It’s official. Peter Hessler is my new favorite writer.
Thomas L. Friedman had a good run at the top of my list, but I’ll have to pass on the baton to another journalist. This one just happens to be a travel writer (one of my dream jobs) and holds a deep love for China (as I do, though mine is still just a fascination).
I’ve read several travelogues but none of the them compare to Hessler’s two books. I read Oracle Bones during the latter half of ‘06 and it is clearly one of the best books I have ever read. In one powerful volume, we are treated to Peter’s adventures in Beijing, the lives of factory workers in Shenzhen, the tale of a Mongolian immigrant to America, and a trip back in time as told by the oracle bones and ancient palaces at Luoyang. The book is also part history and philosophy, and creates an incredibly fascinating portrait of a China caught at the crossroads. This is a book I promise myself to read at least once a year.
I have just started River Town today and I already couldn’t put it down. In this book we have a younger, more inexperienced Peter making his way through two years of teaching English at the remote town of Fuling deep in the heart of China’s Sichuan province. It is in this book where I could identify the distinguishing mark I look for in a travel writer: that in retelling their travels they not only bring to life the places they’ve been to, but the lessons they’ve learned and the growth they’ve experienced.
I have had the privilege to travel to some countries. I remember fully well the exhilaration of discovering such a wider world out there, and that is the feeling I am able to recapture by reading travelouges. The feeling of being realizing how finite your old world was and how much more infinite our experiences can be — that’s an incredible feeling to have, much more to convey. And no one does it better than Peter Hessler.
He has inspired me so much that when the time comes for me to travel and live in a different place for an extended period of time, I will be keeping a daily journal. I’ve always wanted to write my own book. I already have two concepts: My short life as a teacher will already be one subject (Confessions of a Teacher). My return to the student life but in a foreign country will be another.
[...] By that time, I begin to fall asleep. I shower off the day before I finally cozy up to a book. Lately, it has been River Town by Peter Hessler. [...]
I’ve been googling Peter Hessler ever since I read Oracle Bones and had nearly the same, amazing experience as you with that book. Hard to say what’s best about it but whatever it is, it’s really gotten to me in a way few other books have. I too picked up River Town right after and found it also to be a fantastic read. Like you, I can’t wait for his next book to come out.
[...] best!) into a new culture and place. I am also beginning my very first travel journal, thanks to Peter Hessler’s inspiration. Hopefully, I’ve written well beyond the first chapter by [...]
I’m nearly finished with his first book, “River Book” Mr. Hessler is a wonderful and amazing fellow. I thank him for writing about his life in China and also, giving us an insight as a “Waiguoren.” He is unique “Waiguoren” as he has immersed himself in the culture, people, and language. WOW.
I came across his work in The Best American Travel Writing Series a few months ago and I’m the same as you, I can’t get enough of him! His writing is truly something.and I’ve gained a better appreciation for China due to his two books.
[...] Posted on 23 August 2008 by Martin Perez 2007 introduced me to the works of Peter Hessler. His invaluable work on River Town and Oracle Bones were powerful narratives of a foreigner writing [...]
I would like to put a pair of native Chinese eyes here. I can not help to put more compliments here in spite of Martin’s good words. I appreciate very much Peter’s sympathy towards ordinary Chinese people, the “old hundred names”. I am from that country, born in that culture and clearly I am aware of the suffering and desire of Chinese people. They are the combination of some best characters in the world AND some backward habits being inherited for thousand years. Having read a lot reports on China from west media, I internally do not like those who laugh at our shortcomings while keep blind on other good ends. Maybe they work to tease western audience, but it is not smart to draw such a mutilating picture of China. Peter is the first author I read who really unloads presumptions and value norms before he writes on China.
In his “River Town”, there is a hilarious part that he creates a local guy called He Wei and plant him a complexity of characters. It reminds me my experience of living in a foreign country, where I am brand new to everyone, so I have the great freedom to create a new identity and control “him” from my higher level intelligence.
Thirdly, borrowing from a commonplace Chinese metaphor, he offers a good mirror to me and my countrymen. He reflects some dark corners of this country, both by present and in history. I am looking forward to the betterment of China with these corners cleaned up.