Peter Hessler's "River Town'
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The book tells of Hessler's experience as a peace corps English Language
teacher at a college in Fuling, a remote Sichuan town in China. It was a
fascinating read as Hessler was ruthlessly honest in sharing his
first-hand encounter with a culture totally beyond his comprehension.
All of Hessler's joy and frustrations were shown in his vivid portrayal
of how he was blown away by the inundation
of newness as well as how unremitting he was in the struggle to
strengthen his tenuous ties with the locals. The book also touches on
the hard-earned living of the locals with an unbiased view, exposing their hardships
in coping with rapid changes and how the writer associated himself with
them. The stark reality of different lives in this book evokes an
overwhelming sense of poignancy and empathy in me as a reader. As a Chinese,
I found some of the locals' quirkiness described in this book familiar.
Hessler's two years in Fuling were no doubt well spent. Despite his
foreigner's appearance, he had blended well with the locals socially and
culturally, a true China hand!
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