[UPDATE]The book wins 2014 National Book Award in nonfiction category. Well deserved. I have lived in the States for nearly two decades and I have seen American understanding of China increasing by leaps and bounds, but still when I read books or articles written by Westerners about China, they tend to depict China in one huge brush stroke, either China is an economic miracle bent in world domination or China is a dictatorship society thrives in crushing human rights.
What a delighted surprise to read Evan Osnos wonderfully written book. In the prologue, the author mentioned he had lived in China for eight years and it shows in the book. The author does all the usual China observers do: marvels at its economic progress and questions its neglect of human rights and one-party dictatorship. But what sets the book apart is its detailed and nuanced depiction of individual Chinese: former World Bank Chief Economist Lin Yifu, dating website Jiayuan founder Gong Hainan, blogger Han Han, artist Ai Weiwei, human right activist Chen Guangcheng, Crazy English follower Zhang Ziming (Michael), Hong Kong gambler Siu Yun-ping, publisher Hu Shuli, nationalist web blogger Tang Jie, railway official Liu Zhijun, the list goes on, from big shots to small potatoes. The author told life stories of these people in the backdrop of China’s economy and China’s political system. And growing up in China under Communist rules myself, I can relate to these stories and I feel the author understands Chinese way of thinking and sometimes he speaks from a Chinese viewpoint. From the book I assume the author can speak Chinese very well. Yet he is also able to pullback from his subjects and narrates the stories from an outsider American viewpoint, and his analogy of China today to American Gilded Age really struck a chord with both Chinese people and westerners, as validated by rave review it received from Washington Post.
One of the three best non-fiction books about China I have read. The other two: The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor and Red Star over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism by Edgar Snow.
Thursday, November 06, 2014
Book Review: Age of Ambition, Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith In the New China by Evan Osnos (ISBN 9780374280741)
[UPDATE]The book wins 2014 National Book Award in nonfiction category. Well deserved. I have lived in the States for nearly two decades and I have seen American understanding of China increasing by leaps and bounds, but still when I read books or articles written by Westerners about China, they tend to depict China in one huge brush stroke, either China is an economic miracle bent in world domination or China is a dictatorship society thrives in crushing human rights.
What a delighted surprise to read Evan Osnos wonderfully written book. In the prologue, the author mentioned he had lived in China for eight years and it shows in the book. The author does all the usual China observers do: marvels at its economic progress and questions its neglect of human rights and one-party dictatorship. But what sets the book apart is its detailed and nuanced depiction of individual Chinese: former World Bank Chief Economist Lin Yifu, dating website Jiayuan founder Gong Hainan, blogger Han Han, artist Ai Weiwei, human right activist Chen Guangcheng, Crazy English follower Zhang Ziming (Michael), Hong Kong gambler Siu Yun-ping, publisher Hu Shuli, nationalist web blogger Tang Jie, railway official Liu Zhijun, the list goes on, from big shots to small potatoes. The author told life stories of these people in the backdrop of China’s economy and China’s political system. And growing up in China under Communist rules myself, I can relate to these stories and I feel the author understands Chinese way of thinking and sometimes he speaks from a Chinese viewpoint. From the book I assume the author can speak Chinese very well. Yet he is also able to pullback from his subjects and narrates the stories from an outsider American viewpoint, and his analogy of China today to American Gilded Age really struck a chord with both Chinese people and westerners, as validated by rave review it received from Washington Post.
One of the three best non-fiction books about China I have read. The other two: The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor and Red Star over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism by Edgar Snow.
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