Before You Leave
Tags
Summary
All the things we dare not, cannot say to our parents are in this book.
About love, about reconciliation, about parting. A life-healing book that speaks to two generations.
It tells of the deep affection, the collisions, the doubts, and the irreparable regrets between two generations.
Warm and moving, laughter through tears, and quietly restorative.
In exploring themes such as "parting," "growing old," "reconciliation," and "gifts," it presents a generation's reflections on the relationship between parents and children, and on the meaning of life.
Through story after story, we finally come to understand how to truly understand and respect our parents, and how to accompany them as they age with dignity in spirit.
In love we understand and forgive one another, completing ourselves and completing others.
Editor's review
The book's value lies in two dimensions. First, emotional solace: it offers a channel of release and understanding for readers trapped in generational gaps, guilt, or words left unsaid. Second, life education: it guides readers to think about their relationship with their parents in a more rational and constructive way, shifting from the passive duty of "filial piety" to the active connection of "love." The discussions of hospice care, the "legacy list" (not merely material), and "saying goodbye well" carry strong practical guidance. Bi Xiaonan's style is plain and sincere, avoiding excessive sentimentality; this restraint gives the stories greater penetration. It offers no simple answers, but by presenting the complexity and truth of life, it inspires readers to reach their own conclusions and take their own action.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Adult children who are experiencing or thinking about a new stage in their relationship with their parents
- Readers with a beginning interest in life education, hospice care, and related topics
- People who feel a generational gap or emotional distance from their parents and want to improve the relationship
- Readers who enjoy true life stories and draw emotional strength and insight from them
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking purely literary pleasure or intricately plotted fiction
- Readers expecting a concrete, standardized "how-to manual" for solving family problems
Reading tips
- Read in chapter order, or begin with the stories that speak most directly to your own situation
- Keep sticky notes handy to record lines and ideas that resonate or prompt reflection
- After reading, try some of the book's suggestions, such as conducting an in-depth interview with your parents or completing a "memory list" together
About the publisher
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 01 离别
- 生无悔，死无憾
- 最好的告别
- 迷恋这人间烟火
- 为父亲建造的小花园
- 生命是独立的美丽
- 我爱你，仅此而已
- 02 老去
- 时间不等人
- 体面地老去
- 让我们各自精彩
- 一树盛开的海棠花
- 野草的诗
- 六十岁女人的爱情
- 03 和解
- 尘归尘，土归土
- 奶奶，咱们各自珍重
- 一株落寞的树
- 醉酒的父亲
- 爱给我们抵达完整生命的机会
- 所有人的命运都指向童年
- 两个爸爸
- 接纳生命的残缺
- 04 礼物
- 童年的野蝴蝶
- 妈妈的味道
- 她是一朵向阳花
- 四十一岁的婚礼
- 他拥有真正的快乐
- 生命依然值得
- 十万中国远征军
- 一封家书 人生如何与父母说再见
FAQ
Is the book too heavy and sad?
Are the stories in the book true?
Is this book suitable as a gift for my parents?
Comments
Find this book
This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Bi Xiaonan is a contemporary Chinese author about whom limited public information is available. Five of his works are included in the collection, mainly social novels and prose writings. His writing tends to focus on the circumstances and fates of ordinary people. Representative works such as Born Human and What Is Life For, along with the three-volume collection Bi Xiaonan: Three Books on the Fates of Ordinary People, show from their very titles his sustained attention to the lives of ordinary individuals; Before You Leave and A Dodo in the Wind further indicate that his writing also touches on emotional and allegorical expression. Overall, his works face real life directly, with plain language, and are good at presenting social change and life choices through individual stories. They are suitable for readers interested in realistic themes and the fates of ordinary people.
