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Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China (平装)
by John Pomfret
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
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¥ 148.00
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Publishers Weekly, USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
Pomfret's first sojourn in China came as an American exchange student at Nanjing University in 1981, near the outset of China's limited reopening to the West and its halting, chaotic and momentous conversion from Maoist totalitarianism to police state capitalism and status as world economic giant. Over the next two decades, he returned twice as a professional journalist and was an eyewitness to the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Pomfret's enthusiasm and personal access make this an engaging examination of three tumultuous decades, rooted in the stories of classmates whose remarkable grit and harrowing experiences neatly epitomize the sexual and cultural transformations, and the economic ups and downs, of China since the 1960s. At the same time, Pomfret draws on intimate conversations and personal diaries to paint idiosyncratic portraits with a vivid, literary flair. Viewing China's version of capitalism as an anomoly, and focused overwhelmingly within its national borders, the book's lack of a greater critical context will be limiting for some. But Pomfret's palpable and pithy first-hand depiction of the New China offers a swift, elucidating introduction to its awesome energies and troubling contradictions. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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Diana (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
John Pomfret has written an insightful, thoughtful and interesting memoir of life as he knew it in China. This is a 'must read' for anyone interested in exploring the Chinese culture and the demands of everyday life in the People's Republic. |
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Sui Li (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
I got John Pomfret's "Chinese Lessons" as a Christmas gift. I could not keep my hands off it from the first moment I saw the picture on its cover. I read it day and night. I was so much intrigued by it, as the stories John Pomfret told reminded me of my childhood in Beijing and evoked my echo as an immigrant in the US.
As China becomes a rising economy star in the world, there are many books about China now. But "Chinese Lesson" is the one that is based on solid life experience and true stories of the classmates, combining the author's rich knowledge of Chinese culture. For those who want to know China not only about how to hand in business cards, how to toast at a business dinner table, etc, but also truly want to understand how China becomes as of today and how the Chinese people and culture have benn evolving, this book is a good source of background information.
At the age a few years younger than John Pomfret, I was raised up in Beijing, and moved to the US about 11 years ago. My personal expreience in China in some way is very similar to John's classmates. When reading his book, I just felt Little Guan, Book Idiot Zhou, Big Bluffer Ye, Old Xu, and DayBreak Song, are so real that I could match someone I know to each of them. On the other side, I also surprised and happy to know John, as an American, bridged the cultural gap so well and developed such in depth understanding to Chinese history and culture, especially considering back to the time he got into China when foreigners were viewed as monsters in most of Chinese cities.
I really enjoyed reading "Chinese Lessons" and appreciate very
much that John Pomfret has provided unique insight to China from a new angle, which very few people has the experience or the opportunity to view. I wish John Pomfret could have more outstanding works like "Chinese Lessons" in the near future. |
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Scott W. Galer (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
Pomfret's engaging prose and fascinating stories make this a quick and interesting read. The book appealed equally to me, as a China specialist who began traveling and studying in China just a few years after Pomfret did, and my wife, who has never been to China. |
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Proud american (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
This is a must read. I just came back from one year in China and his observations are right on the money for the current situation in China. He put things clearly, and it is not a difficult read- I couldn't put it down. |
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Bert (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
This is an excellent book, written by someone who has lived many years in China, married a Chinese wife, yet remains objectively concise in analyzing China's unique approach to business, cultural, and personal relationships. As we become ever more intertwined with Asian, and especially Chinese influences, this book is critical to our understanding and to merging our national interests with China's interests. |
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Alan Millner (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
A Fascinating look at China from the cultural revolution to the present, as seen through the eyes of five classmates of the Western author. The pain, perseverance, and power of these stories comes through in ways seldom revealed by personal contacts or histories. A thought provoking read. |
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John (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
A five star book. To most westerners, China is a huge enigma and this book sheds light on what is happening in China today. Most westerners have some idea of the horrors of the cultural revolution but may not understand how it permeated the lives of most of the educated Chinese. This book tells those stories and how these five classmates of his have fared,and about how new China works today. His personal story is also very interesting. |
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Francia R. Stowell (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
It doesn't happen often that I truly cannot bear to start the last chapter, much less turn the last page, of a book but 'Chinese Lessons' had a grip on me that still won't let go. What a story! I stayed up half the night to finish it and then read parts again.
This is a great book and that is not something I ever say lightly. Pomfret's fine-honed skills as a reporter are everywhere in evidence, as well as the depth of research that stands behind his observations and the conclusions he draws from them. He is a wonderfully gifted writer and has the ability to create multiple personalities and whole scenes with an economy of descriptive and effective words. His love of China is coupled with the objective eye of the true reporter and, there again, the professional shows, but unobtrusively. The thing I love most of all is the many ways in which Pomfret is able to teach his readers without any condescension whatsoever while, at the same time, revealing himself as a colorful, strong and fragile man. He is intimate with us and yet ever more impressive.
After working in Shanghai twice in the '80s I am now not at all sure I want to return to the China of Big Bluffer Ye but I treasure the memories I have even more and feel I have learned more from 'Chinese Lessons' than I would have absorbed in a lifetime of living there. This book is a never-to-be-forgotten work of brilliant reporting, stirring (and often funny) personal history, and true art. A Standing Ovation for John Pomfret! |
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Zhong Y. Liu (MSL quote), USA
<2008-01-07 00:00>
When John Pomfret found the rampant prostitution on his third trip to China in 1990s, he looked back at his observations in early 1980s, and realized that Chinese people had been deprived of sexuality for decades under Mao. Women were hiding their gender identity by wearing clothes and making hair fashions similar to man. There were no make-ups or little decorations like earrings. No feminine curves were displayed publicly. From back ward or even lateral view it was hard to tell people's gender difference. Sexual desires were prohibited to display publicly. Husband and wives were denied the right of living together when they worked in different locations far apart. Prostitution were cleansed thoroughly. That is "where we have come from" as one of his roommates, Book Idiot Joe believes we need to know. Small wonder that when the door suddenly opened to the outside world after Mao's death, sexual suppression rebounded into ubiquitous promiscuity.
But the rebound was not limited to Asexuality. John Pomfret noticed that the number of Christians increased from one million in 1949 up to 60 millions today. This was an example of rebound from Atheism. Rebound involves almost all the new prosperity; for example, countless luxurious restaurants have opened up with a strong renaissance of traditional cuisine everywhere. This is but a small part of rebound from Asceticism. Actually rebound from the Three Big A endured by Chinese for three decades under Mao has made China's stunning and unprecedented growth possible.
So China's rise came when the Cultural Revolution ended after Mao's death; this was not a matter of fortuity but inevitability. This is also what we are learning from John Pomfret's "Chinese Lessons." |
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