As a chinese person, books written by foreigners about my country always intrigue me. In 2001, when peter hessler applied for a chinese drivers license, he entered a brave new world. In country driving, his latest travelogue, he writes, everything depends on perspective, a platitude that he reinvigorates by viewing chinas modernization from unexpected angles. A journey through china from farm to factory and it was written by peter hessler.
There is, as everyone knows, no place in the world changing as fast, and at such scale, as china. A general survey c2832cul shah, angilee and jeffrey wasserstrom, eds. Hessler has a marvelous sense of the intonations and gestures that give life to the moment. This account is a chronicle of the authors days in fuling and of. C3063cul peter hessler country driving c3212cul phillips, carolyn all under heaven. Country driving addresses the human side of the economic revolution in china, focusing on. Other favorite titles include the woods by harlan coben, english, august by upamanyu chatterjee, the fifth vial by michael palmer, american brutus by michael w. Its an account of hesslers experiences driving a rental car through the country, first following the great wall to the desolate gansu province, then to a rural village north of beijing, and finally. Peter hessler is a staff writer at the new yorker, where he served as beijing correspondent from 20002007 and cairo correspondent from 20112016. He is the author of river town, which won the kiriyama book prize, oracle bones, which was a finalist for the national book award, country driving, and strange stones.
Peter hesslers book provides a valuable account of the central role played by the. Bookmark file pdf country driving a journey through china from farm to factory peter hessler supplementary things to pull off for your daily activity. Oracle bones, which was a finalist for the national book award. Country driving by peter hessler book read online scribd. The bad books occasionally rate a mocking giggle, but the better ones are like mirrors that reflect the country, the people, and yourself. The luncheon also featured the presentation of the 2010 otrec. Recipes from the 35 cuisines of china c230cul qi, wen china. Peter hessler, the new yorkers man in beijing, has been an invaluable guide to modern china in his last two books, river town and oracle bones. A journey between chinas past and present 20161226 pdf peter hessler oracle bones. We had a couple more conversations about this, but finally i. Another drinker told me that his wife had passed away, and he had recently suffered a heart attack, and now he hoped that he would. For most of the decade that followed, he would be the new yorkers china correspondent. Country driving peter hessler ebook harpercollins publishers. Over the span of six years, hessler observes in detail the effects of this change, which range from shifts in diet and health, to a growing interest in religion, to new tensions within the local branch of the communist party.
Peter benjamin hessler born 19690614 june 14, 1969 is an american writer and journalist. Usu ally i awoke early, but there was never any schedule or plan. Hesslers account of life in sancha is the heart of his book, and when, in the final section, he takes to the road again exploring the industrial zones along a highway in the southeast. Country driving a journey through china from farm to. Country driving is his third book about china, after river town.
A journey through china from farm to factory, and leslie chang, factory girls. Hessler writes movingly of everyday people farmers, migrant workers and entrepreneurs who have reshaped the country during. In 2000, peter hessler reported for work in beijing. Having started in the countryside, with the stately image of. I tried to keep the great wall in sight, and i stopped whenever something inter ested me. Chinas open road, with peter hessler complete asia. A fascinating road trip through a land in transition. Country driving the weather held perfect across hebei and shanxlcool, crisp mornings, the sunlight falling sharp across terraced fields. Kauffmann, better by atul gawande, and some sort of epic. Hesslers third book, country driving 2010, investigates the effects of chinas auto boom on regions ranging from allbutabandoned rural villages to expanding industrial centers. Country driving addresses the human side of the economic revolution in china. A journey through china from farm to factory article pdf available in journal of transport and land use 33.
In beijing alone, almost a thousand drivers registered on. The text is prone to tangents, but thats how the author seems to experience the world, so this was actually part of the charm. A journey through china from farm to factory kindle edition by hessler, peter. Hessler writes movingly of the average peoplefarmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurswho have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history. The american appetite for loneliness impressed me, and there was something about this solitude that freed conversation. Hessler then moved to beijing, where he became the china correspondent for the new yorker and a contributing writer to national geographic. Earlier this month, a reporter from china daily approached me with a request to do an interview, in conjunction with li xueshun, a former colleague from fuling who has translated the mainland editions of my books. In 1996, hessler reported for his peace corps duty to fuling, a city of some 200,000 souls astride the murky yangtze river, which cuts through the green and terraced mountains of sichuan province. For two years, he lived in fuling, a small city affected by the three gorges dam. He spends three years researching in lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new governmentbuilt expressway will transform a farm region into a. Country driving begins with hesslers 7,000mile trip across northern china, following the great wall, from the east china sea to the tibetan plateau.
In the summer of 2001, peter hessler, the longtime beijing correspondent for the new yorker, acquired his chinese drivers license. Peter hessler provides an interesting inside view of china that is less evident from the outside looking in. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent. River town oracle bones country driving strange stones. Profiles of fastchanging lives in a fastchanging land c2952cul shirk, susan l. He is the author of river town, which won the kiriyama prize. He documents how new roads have affected manufacturing specializa tion and urban development in the region, and describes his travels from town to town. And country driving tracks the movement of the nation as a whole.
He is also a contributing writer for national geographic. With recent pieces focused on other locales and subjects, such as the american southwest and a peace corps project in nepal, he continues to weave multiple. From peter hessler, the new york times bestselling author of oracle bones and river town, comes country driving, the third and final book in his awardwinning china trilogy. In the factory, the third part of country driving, hessler turns his attention to urban china. A journey through china from farm to factory is in a hardcover format. And so we come at last to country driving, hesslers latest, a savagely funny and delightful read, and, like his earlier works, a combination of travelogue, colorful yarns, history especially the history of the great wall, intensely personal profiles of individuals caught between the shifting social and economic forces of todays china.
Sometimes somber, often hilarious, hesslers presentation enchanted the luncheon crowd at portland state universitys smith memorial student union sept. Hesslers description of chinas new drivers is hilarious. A journey through china from farm to factory repost removed. Traditional chinese edition of national geographics peter hesslers country driving.
Hessler is a staff writer for the new yorker, and he was that magazines beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007. A journey between china s past and present 20110831 peter hessler country driving. Country driving addresses the human side of the economic revolution in china, focusing on economics and development, and shows how the auto boom helps china shift from rural to urban, from farming to business. Country driving is sprinkled with hesslers humorous encounters with a stateowned car rental company. Many of the chapters in this wideranging collection of.
Amazing stories about driving in china along the great wall from east to west. But longtime new yorker writer peter hessler has always balanced his observations of chinas peculiarities with a sense that the western world is pretty strange, too. In country driving, peter hessler takes to chinese roads. Please contact us about the items you wish to borrow. For the next seven years he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and the improved transport system were transforming china. Strange stones has even more to offer a second sort of reader. With eloquence and wit peter hessler takes us on the road less travelled, showing us a china rarely glimpsed by outsiders. Peter hessler is a staff writer at the new yorker, where he served as the beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007, and is also a contributing writer for national geographic.
Notable awards, macarthur fellowship kiriyama prize nominated for national book award for nonfiction. Country driving by peter hessler does not lack these criticisms. Read country driving by peter hessler for free with a 30 day free trial. Articles required for the course will be posted on the courses sakai site. The christian science monitorthe best yet from peter hessler, whose two earlier books, river town and oracle bones, were exemplary forays into the genre. A journey through china from farm to factory harper, 2010, 438 pages peter hessler, staff writer at the new yorker and its beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007, has become one of the most popular and fascinating documentarians of the vast economic and cultural changes that have come to china in recent years. Country driving tells us as much about contemporary china even when hessler is not on the road. On the road in china with new yorker staff writer hessler oracle bones. Country driving seemed like a friendly place to start, and it was exactly that. Like so much of hesslers work, the factory focuses on average people, telling the story of lishuis boom through the experiences of smalltime entrepreneurs, migrant workers, and selfeducated technicians. One night at a bar, i met a man, and within five minutes he explained that he had just been released from prison. A journey between chinas past and present, 2006, etc.
Peter hessler, peter berkrot narrator, country driving. From the bestselling author of oracle bones and river town comes the final book in his awardwinning trilogy on the human side of the economic revolution in china peter hessler, whom the wall street journal calls one of the western worlds most thoughtful writers on modern china, deftly illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a. February 23, 2010 a s chinas economic success and middle class have grown, many predicted that it would follow the historic western trend toward democracy, but that perception is changing. Hed been living in china since 1996, when he began teaching english in a school in fuling, an experience he recounted in his book, river town. A journey through china from farm to factory from the bestselling author of oracle bones and river town comes the final book in his awardwinning trilogy, on the human side of the economic revolution in china.
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