describes how people inevitably change as they're absorbed into a new culture, and how years of immersion in the other culture will alter their personality even if they try to resist.

[Gill Woo · Rating 4 out of 5]

这部小书道出了纽约的一个好，那就是哪怕你是外来户，只要有创意肯实干，成为百万富翁不是梦，要说一点关系都不依靠，那是太过夸大其词，但得先入职培训，了解相关行业信息，借助老东家给你搭建的对外关系，再结合成本-利润分析，开创出一套适合中国人经营的商业方式，那就是货真价实的生存哲学。

有谁不想凭借自己本事吃饭，只会攀缘权贵领打赏的，肯定不适合美国纽约，这种人还是呆在国内，继续做他的奴隶主走狗更合适，真正的自由民，渴望自己的劳动得到合理的尊重，一定会珍惜纽约赐予他们的这种公平致富机会。王起明败在了不懂大势，好比灵活性强，却看不清枪弹加剧，这样战斗下去中弹而亡只是时间问题。

我本人更为欣赏作者讲黄段子，那是一种艺术的表达，对亲密无间的人说说无妨，非常能激起对方的会心一笑，也是一种创作动力的证明——激情不老。然后就是喜欢作者关于美国税务、法律和权利等方面的论述，总体来看没有失真，虽然夹杂着一些作者的“人上人”思维作祟，但毕竟是大陆崽出身过来的，情有可原。

另外，作者关于子女18岁了，在美国充分独立，以及遗产税巨高的描述，让我吃惊不小，深怕自己步入王起明的后尘，也就是工作忙挣钱，忘记了子女内心敏感的精神呵护需求，或者，只懂挣钱却忘记了不同国度税务、法律等限制，可能余生或对后辈来说，没有做到利益最大化的考虑。今后要多多了解，在脑海里预演各种下场，并思考避错方案。

[Laohupapa · Rating 4 out of 5]

作者讲到每天在餐馆上班，看不到纽约的太阳。

里面还有他的画家朋友在纽约天天晒太阳，但是只能挣散钱。

[Feng · Rating 3 out of 5]

感觉有点虎头蛇尾