Naive American biting more of China than he can chew
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Peter Hessler's account of his life in China is a painfully slow and excriciatingly banal journey of an insular small-town American who has just discovered there is life ouside the baseball pitch of Princeton. He tries desperately to win the reader's sympathy by professing modesty: he has much to be modest about. His shallow American education has imbued him with a sense of exoticism, which does not come naturally to him and he wears it like a straightjacket throughout the narration. He rarely allows himself an overt cross word about his Chinese hosts, but the subtext of his diary bristles with feelings of indignation with and superiority over the Chinese people he meets. Most of the time he treats them like exhibits in an anthropological theme park, describing them dutifully and ploddingly, but without conveying any understanding of the subject. His conclusions are banal and his observations trite.
On countless occasions Hessler vents tiresome fury at the "unforgivable" desire of the (6000 year old) Chinese state to follow the Communist ideology and not the "democratic ways" of his (200 year old) motherland USA. While visiting the Uigur autonomous region he professes a lack of understanding of the expansionist and neo-colonial policy of China there, while the parallels with the identical policies of the US towards the Native Americans are glaring.
On a personal level Mr Hessler also strikes one as a rather unpleasant character. His constant intense and pointless competitiveness, his gratingly devout religiosity and his constant saving and scrimping get on the reader's nerves throughout the book. One can only imagine the nightmare of having such a fellow traveller on a long journey. Hessler's penny-pinching reaches a miserly peak during his father's visit when to save a few dollars he books his father into a cheap local hotel. Police and hotel staff burst into the room and demand passports three times during the first night alone.
I struggled reading this long and pointless book and my investment in effort was meagerly repaid with a few nuggets of genuine entertainment and information. The reason I bought it was an article about China by Peter Hessler which I read in a recent issue of The New Yorker. The article was amusing and one incident made me laugh out loud. I assumed the book will build on this, but was very dissappointed.
Most Europeans and especially Central and East Europeans will groan with frustration at the ingenue findings of this naive American in China. Europeans, save yourself the bother: this book can only be taken seriously in small-town America.
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worth reading even if you think you have no interest in China
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Unlike many of the other reviewers I bought this book despite the fact I have not been to, nor was thinking of visiting China. I was interested in the cross cultural experiences of the American Peace Corps in a culture and language so different from his own.
Peter Hessler was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English Literature in Fuling (a town on the Yangstze) an area that was due to be dramatically affected by the Three Gorges Dam project and during the time Hong Kong was returned to China.
Peter along with his Peace Corps colleague were the only white foreigners 'waigouren' in Fuling.
The book describes Peter's experiences during his 2 year placement there, but in a style that is so much more than a diary. He explains his frustrations with the system, language learning, the fact wherever he went crowds appeared, but along side that is clear a growing understanding, appreciation and love for the Chinese.
It is brilliantly written with very detailed observations about what he saw and he clearly dedicated a lot of time to studying the history of the area so he understands the context of the everyday events he experiences. He also shows an ability to be able to reflect somewhat critically on his own culture.
I am afraid I am making the book sound quite heavy going and it is far from that. I found it slow to begin with as the early chapters are based around many visual observations of his environment. However as the book moves along you get wonderful descriptions and understanding of Peter's Chinese friends which actually make it quite sad to end the book. It became clear the slower more visually descriptive elements of the early part of the book match with the limitations of Peter's understanding of the language and culture at the time. As he becomes more comfotable in China the type of thing he observes and writes about changes. I think that element of the book best expresses the cross-cultural experience and challenge. I also came away with a feeling of Chinese people as whole characters and not stereotypes and a better understanding of what affects them.
Excellently written.
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Slow but riveting
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I really enjoyed reading this after having spent 10 days in China it gave me further insight into the complex issues and life that makes up China today. It was fascinating to hear about life in a small town, Fuling, which is by the Yangtze and how it was before the dam was built.
Although it is quite a 'slow' book it is clearly and carefully written with lots of interesting anecdotes that reveal the inside china.
A must buy if you're interested in China itself
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insight for those who aready know china
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the book best appeals to people who have aready visited china
and will bring back many memories which they experienced themselves
The book Is a collection of day to day issues anyone of us may find in that part of the world
it is a book with out high drama and thiller activities
more an awakening observation of how different our worlds are.
personally i would not have bought this myself. except it was on the shelf at the library
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Wow!
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What a fantastic book. This, for me, was one of those rare books that you can't put down but don't want to end. Having just finnished it this morning I am already at a loss. I have read many books on China and this ranks among the best for me.
This is the story of Peter Hessler, an American student, who takes up an English teaching post in a remote town called Fuling where the River Wu meets the Yangtze. Fuling becomes his home for the next two years and here we are treated to a feast of Chinese life in a town where they are very unused to "waiguorn" (foreigners). We go through the many highs and lows with him and we meet a collection of fantastic characters along the way. To view this town and its people through waiguoren eyes is fascinating and a real eye opener.
Having been to China only once on holiday (to satisfy my enthusiasm) I am left feeling that spending all my time in Beijing and Shanaghai is abit of a cop out and I am now left with a real urge to travel deeper into this wonderful country and expore some more. This book has certainly given me a taste for that.
I highly recommend this book. I found it a real page turner. Enjoy.
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