Book Review: River Town by Peter Hessler

Throughout January I got a chance to do quite a bit of pleasure reading. One of these texts was River Town by Peter Hessler. After graduating with English degrees from Princeton and Oxford, Hessler traveled to Fúlíng (涪陵, "river cemetery") in central-western PRC as a Peace Corps volunteer. He soon finds himself teaching English at the local university - this book is a memoir recalling the relationships he developed from 1996-1998 and his experiences in Mainland China. Although his experiences took place nearly fifteen years ago, I did not find them dated whatsoever. If anything, it makes one think about the incredible pace at which China is modernizing, and the potential disparities between rich and poor, educated and uneducated that such rapid pragmatism often leads to. Hessler spends a great deal of time ruminating on such issues.

Hessler knew only a few Chinese phrases when he was sent to Fúlíng, and the book details the rigorous process by which he picked up the language. Additionally, he spends a lot of time discussing the local dialect's attributes in comparison with standard Mandarin. As a Chinese student, I found the book both entertaining and enlightening. Hessler is a masterful writer and journalist, probably best known for his articles as Beijing - where he has lived since 1999 - foreign correspondent for the The New York Times.

I would highly recommend River Town and Hessler's other work to fellow Chinese students and anyone interested in China. Although not short (about 400 pages) it is a compelling read; certainly one of the best "travelogues" I've read in a while.