Memoirs
December 2014
VESSEL
by Cai Chongda
A heart-wrenching memoir about coming-of-age, leaving home, losing family and friends, and finding one's place in the world. Growing up in an underprivileged family, Cai Chongda’s childhood is nevertheless one of quiet happiness. Things change when his father had a stroke – Cai was still in high school. In the next eight years, Cai's only goal is to make money to pay for Dad's medical bill. Like millions of young people in China, he left home for university in Beijing, hoping to eventually find a well-paid job in the capital. He became one of the most successful young journalists in the country, yet none of the fame or money could save his father. After his father’s death, Cai checked into a hotel room and began writing furiously. The result is VESSEL, in which he writes about his almost witch-doctor-like Nana, his mother's obsession of building her own house, and the long and tragicomic passing of his father. He also writes about childhood friends, most of which left their hometown like he did and struggled to find a place for themselves in big cities. In Cai’s own words, it’s a book about losers and survivors, generations of Chinese men and women caught in the whirlwind of manic economic growth from the 1980s to the present. VESSEL is Cai's story, but also theirs.
