Oracle Bones tells its engaging and compelling story through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. The author himself is a Westerner living as a journalist in Beijing; the narrative tracks his story along with that of Polat, a trader and member of a forgotten ethnic minority, who moves to the West in search of fortune; William Jefferson Foster, who grew up in an illiterate village; Anne, a migrant factory worker in a city without a past; and Chen Mengjia, a mysterious scholar of an ancient writing form known as oracle bones, a man whose reputation has slipped into obscurity since his suicide in the 1960s. All of them are migrants, emigrants, or wanderers who find themselves far from home, their lives dramatically changed by historical forces they are struggling to understand. Hessler excavates the past in search of meaning, but his intimate approach puts a remarkable human face on the history he uncovers. We discover with him not only where the great, influential cultures of East and West intersect, but also how people create meaning out of chaotic world events.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'A remarkable travelogue documenting aspects of a country still little understood' -- Kirkus Reviews 20060301 'Hessler gets the stories that no one talks about and delivers them in a personal study that informs, entertains, and mesmerizes. Everyone in the Western world should read this book' -- Publisher's Weekly 20060227 Praise for River Town: 20060227 'Written with great clarity and affection, River Town should be read by anyone with an interest in finding the Chinese less inscrutable' -- The Times 20060227 'Hessler's account superbly captures the spirit of a country in which he is an invader, albeit welcomed, understanding rather than merely describing it and, with consummate skill and literary style, bringing it alive in all its mesmerising complexity' -- Sunday Times 20060227 'To come across a Westerner patient enough and tolerant enough to try and understand the immense, exasperating and ultimately lovable entity that is China is always a pleasure. To encounter one that is as literate and sensitive as Peter Hessler is a joy' -- Simon Winchester 20060227 'Studded with insight and humility, written with unshowy elegance, River Town is about ways of seeing' -- Daily Telegraph 20060227 'A brilliant tapestry of ancient and modern China' -- Spectator 20060624 'Valuable for its necklace of vignettes -- poignant, comic, and weird' -- Jonathan Mirsky, Literary Review 20050501 'He ranges widely and, in doing so, illustrates how Chinese history accumulates' -- Mick Herron, Geographical Magazine 20060601 '[An] extraordinary survey of contemporary China!really quite unforgettable' -- The Observer 20060820
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 38 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 235 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-7195-6442-0 (9780719564420)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Peter Hessler is a graduate of Princeton and Oxford. Raised in the United States, he now lives in China where he is the Beijing correspondent of the New Yorker. He has also written for Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal and the Asian Wall Street Journal.
