But it was also repetitive and with too many details piled one on top of another, making for dense reading that slowed the book down. I'm not completely sure why that is since the author's true life experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1996-1998 in Fuling, a remote Chinese village, were interesting and well written. I read this for my book club and it was unexpectedly difficult for me to get through it. Hessler has recently moved to the Middle East as a foreign correspondent and I look forward to seeing what his output from Cairo might be. It took time and patience but a polite determination to learn the language and self depreciating humour allowed him a view point that few other short term visitors would get.ĭespite this book being a chance find, it is one that I'm glad to have read and I'm keen to learn more about China. Most interesting of all is the way in which Hessler and his friends gradually infiltrated the local traditions and way of life. After all so many books have been written on China it is difficult to know where to start. Part travelogue, part diary, part Cliff notes to China's long and varied history, this book is a strong introduction to a culture which some may regard is largely impenetrable.
Hessler presents the day to day minutiae of life on the Yangtze in a way which retains its personal element but also references the wider historical and cultural aspects which have moulded the lives of the residents of River Town (Fuling).
Hessler is an engaging writer but from the outset I found myself wondering why I should care about two years in the life of an American Peace Corps volunteer (probably in much the same way that people might wonder why they should care about my opinions of this or any other book). The result is a book which carefully documents Hessler's time and experiences living in the river town of Fuling on the banks of the Yangtze. Peter Hessler, author of River Town, Two Years on the Yangtze, went to China not to check population statistics, but to immerse himself in the culture and physical geography of a place which still seems mysterious to a large portion of the world beyond China's borders. How do you even go about counting that many people? How do you get them all to stand still for long enough? Not only is it massive but the PRC is also the most populous country in the world with a population of over 1.3 billion. You can get one of those old fashioned things called a map and have a look. And that is a bonafide geographical fact people.
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