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Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory |  | Author: Peter Hessler
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $27.99
Buy Used: $15.10
as of 7/29/2010 22:22 CDT details
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Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 1098
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0061804096
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.48320951
EAN: 9780061804090
ASIN: 0061804096
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010: There is, as everyone knows, no place in the world changing as fast, and at such scale, as China. Accounts of the upheaval can be breathless and even alarming, but Peter Hessler is the calmest and most companionable of correspondents. In his reporting for the New Yorker and in his books River Town, Oracle Bones, and now the superb Country Driving, he's observed the past 15 years of change with the patience and perspective--and necessary good humor--of an outsider who expects to be there for a while. In Country Driving, Hessler takes to the roads, as so many Chinese are doing now for the first time, driving on dirt tracks to the desert edges of the ancient empire and on brand-new highways to the mushrooming factory towns of the globalized boom. He's modest but intrepid--having taken to heart the national philosophy that it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission--and an utterly enjoyable guide, with a humane and empathetic eye for the ambitions, the failures, and the comedy of a country in which everybody, it seems, is on the move, and no one is quite sure of the rules. --Tom Nissley
Product Description
From the bestselling author of Oracle Bones and River Town comes the final book in his award-winning trilogy, on the human side of the economic revolution in China. In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China. Hessler writes movingly of the average people—farmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurs—who have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history. Country Driving begins with Hessler's 7,000-mile trip across northern China, following the Great Wall, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau. He investigates a historically important rural region being abandoned, as young people migrate to jobs in the southeast. Next Hessler spends six years in Sancha, a small farming village in the mountains north of Beijing, which changes dramatically after the local road is paved and the capital's auto boom brings new tourism. Finally, he turns his attention to urban China, researching development over a period of more than two years in Lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new government-built expressway will transform a farm region into a major industrial center. Peter Hessler, whom The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the Western world's most thoughtful writers on modern China," deftly illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a traditionally rural nation that, having once built walls against foreigners, is now building roads and factory towns that look to the outside world.
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| Customer Reviews:
Rules of the road?...what rules of the road? July 7, 2010
Ahmet Aydogan (San Francisco)
This well written meandering "drive" through China held my interest throughout partly because I've lived and driven China, too. Hessler's experiences ring true throughout. He has lived in China long enough to be fluent in Mandarin (written and spoken!) and, more importantly, sensitive to and appreciative of social mores and customs. It's been nearly three years since I've driven in China and reading "Country Driving" has me itching to hop on a plane and head back to my other home.
I read the Kindle edition on my iTouch and it looked just great!
Hilarious and terrifying, in a way June 8, 2010
Thomas Koetzsch (Hong Kong)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Peter Hessler wrote an excellent book about the hazards of driving in China and while doing so he became a close observer about the (micro)-economic development in China. I found his book hilarious because the many anecdotes he tells should make you laugh out loud. What I found terrifying about this tale are the author's observations about economic life in China. This book should be compulsory reading for a lot of people in the west, if only to understand what is really going on in China.
Part One of the Book deals with Hessler's road trip along the wall and back. Given that foreigners are not supposed to leave Beijing Municipality, this is quite a feat. I couldn't decide whether the many questions he quotes from the Chinese driving exam are for real or if he made them up. I have no idea if it is allowed to bring small amounts of explosive material into a taxi but I would instinctively answer "Yes". Hessler tells many stories about the Chinese style of driving and if you have been to China none of these will be unfamiliar to you. I read somewhere that Peter Hessler was terrified of the Chinese style of driving. I would wager that the Americans were probably more terrified of him, when he re-joined traffic in the US.
In Part Two, Hessler rents a house in some village north of Beijing and it is incredible to observe through his eyes how the place develops with his "Family" developing from a level of poverty hardly any of us would be able to imagine into "the entrepreneur" of the village. One might be inclined to believe that this development was exceptional but as you read on it becomes quite clear that this sort of thing is happening all over China. In Part Three, Hessler writes about a development zone in Southern Zhejiang in general and about a bra ring production plant in particular. And again it is incredible to observe how this development takes place.
All told I found this book a real page turner and I can only highly recommend it.
Insight into life in China June 3, 2010
Mondo (Tasmania)
Having been to China earlier this year I was interested to read what this author discovered from living in China for several years. As a Chinese language (Mandarin) speaker the author was able to interact with many people from many parts of China and the insights are great indeed. Peter Hessler writes with great sensitivity but also great humor and insight. He has a journalists eye for detail but also an appreciation and understanding of history.The result is a fascinating book which takes us into the lives of individuals and families.We care about these people, their careers ,their jobs and their dreams. To sum up , an engrossing book which keeps you reading.
Well done... May 22, 2010
Matthew T. Scott
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a very informative and entertaining book. My favorite part is the author's time spent in the developing village of Sancha a few hours outside of Beijing. Peter is perfectly positioned to be a witness to the largest economic and industrial development in human history.
City Special goes country May 15, 2010
Calochortus (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Wonderful book, a must read. Peter has a special talent for observation and writing, besides being a good man. The book is in three parts: The Great Wall, The Village and The Factory. All are excellent, but I guess I liked The Village the best. The Factory felt more like a journalist's assignment, the other two felt more like labors of love.
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