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Summary: Perfect Book!
Review: Just finished "River Town" and I can't compliment it enough. The book is beautifully written and a real page turner. Not a dull moment. Seeing, on television, the dam being built on the Yangtze River makes the book very relevant and the best of travel writing. Wish I was there! Looking forward to Peter Hessler's next book.
Rating: 
Summary: River Town
Review: I found the book to be very interesting and an eye opener. I found the author to be an excellent writer - great use of words and his expierences.China is certainly in the midst of change. I came away with the hope the change comes slow or the world will have to deal with a situation even worse than that we have in U.S.S.R. / Russia. The book speaks to the people - the difference between so many different groups. The town descriptions were outstanding. Great book.
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Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I've just spent the past few years of my life in China, and this book really clarified a lot of the mixed up thoughts and opposing feelings I have toward this country. Hessler captured some of the most difficult emotions that "foreigners" often feel in a place like China, from frustration to pure tranquility, from hating everything around you to not being able to leave the place. He has astonishing wisdom for someone so young. I was very surprised to find my eyes welling up with tears at the end of the second chapter--books rarely do that for me.
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Summary: Rivals Mark Salzman's "Iron and Silk"
Review: A great read, especially for anyone who has spent time in China. I taught English there in 1988/1989 (Shanghai), and Hessler captures both the wonder and frustration. Like Mark Salzman, you can't help liking Hessler, and both are wonderful writers.
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Summary: Excellent book! Funny, accurate, even-handed.
Review: River Town is the best book I've read about China in a _long_ _long_ time. Having lived and traveled extensively in China, I can say that Hessler's descriptions are wonderfully accurate -- not only does he explain the physical features of the countryside well, he shows the complexity of being a _yangguizi_ in China, and how one's "foreign-ness" colors all of one's experiences. Hessler's self-mocking tone when he talks with locals about cheating foreigners, his interactions with _xiaojie_, and his students (especially Mo's last name) are hilariously accurate. His dealings with authority and China's past are insightful and balanced. I strongly recommend this book - those who have been to China will be flooded with memories, and those who haven't will learn about an important part of China from a perspective that is rarely seen.
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Summary: River Town is a must
Review: River Town is a fascinating read, and a "must" for anyone going to China. I am going to China for most of May and will look for Fuling on the Yangtze portion. His observations are so keen, his writing so beautiful, his feeling for the good and not-so-good parts of his two years! I was in China in l986 for a month as a tourist, during which time we visited two Oberlin College longtime teaching projects in Shansi. Speaking with the Oberlin "reps" (each class sends out two) gave the same flavor as Hessler did to the experience of being a visiting teacher. I hope Hessler writes some more books. I would like to know what he is doing now--what kind of re-entry to the US etc.
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Summary: From a Chinese point of view
Review: Humane and observant. I was thoroughly impressed by the author's willingness to share his life with the ordinary Chinese, for I know it is difficult to do. Exactly because of that, many of his poignant remarks and analyses did not bother me at all. In fact, I envy him, for I cannot observe in the same way as he did, simply because I am a Chinese. I know he is so right on the numbness of the people who could quickly gather into a crowd over any stanger's suffering, so right about the linguistic violence to womem done by the Chinese language, and so right about the senseless macho baijiu culture among men. I could have made the remarks, too, but I know they would lack the same sad humaneness. I do not have his detachment and therefore his penetrativeness. There was a haunting scene of Father Li's conversing in Latin with the author's own father, while the author was standing by and watching. Like the book itself, this scene shows that any barrier between peoples and men is either false or self-imposed or down right intellectual sloth. I really respect Peter Hessler!
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Summary: From a Chinese point of view
Review: Humane and observant. I was thoroughly impressed by the author's willingness to share his life with the ordinary Chinese, for I know it is difficult to do. Exactly because of that, many of his poignant remarks and analyses did not bother me at all. In fact, I envy him, for I cannot observe in the same way as he did, simply because I am a Chinese. I know he is so right on the numbness of the people who could quickly gather into a crowd over any stanger's suffering, so right about the linguistic violence to women done by the Chinese language, and so right about the senseless macho baijiu culture among men. I could have made the remarks, too, but I know they would lack the same sad humaneness. I do not have his detachment and therefore his penetrativeness. There was a haunting scene of Father Li's conversing in Latin with the author's own father, while the author was standing by and watching. Like the book itself, this scene shows that any barrier between peoples and men is either false or self-imposed or downright intellectual sloth. I really respect Peter Hessler!
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Summary: A fresh glimpse of China, stripped of rhetoric
Review: Peter Hessler paints a wonderful portrait of the complex nature of modern Chinese society. In his classroom, in the remote town of Fuling, and on the Yangtze River he leads the reader on a journey through the lives and times of simple yet remarkable people who are rooted in the past while being firmly nudged to accept a future steeped in the four Modernizations of agriculture, industry, defense, and science. Hessler uses gentle humor and keen powers of observation to bring to life the vignettes of his students and the townspeople. This book is a joy to read.
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Summary: A Truly Interesting Experience of the Chinese Culture
Review: River Town was a truly interesting book that put me into Peter Hesslers shoes and introduced me to a culture I knew very little about. His slightly humorous reaction to many of the situations he experiences shows his relaxed attitude, yet great interest and respect of the Chinese culture. Hesslers total honesty is shown through his description of his various experiences as he is forced to survive in a culture completely unlike his own. There was never hesitation to inform us on the things that he enjoyed and also didn't. This becomes a much truer explanation of all that he went through. This honesty made me feel like I was right there with him, experiencing all that he experienced, and thinking all that he thought. His funny and entertaining accounts of his numerous ventures off into the countryside were enjoyable. People were very welcoming and opened their houses and lifestyle to him. Yet, traveling anywhere wasn't, by any means, relaxing, fancy, and enjoyable. When he would travel he came across many rat infested boats and taxis, many unlike the luxuries he was used to at home. The people that he met in the few years he was there really showed us a part of the Fuling culture that you couldn't see through just Hessler himself. Chinese people handled relationships differently then those in America and his relationships he held with his students were quite interesting. Their views of western literature and civilization were unexpected, even though he was teaching in a communist school with many obvious challenges. Having an Oxford degree in English didn't do much good, as it was funny and obviously difficult for him to communicate with people of the Chinese culture, which also caused problems with his students. Yet, with both the good and bad times, Hesslers still depicts a wonderful picture of China that he will always remember.
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