What We've Been Reading

Whether or not the Foreign Service invites Dave to Washington this summer, our time in China is drawing to a close. Dave's contract with Uncle H-- ends on October 1. As Uncle H-- does not know of his Foreign Service plans, the time has come to draw up plans for after the completion of his contract in Shanghai and his time in China. Dave needs to decide whether to focus on an international career within his company, looking into possibilities in Brazil and Switzerland; or to focus on changing careers entirely, and simply asking Uncle H-- to move us back to Chicago this summer.

Either way, its time we read all of our books on China. This should keep each of us busy for a few months, so those seeking a complete Chinese bibliography should be pleased. I just finished two.

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler

I read and reviewed Hessler's debut book, River Town, about 2 years ago. I loved the book and decided that Hessler is one of the best writers on modern China. And so I eagerly picked up his sophomore attempt, Oracle Bones, a National Book Award Finalist and a New York Times Bestseller. Hessler writes well, and I always enjoy reading his narrative style. He also does his homework, writing informative pieces based on piles of research. And thirdly, he really understands modern China. Hessler first arrived in China in the mid-90s, landing in rural Sichuan where he taught English has a Peace Corps volunteer. He learned to read and write in Mandarin, and also developed strong, trusting and lasting relationships with a number of his Chinese students. Oracle Bones displays all of these strengths, as Hessler weaves his various journalistic writings and historical research into one book. At each point, his stories are interesting to read. But I felt that the whole book lacked organization, and came across more as a haphazard collection of pieces rather than one whole. This bothered me less as I neared the end of the book, but primarily because he ended with his strongest pieces. The recent history of Chinese characters really captured my attention. For the mood of China over the past few years, this is a strong resource. For a good read, this book is disorganized and feels hectic.


Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays by Bill Holm

I first learned about Bill Holm's book from Hessler's bibliography. Holm traveled to Xi'an, China to teach English in the 1980s. The country was a different place then than now, and Holm well captures a particular place in a changing time. His book is more journal than story of place, and his organization feels contrived. Still, Holms is a good storyteller and he also paints a wonderful picture of what China feels like beneath the shiny glaze which Shanghai displays and the struggling superpower the international media portrays. For one individual's picture of Xi'an, China, well told and easy to read, this is a good choice.