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River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze Paperback – December 24, 2001

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Peter Hessler (Author)
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Peter Hessler (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 379 customer reviews
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River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.)
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (January 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060953748
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060953744
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (379 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,969,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThoughtful account of an American's life in China
By Matthew M. Yau on March 26, 2003
Format: Paperback
In his concluding remarks of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler points us to the nub of his experience in China:
"I had never had any idealistic illusions about my Peace Corps 'service' in China; I wasn't there to save anybody or leave an indelible mark on the town. If anything, I was glad that during my two years in Fuling I hadn't built anything, or organized anything, or made any great changes to the place. I had been a teacher, and in my spare time I had tried to learn as much as possible about the city and its people. That was the extent of my work, and I was comfortable with those roles and I recognized their limitations."
In fall 1996, Peter Hessler, at the age of 26, took a Peace Corps assignment that relocated him to a small town in the Sichuan province of China. Many natives let alone a young American who made his inaugural entrance into the country did not know and hear of Fuling. It's a former coal-mining town that is bounded by the Yangtze and the Wu. Chongqing and the Three Gorges are just hours away by boats. The book chronicles, in a rather casual but detailed way, Peter's teaching experience at the Fuling Education College and his life and anecdotes in town. Interwoven into Peter's diary are descriptions of local landmarks and customs. This book is by far the most passionate and yet accurate and objective account written any foreigners. Peter really does possess a keen sense of his surroundings. Throughout his crisp, interesting prose and attention to details, the Chinese 'laobaixing' (common people) become alive as if we are actually interacting with them.
I am in awe of how far Peter has gone in making meticulous observations of the Chinese culture and its people. A lot of what he mentions in this book is often overlooked by foreigners.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsFrom a Chinese point of view
By Rui Zhu on February 12, 2001
Format: Hardcover
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!
2 Comments 100 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsAn honest, engaging, amusing portrait of contemporary China
By Elisabeth W. Movius on September 20, 2002
Format: Paperback
Modern China is a place ripe with ironies, and among the greatest of them is them is that the Chinese have no sense of irony. It takes an understanding outsider to appreciate these ironic idiosyncracies that Chinese themselves are so oblivious to, and a gifted and sensative writer to portray them without resorting to caricature or mockery.
River Town is the most honest and insightful portrayal I have read of China in the late 1990s. Although it takes a small town in Sichuan as its focus, most of Hessler's astute observations are applicable to the rest the country, from metropolis to village. The book is not so much a travelogue as a 'socialogue'.
Personally, having lived elsewhere in China during the same periods that the book describes in Fuling, I found myself nodding in agreement throughout the book, and laughing aloud in many a section. Hessler's characterizations, both of China and of how a Westerner changes after a few years in China, are dead on.
River Town is the best book available for getting a sense of what China is like, on the most basic level, and explains why we who live here simultaneously love and despise the place. If you are an old China Hand, you will love this book. If you are a total novice to the subject, you couldn't find a more accurate and enjoyable introduction.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVery engrossing...the best book I've read in awhile
By A Customer on February 20, 2002
Format: Paperback
As a young Chinese-American who has traveled in China, River Town has quickly become one of my favorite books. Peter Hessler is both thoughtful and descriptive of his experiences as a PCV in China. I especially loved the parts of the book in which he talked about his students...he really brings them to life. It's easy to see that they changed his life as much as he impacted theirs.
I also found Hessler's acclimation to his environment particularly fascinating. His reactions to new and sometimes delicate cultural situations reflects his laidback attitude, but is also telling of how willing he was to be apart of Fuling culture and society. He is also brutally honest, even with his own shortcomings in the face of his new experiences.
It's true, he does come to the book with a Westerner's perspective, but then again, what do you expect? His love for China, however, and his willingness to engage the people in Fuling...to take on a Chinese identity, speaks louder than any detached political analysis could. He simply writes about his reflections, and I appreciate the honesty.
I plan to give this book to all my friends who have moved to and travelled in China. It's definitely one of the best books I have read in a loooong time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAwesome writing and amazing insight about China

I read this when I was in China on the Yangtze. Awesome writing and amazing insight about China.

Published 18 days ago by Scott W. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great book

Published 1 month ago by Mark Edward
4.0 out of 5 starsReally liked this book

Really liked this book. I am going to China this week partly because of this book. I love to learn about cultures and this book was very in depth review of his time in China... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Joanne Baker
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful perspective

Having recently traveled on the Yangtze, I wish I had read this book before I went. But then again, I think it may mean more now that I have had the first visit to China. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Georgia Elle
4.0 out of 5 starsAfter taking a 3-day river cruise on the Yangtze, ...

After taking a 3-day river cruise on the Yangtze, this book really was fascinating I'm not sure I would have cared to be in the Peace Corps there however. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Kenneth W. Craw, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

So many great insights about Sichuan city life that still hold true

Published 3 months ago by Christopher Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars"An Epic"

Everyone in our book group loved "River Town"!
I learned so much about China, particularly where PH was in the peace corps and how much he learned in the 2 yrs... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Mabel Gerquest
5.0 out of 5 starsBest of a strong group

I read all of Peter Hessler's books and New Yorker articles (and look forward to reading his middle eastern books when published). Read more

Published 4 months ago by J Risner
5.0 out of 5 starsA Total Surprise

By far the best book I've read this year — and a total surprise. Brilliantly and beautifully written, funny, insightful, poignant, heartwarming, account of the author's two years... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Ann Sherwin
4.0 out of 5 starsGoing with the flow

This memoir does indeed take you to the river, and drop you in the water. The prose is slow and meandering, winding its way through the author's years in China. Read more

Published 5 months ago by 1Tun

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