The Adventure of an American in China


Peter Hessler is today a well known American correspondent and free lance journalist living in Beijing. He has written two books and many articles on modern China and can be defined ad an "Old China hand", an honorary title given to Chinese speaking foreigners who truly understand the country, which even in this era of globalization knows how to keep many of its secrets.
River Town was published in 2001, after a two year experience (1996-1998) as a Peace Corps English teacher in Sichuanese Fuling, a city on the Yangtze River that has since been transformed by the Three Gorges Dam activated in 2003.
The book is a Bildungsroman or better "Bildungsmemoir" centered on the relationship that builds up between a man and a country. Even though many other have lived through similar experiences, no one has attempted the same type of identification and empathic comprehension of the impacted culture or has shown the honesty of this Author. In some ways he reminds us of Hearn, the American who became Japanese in the Nineteenth Century.
Young Peter in over 400 pages goes through cultural shock, frustration of being seen as a "waigouren" (foreigner), true episodes of physical and verbal aggression, great satisfaction in his teaching experience of mostly peasant born college students, a moment of glory during a 4 km race and basically all his life experiences in two years. But the main characteristics that make this book such a joy to read are the Authors curiosity, honesty, irony, all signs of his great intelligence and the precise rendition of the sense of place and of the Chinese mentality in all its hues. The impression is that of living with a friend. However the book is also a travelogue and a socialogue because it goes into the geography, landscapes, historical sites and history of Sichuan, the Yangtze River and a few other places visited in China during the two years, together with the analysis of the rapidly transforming Chinese society. These aspects are very interesting and make the book especially valuable, since the Yangtze River region and population have changed from the activation of the Three Gorges Dam. This longstanding important landscape modifying project is explained and described in depth, evaluating the pro's and con's considering also the Fuling's inhabitants surprisingly calm and passive reaction to this epochal transformation. At one point Hessler visits the Water Crane Ridge an important Tang Dynasty monument and a landscape mark that today is completely underwater and in a few years will be destroyed by the river sediments.
Since other reviewers have inserted personal reasons for relating to the book. I want to communicate a very personal reason. Hessler tells of how his grandfather, then a Benedictine monk, went to Rome to study in the S. Anselm Abbey and he met a monk returning from China who inflamed his spirit with the wish of working there. Well I live right next to the Abbey and daily see monks from all over the world that carry stories of other countries.
Another episode that remains in my memory is when Hessler's visiting father speaks Latin (the last Century's pass partout language) with the Chinese priest and he is excluded from the conversation. There is a similar beautiful episode in Primo Levi's "The Truce" were the Author liberated from concentration camp after WWII, not knowing the language of the country he is traveling through can only communicate with a priest in Latin asking for something to eat.
Communication is a guideline of this beautiful book: English/Chinese, Chinese/English, Latin/Chinese, through the teaching of literature (do the Chinese identify or understand Hamlet? They don't. What if Robin Hood came to China? Redistribution of riches and justice is rather complicated.) and theatre (Shakespeare's plays re-enacted in China). The endless conversations, sitting in parks and in restaurants, striking up a discussion in trains and during trekking in the hills, relating life stories of the many people he met all build up the texture of the book. What comes through as we get to know Hessler is his determination, honesty and the satisfaction of his success in mastering the language.
I really loved this book and I recommend reading Hessler's other book "Oracle Bones" and his many articles that can be found on line (one of them on China's perspective on Tibet is really mind opening).

River Town
Reading this narrative, one feels a sense of both Mr. Hessler's sense of adverture and his eye for detail in all things. His sense of humor is crisp and dry. Having just returned from China myself, I can vouch for his extraordinarily accurate descriptions,even in spots where the armchair traveller would shake his head in disbelief. And I was immediately transported back to the Yangtze River--I could smell it, see it, and observe the uniquely Chinese character of everything around. His ability to capture the essence of Chinese personality and expression while avoiding stereotype is amazing. When I left, I thought that there was something, well, different about all Chinese, not a racial thing but a cultural and perhaps historical thing. But I could not really say what it was. Fortunately for me and for all readers who enjoy travel and cultural subjects, there is this book.

A fast and engaging read
Hessler writes candidly about his experiences in China as if he were writing to a friend back home. His accounts of conversations between himself and the locals are priceless, both funny and sad. This book really brings to light the hardships of Chinese farmers and their children, who seek to escape their rural lives by getting an education and joining the Communist Party.

Hessler's self-deprecating tone and funny anecdotes about his cultural mishaps make this book entertaining and touching. I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants to visit China or is interested in learning more about what makes this complex society tick.

Easy, Interesting Read
Interesting peek into Chinese life. Four stars because I left wishing for something a bit deeper. Highly recommended.

Simply delicious
Hessler's writing is a joy to read. His dry wit reminded me, somehow, of Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Except that Hessler's irony is friendly and warm whereas Heller's brilliance was cynical and ruthless.

Hessler does an excellent job of providing details to a story that get you to feel what he was feeling, rather than trying to tell you how he was feeling. And his stories about having the same conversations over and over reminded me of my own travels abroad, and the split personality that one does develop as a not unpleasant coping mechanism.

In addition to superb, reflective writing, Hessler conveys the peculiarities of Sichuan life with an affectionate tone. I look forward to reading his "Oracle Bones".