River Town

Two Years on the Yangtze

By: Peter Hessler

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society.

Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

©2006 Peter Hessler (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Hessler's writing is lovely. His observations are evocative, insightful, and often poignant--and just as often, funny. It's a pleasure to read of his (mis)adventures. Hessler returned to the U.S. with a new perspective on modern China and its people. After reading River Town, you'll have one, too." (Amazon.com review)

Fascinating account!

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the descriptions of the people and the culture from the perspective of an American living several years in China.

Great Read

Where does River Town rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 5!

What other book might you compare River Town to and why?

Oracle Bones- by the same author

Which scene was your favorite?

When Peter is running in the races!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Some parts brought me close to tears

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book, although I really liked Oracle Bones better (just a little bit).

Incredible book, which works very well on audible

Peter Hessler does a great job sharing his poignant but funny experiences as an English teacher in the mid 1990s in Fuling, China. I’m a big fan of his writing in The New Yorker but actually think this book is more human and rich.

Honest, fun, cultural insights into China

The author brought me right into his experience at that time in China. He learned the language, spent time with the people and came to appreciate the culture. It's an honest account, mistakes included. Very thoughtful.
If you have been overseas for things other than tourism, it may bring you back to your time there and revive many old memories, as it did for me.
Though China is big and different all over, the insight in this book should be a must read before any trip there. I would love to go someday, but feel in some way that I already have through his descriptive and contemplative writing.
If you want to relate more to Chinese American in your life, this would be a great starting point for conversation with them.

Transcendental

I was born and raised in China, and I read Chinese version when I was in a Chinese high school. I have been always a big fan of Peter Hessler. For me, listening to the stories in this audiobook felt strangely familiar, because I almost felt the same as Peter Hessler when I went back home. The book was written with a distinctly American perspective but also with “Chinese characteristics”, which made the book so authentic and so emotionally touching.

After thirty years of Reform and Opening, many things have changed, and many things haven’t. As a young Chinese, I was so familiar with propaganda that Hessler’s attitude to propaganda bothered me at the beginning. However, I also realized how much materials had been censored that the Chinese version wasn’t political at all comparing to the original version. It felt like reading an irrelevant book sometimes, with so many “extra” political jokes and comments. I laughed out loud so many times when I was driving on freeway, listening to the deleted narrative quietly.

Peter Hessler was an outsider, but he had made great efforts to understand China. He didn’t simply limit himself to criticize China and the political system endlessly. He could have easily done so, like so many people who wrote books on China. He didn’t. He looked deeply into the way of Chinese life. His comments on every aspect of Fuling’s life were profound, and yet funny.

After two years living in the US, I found his experience in Fuling so relevant. As I am still trying to get used to the “American way of life”, it’s very helpful to know that an American had struggled as me, trying to make sense of the world in front of us.

At the end of the book, he revealed his respect to the strengths and diligence of Chinese people after two years in a remote, underdeveloped city located in western China. I still remembered that in the epilogue of the Chinese version, he went back to Fuling again, and he couldn’t find his way to the college because the city had been sculptured by urbanization and economic development so profoundly, as well as the rest of China.

Time has changed, the city has changed, but the river is still the same as it has been.

I could listen to better Hessler's books incessant

this provides an at times comic, sometimes poignant portrait of modern day China in the from about 2005-10. I especially loved his tales from the small mountain village where he had a ramshackle weekend home.

Great inside look into China!

What did you like about this audiobook?

I liked this book because it made you really see Peter's life in Fuling.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

I am currently living in Chengdu, China which is also in the Sichuan Province. I can relate to a lot Peter of what went through.

The Real China

Late '90s China through the eyes of an intelligent, thoughtful and disciplined Peace Corp volunteer who taught college English in Fu-Ling, China for 2 years. Never boring. Learned much about Chinese culture and the fears that keep it's people submissive and psychologically imprisoned.. We may all be a bit "imprisoned," but listening to this book made me grateful for our open society in its never ending search for solid truth.

Peter Berkrot Again?

Having lived in China for 16 years, I am an avid fan of Hessler's work, and have hard copies of all three books as well as the audiobooks. However, I prefer Audiobooks, because of my lifestyle. What I don't understand is why Hessler would allow Berkrot to read his books. The books are all 5-Star, but Berkrot is a lousy choice for books filled with Chinese characters and Chinese words. I recognize that I am biased because I live in China and know when Chinese is being butchered, and I recognize that the cringes I have to deal with at every other word are partially my problem. I guess my collection of Audible books with Chinese topics and themes would probably rival any other collector's, so I consider myself a knowledgeable critic on this subject. The pity of it is, while Hessler's hardbacks are on my top shelf, Berkrot is, hands down, the "worst" narrator for Chinese-themed books that I have listened to - nobody butchers like Berkrot. Hessler has spent so much time in China - why would he want someone to read his book that does such a poor job with Chinese names and words? I hope Hessler is reading these, as I'm sure he'll keep writing about China, and I hope he can find someone who can at least get, say 5% of the pronunciations in the realm of acceptable. If Berkrot "must" read your work, tell him its "Bei "J"ing. It has a "J" because it sounds the same as John or Jeff. Would Berkrot say Zhohn and Zheff??

Wish the author had narrated it himself

great story but need a narrator who speaks Chinese. pronunciation of Chinese words was terrible. AND the narration of Chinese people speaking English was done in what sounds like a Boston/Brooklyn accent.