Light in Swamp

An epic written in flesh and blood about the struggles of China's low-level people in the torrent of the times. It tears apart all romantic imagination and shows how a dream chaser falls step by step into the "quagmire" of reality, and then uses words as a torch to ignite the last trace of human "light" on the ruins of physical destruction. It does not provide cheap comfort, but only presents the naked truth, so it is particularly heavy and precious. With Bai Junming as the protagonist, it depicts the process of a rural youth moving to the city to work, starting a business, being cheated, getting injured at work, and finally returning home paralyzed in an extremely realistic and unvarnished way. It does not have the aura of a protagonist, but instead pulls readers directly into a "quagmire" full of dust, sweat, lies and despair. His "growth" is to recognize the cruelty of reality through repeated failures, from a boy full of fantasy to a sober person who licks his wounds with words on the hospital bed. Whether it is the dream of entering the city, the vanity of marrying a wife with an urban registered permanent residence, the ambition of starting a business and becoming a boss, or the "freedom of wealth" of joining a MLM organization, every time hope is ignited, it is followed by a more violent blow. This recurring feeling of despair is extremely impactful. When the body is imprisoned, the spirit finds an outlet. After the protagonist became paralyzed, he started writing through an old learning machine. This process is clumsy, slow, and full of typos, but it is this imperfection that reflects his great transformation from passively accepting his fate to actively recording and reflecting on his fate. He ceased to be a victim and became a silent observer and recorder.