River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001)

Hessler, already a published travel writer in his late 20's, set out for a two-year stint in Sichuan as a college English literature instructor for the Peace Corps. Here he describes his two years and gradual acculturation. Hessler neither vilifies nor romanticizes the people with whom he interacts, and the result is a highly readable memoir/travelogue that includes both humor and insight. Read with Wang Gang's [b:English: A Novel|5219920|English A Novel|Wang Gang|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267356476s/5219920.jpg|5287182] for a semi-fictionalized Chinese perspective on English teachers and rural life in the Uigher areas of China during the cultural revolution. ( )

In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society. Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

I chose this book for our group because David Sedaris (my new BFF), recommended it when I saw him on tour a couple of years ago. River Town is not meant to be humorous like a Sedaris book, but I still enjoyed it a great deal. Peter Hessler does write it with a light hearted tone. It’s clear that he greatly enjoys being in China and making friends with Chinese people even though he finds their culture and the people baffling or frustrating at times.

Peter went by the name Ho Wei while he was in China and I absolutely loved how he explained the dichotomy between Peter Hessler and Ho Wei:

“Ho Wei was stupid, which was what I liked most about him…People were comfortable with somebody that stupid, and they found it okay to talk with Ho Wei, even though they often had to say things twice or write new words in his notebook. Ho Wei always carried his notebook in his pocket, using it to study the new words, as well as to jot down notes from conversations. And when Ho Wei returned home he left the notebook on the desk of Peter Hessler, who typed everything into his computer.”

There is quite a bit more about Ho Wei vs. Peter Hessler than just the above quote and I thought it was all so clever. I really enjoyed this book. Since reading it, I have learned that Peter Hessler also writes about China for The New Yorker and has written two more books about China. I really enjoyed his perspective and I’m looking forward to reading more from him. ( )

Great book that details the author's stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in China. Hessler, now a New York Times reporter, details his struggle with the Chinese language, the loneliness of being a foreigner -- as well as the haunting knowledge that much of his city will disappear underwater due to China's Three Gorges Dam project. This hugely ambitious engineering feat underscores and parallels Hessler's observations of the massive changes in China due to its incredible upward trajectory toward economic progress -- but also the fear that something is being lost, as well. I also really enjoyed Hessler's impressions of the students in his college English literature classes, most of whom were one generation away from peasantry. Hessler's interactions with them were both funny and poignant -- with much more than lessons in English being shared by both students and teacher.