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Product Reviews:
Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.) |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: A Different Side of China
Comments: This is an entertaining and informative view of China, past and present, offered by Peter Hessler, a Westerner who taught English there during the latter part of the 20th century, then returned several years later to work as a journalist. In the process, Hessler made friends with a wide range of Chinese, from his students to the owner of a restaurant in a low-rent Beijing neighborhood, to an itinerant truck driver.
His varied roles gave Hessler opportunities to discover the old and the new China, and to capture for his readers the disjointed experiences of many Chinese as their nation made the transition from a failed command-and-control economy to a quasi free market system.
The book is rich with anecdotes that illustrate the absurdity of the old Communist system, as well as what I think of as the "extreme capitalism" of the new era. The Chinese people Hessler describes are nothing if not enterprising, and they are incredibly clever in devising ways to subvert and circumvent government rules that make little sense. Especially interesting are the stories from Hessler's students, whose lives changed dramatically in the6years between his visits.
Oracle Bones is an excellent read and I endorse it along with a similar, newer, book called China Road, written by Rob Gifford. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: An Amazing Book
Comments: Totally different from his wonderful River Town book, however just as interesting. Peter Hessler, not quite seamlessly, pulls together a bunch of subjects. We hear more about what happened to his students; we learn about his wheeling and dealing Uigher friend who eventually gets to America and remains an optimist despite his trials and tribulations. We learn about the oracle bones and their history. And then, there is the mystery of the scholar Chen Mengjia's death. almost all interestingly, we learn more about Mr. Hessler's headline cutting/freelance life in China--after the teaching years. I hope there are more books coming from Peter Hessler. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Oracle Bones
Comments: We do not get much in Chinese history as we grow up, and I think eone needs to be more informed about the people of China, its history, and what is going on now. This book is well written, entertaining, and informative. Though not the only source to use, it supplies a great beginning to get some insight into the Chinese point of view and become more current with Chinese thinking. I would also endorse watching China: A Century of Revolution. That is an excellent documentary. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Cannot endorse This Book Highly Enough
Comments: This is an excellent book that should be read by anyone curious about present-day China and the economic juggernaut that they have become. The author appears at their situation not from the macro side (the big picture - China's economy is thus and thus, growing from this to that in X amount of time, etc.) however rather he appears at it from the micro side: through the stories of eday folks who are working in this new economy, many of whom he knows well. Some lived through the Cultural Revolution and have a lot of baggage left over from that experience, while others were born after all of that and have grown up in the post-Mao era when China finally woke up and embraced capitalism (in its own way). It is1of the best examples of narrative non-fiction that I have read, and was hard to put down. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: An Honest View of Today's China
Comments: I really loved Peter Hessler's Rivertown and found Oracle Bones just as enjoyable. The author's style of writing is original and surprising, at unexpected points of his books. I studied in Taiwan in the mid-70's and found Peter Hessler's descriptions of the Chinese to be similar to my own experiences. I get the feeling that there are others who are finding his writing just as enjoyable - a few days ago I was in the Denver airport and saw a copy of The New Yorker with his article about the Olympics listed at the top. He is a wonderful writer and anyone picking up this book will finish it knowing quite a bit more than he did before starting it. |
