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Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm To Factory (2010)

by Peter Hessler(Favorite Author)

4.16 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061804096 (ISBN13: 9780061804090)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Harper

review 1: Peter Hessler is famous for his “documentary trilogy” about China. The trilogy consists of Oracle Bones, River Town and Country Driving. These books vividly describe the transformation of China, which is experiencing the historic Opening Up and Reform, and how a foreigner considers those great changes of China. Country Driving, as the ending episode of the trilogy, presents a large picture of a transforming China. I am a big fan of fantasy stories. I love reading anything full of imagination and mysteries so I am also a fan of comic books. However, such documentary as Country Driving can capture my interest and passion. This book depicts a “strange and familiar” China, which will definitely be attractive to Chinese people like me. Country Driving begins with that... more the author acquires a Chinese driving license and resolves to take a self-driving tour in China. He has totally taken three self-driving tour and witnessed what Opening Up and Reform bring to China. His first journey is driving across the northern China, in which he shows us a grand scroll of landscape and various cultures. Then he chooses to stay in a small village near Beijing for a while. At first he chooses this village as a seclusive spot, but eventually such hamlet is turned into a bustling town due in the tide of modernity and industrialization. Peter’s last journey takes place in a city of southeast China. In this part almost all stories are revolving around urbanization and, again, industrialization. Peter’s journey will present Chinese readers a familiar China, but meanwhile, he relates a lot of facts unknown to many Chinese people and, from the aspect of a foreigner, provides readers a new angle to think about Chinese issues. When the author pays a visit to a museum in Inner Mongolia, a female staff says that even though Chinese government defines Genghis Khan as a Chinese ethnical hero, numbers of Mongolians do not consider that Genghis Khan belongs to Chinese people and, what’s more, they do not regard themselves as Chinese—such claim will be sensational if it is known by all Chinese people. If you read this book, there will be much more novelty about China to be discovered. As regards new angle of thinking, the author talks about his opinions on Chinese education. He considers that Chinese education focuses more on students’ self-criticism than their self-affirmation. He feels confused that why little children in China needs frequent self-criticism and self-reflection, which both seem unreasonable to adolescences. Also, as the author points out, a class is divided into several groups and each student is asked to dedicate himself to his own group for the sake of nurturing collaborative awareness. But he analyses that this may suggest “schism” and turn children hostile to other groups. Of course, presenting all his intriguing opinions needs much more room than this article. Peter relates his story with simple but vivid dictions to express his feelings and opinions straightforwardly. Also, American humor can be seen throughout this book. Besides fluid language and fun stuff, Chinese readers can at the same time see numerous new ideas about China. Although not all of Peter’s thoughts about China is right, his ideas can provoke our thinking, providing a fresh new window to look through. In one word, this book is quite worth reading and enjoying. Country Driving is not perfect, but it can still attract such non-documentary fans as me. This book arouses my interest and refreshes my minds, so I will give it five stars.
review 2: It starts off strong and gets better. This is a book of three parts. In the first, Hessler rents a car and drives deep into the interior of China, something that few people were doing in the early aughts (widespread car ownership was just about to explode). In the second part, he chronicles his years of renting a vacation house in a village about two hours outside of Beijing, and the changes that occur in a short time as the village caters more to urban weekend tourists. In the final (and, in my opinion, best) segment, Hessler visits a "development district" in its earliest stages -- he literally watches them blow the tops off mountains to flatten the land -- and follows the startup of a factory that manufactures plastic bra rings (the ones that go on the straps to adjust them). Hessler served in the Peace Corps in China and lived there for many years. He speaks the language fluently. Every page of this book is informed by his deep knowledge of this huge, fascinating country that is still run by the Communist party but sprouting its own unique brand of capitalism and entrepreneurship. What's going to become of this unprecedented hybrid? Hessler documents this transition with compassion, intelligence, and more than a little humor. He talks to everyone -- villagers, factory workers, local party bosses, itinerant entertainers, kids, grownups, on and on. I found myself reading long sections of it out loud to my husband, and thinking about the book long after I finished it. less

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