A tome is where the heart is

"It's a victory for video and also a victory for books," one Douban user comments.

After the documentary was released, the books mentioned sold like hot cakes online-copies of Jimo de Youxi ("the lonely game") sold out and 8,000 more are being printed.

There are users on both Douban and Bilibili who summarized all of the books that appear in each episode, even books that just get a brief mention in an interview.

According to Zhu Xianliang, a physical bookstore named after the documentary that will stock all of the books mentioned in the series is planned to open in Shanghai later this year.

"It's an indication of how far a documentary can go," he says.

According to Luo, the second season of the documentary is currently being researched.

"In the first season we put a lot focus on literature," Luo notes. "For the second season, however, we plan to explore more book genres and search for interesting stories."