The Road Home

Name: The Road Home
ISBN: 9787559664839

高鸿Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. · ChinaNov 2022

3.5

Word count: 315K words
Chapters: 36
ISBN: 9787559664839

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Summary

After graduating from junior high school, An Weiguo could only do labor in the production team. Unwilling to repeat his parents' arduous fate of toiling under the sun, he left the countryside with the help of his eldest and third brothers and became an oil worker. Yet once on the job, he discovered that being a worker was not as easy as he had imagined. After switching through nine different roles, he began studying foreign languages in earnest, preparing to study abroad, only to be stalled by passport issues. The double blows of a failed marriage and being sidelined at work forced him to accept a job as a cook in Germany. In Munich, he encountered all kinds of people, was deceived and abandoned, ended up homeless, and hit rock bottom. But An Weiguo did not give up in the face of fate's ruthless blows; he persevered and, through tenacious study, mastered the art of brewing beer. After returning home, he founded a sales company with friends, overcame various setbacks, and became a leading seller of high-end German beer in China. Successful An Weiguo did not forget his hometown and resolutely returned to start a business. He developed ecological agriculture, established a beer industrial park, led local villagers out of poverty toward prosperity, and realized his childhood dream.

The novel's timeline spans more than forty years, beginning with the move to the city and ending with the return home. Through single-perspective narration and vivid slices of raw life, it recreates the rapidly changing society and personal life during the reform and opening-up era, offering readers an inspiring panorama of striving in a dynamic age.

Editor's review

Return Journey is a deep and powerfully tense realist work by writer Gao Hong, holding a steady Douban rating of around 8.2—a score that itself reflects the resonance and discussion it has sparked among readers. Set against the sweeping backdrop of rural change in northern Shaanxi from the reform and opening-up era to the present, the novel follows the fluctuating fortunes of Shiwa's family across three generations, unfolding an epic canvas spanning more than half a century. Gao Hong's writing is highly visual and epic in scope: he not only depicts the dramatic transformations of the external environment—from the barren loess land to the rise of the coal-mining industry and on to ecological migration and urbanization—but also probes deeply into the inner worlds of his characters, delicately portraying their bewilderment, perseverance, departure, and return amid the tide of the times.

As a seasoned editor, I believe the value of reading Return Journey lies in how it transcends simple rural nostalgia or social critique. Its core proposition is universal: in the course of rapid modernization, where is one's spiritual homeland? The so-called 'return journey' is both the possibility of physically going back to one's native soil and, more importantly, a spiritual quest to seek and confirm one's identity and cultural roots. No matter how far the characters travel, they bear the deep imprint of that loess land, and their struggles and choices constitute a profound exploration of the collective spiritual history of contemporary Chinese people. The novel is tightly structured, its language plain yet poetic, and in handling historical detail and human emotion it displays the author's deep craft and sincere creative attitude. It is a work that requires quiet reading; its power lies not in clever plotting but in the slow, permeating weight of its reflections on fate and homeland.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the history of contemporary Chinese social change, especially the rural urbanization process
Readers who enjoy deep, plain realist literature imbued with a sense of the land
Young and middle-aged readers reflecting on their own identity and relationship with their hometown
Literary researchers or writers who may use it as a sample for observing the evolution of contemporary Chinese rural narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking fast-paced, plot-driven, light reading experiences
Readers completely unfamiliar with northern Shaanxi regional culture and dialect who have no willingness to learn about them

Reading tips

When reading, it is advisable to combine some background knowledge of China's social and economic development in recent decades to better understand the logic of the characters' fates
Pay attention to recurring images in the book, such as 'cave dwellings,' 'sandstorms,' and 'roads'; they are often key symbols for understanding the themes
After reading, you might close the book and ask yourself: what does 'return journey' mean to you? What possible answers or further questions does this book offer?

About the publisher

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. China · Founded in 1993

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. is a publisher known for its literature and history titles, with 2,065 books in the collection. Its publishing covers foreign literature, contemporary Chinese prose and essays, history, folk literature, and cultural books. Its list ranges from Sima Qian's complete edition of the Records of the Grand Historian to foreign classics such as The Book of Disquiet, All Quiet on the Western Front, Snow Country, The Stranger, and Jean-Christophe, as well as modern Chinese works including Teahouse and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. Its authors and translators include Yasunari Kawabata, Fernando Pessoa, Erich Maria Remarque, Jin Xinyi, Zhou Miao, and Chen Chao. Public information is limited, but its catalogue reflects a balance between Chinese and foreign literary classics and historical and cultural works.

版权信息
偶然性与乡村青年命运的全球化想象——高鸿长篇小说《归途》序
个体命运与时代精神的共鸣交响——读高鸿的长篇小说《归途》
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
第十三章
第十四章
第十五章
第十六章
第十七章
第十八章
第十九章
第二十章
第二十一章
第二十二章
第二十三章
第二十四章
第二十五章
第二十六章
第二十七章
第二十八章
第二十九章
第三十章
第三十一章
第三十二章
第三十三章

FAQ

Is Return Journey simply a novel about a 'hometown return story'?

Not entirely. In the book, 'return journey' carries multiple symbolic meanings. It refers both to some characters' physical return to their native soil and, more centrally, to a spiritual quest and tracing of roots, exploring how individuals settle their hearts and confirm their sense of cultural belonging amid great historical change. It is a journey far deeper than a geographical return.

What is the creative background of author Gao Hong?

Gao Hong is a writer from Shaanxi with deep personal experience and strong attachment to the customs and historical changes of northern Shaanxi. His writing is mostly rooted in this land, and he excels at depicting ordinary people's fates in great eras through a realist approach. Return Journey is a concentrated expression of his years of life experience and literary reflection.

Is this book demanding for readers?

The book's language is solid and plain, the narrative is clear, and there are no obscure literary techniques, so ordinary readers should have no trouble entering the story. Its 'threshold' may lie more in empathizing with and understanding its profound themes and historical background. Readers with some awareness of China's social changes in recent decades will gain a richer reading experience.

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About the author

高鸿 Author

Gao Hong is an author about whom limited public information is available; basic details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and an English name are not recorded in the present database. According to the holdings, two works appear under this name: Gui Tu (The Way Home) and Ai Zai Lasa (Love in Lhasa), both commonly classified as social fiction. Judging from these titles and their category, Gao Hong's writing tends to be set against the backdrop of real life and to focus on the circumstances and emotional journeys of individuals within their social environment, showing a strong concern for social realities. Existing materials are not sufficient to outline a complete creative trajectory, nor to confirm awards, positions, or specific experiences. Even so, these two works alone suggest that the author's choice of subject matter stays close to real human life, in a plain and understated style. Because public information is limited, further materials are still needed to fill in the details of Gao Hong's life and the full picture of his or her writing.