Age of Ambition

Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

De: Evan Osnos

Narrado por: Evan Osnos, George Backman

National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2014

A vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation.

From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy - or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don’t see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.

As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals - fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture - consider themselves "angry youth", dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?

Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail.

©2014 Evan Osnos (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker (2005-2010) has written an outstanding book covering the political, economic, and cultural aspects of China. Narrating his own work is a wonderful addition as his command of Mandarin and in-depth knowledge of the country are apparent. Observations and interviews are crisp and timely whether the subject is a billionaire online matchmaker or the dissident Ai Wei Wei, who has many critical and pithy comments. Osnos's apt delivery of humor - both his own and Chinese - adds authenticity and fun. Most revealing are his observations during a European tour with a Chinese group. (He was the only non-Chinese person.) Osnos excels at getting people to open up; he then adds luster with his spirited delivery of their thoughts." (AudioFile)

Must read for anyone curious about modern China

A series of small tales that give a surprisingly amount of depth on the tale that is the evolution of modern China

Anecdotes as foundation

Osnos approaches an understanding of a tidal wave by sampling several teaspoons of seawater. As a way to get a grasp on one of the largest, fastest changes in society he uses a few choice examples. If you stick with him you will value his experience and observations. There will be an earlier point where you think it all too facile to be illuminating. The epilogue is from 2013, and it would really be great to get an update.

comprehensive reporting of diverse Chinese nation

a comprehensive explanation of life in China from various Chinese perspectives. excellent current events reporting contrasted and put in content with the nation's history

Quite bad actually

Title is my first reaction. Why?

- not much of a coherent story
- not much relevance to look at a few unique personas
- boring read: every persona will be arrested or get into trouble one way or another. There’s like 10-20 personas in the book. Not a very thrilling read obviously, in fact, rather dreadful.

Important stories from contemporary China.

What did you love best about Age of Ambition?

I've lived in China for the most recent period that Evan has been living here. He manages to go into depth on several stories that I'd had some familiarity with, but did not fully understand. He then weaves these into the general theme on the good and bad of China's rise.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the phone with special messages from the government to journalists. Every time it would buzz, rest assured hilarity would ensue.

What about Evan Osnos’s performance did you like?

Evan only reads the preface. Someone else narrates the book. This person sounds older (I think they have done other books I have listened too.) You can watch Evan's interviews on youtube and you will hear that it is not him. This is the first book (that I know of) where the narrator is not the person they say it is. It is weird because they say Evan is the narrator at the end in the audio conclusion. It would have been nice if he had narrated the whole book as he would have been more accurate with the Chinese pronunciation and the age of the voice would have better matched with the experiences he is describing.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Not available in Chinese cinemas"

Any additional comments?

Age of Ambition is now firmly established among the books on China that I will recommend to people that want to understand the place better. It will be included among books by the authors Peter Hessler and Jung Chang. Evan addresses macro points with personal stories that not only makes the material easier to retain, but also makes it hard to stop listening.

Love it. A deep understanding of the modern China.

Love the book! This author knows China quite well. It was such a great observation, analysis tells in a clear and humor way. I teared up when hearing the last story. He understands Chinese.

Excellent

Highly recommended! “Age of Ambition” taught me a great deal about modern China through a captivating narrative that weaves together the voices and stories of a range of very interesting individuals. It is certain to be a great resource for future historians of our time: the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

So-so but informative

This book definitely has some fascinating insights into modern China, but the presentation was a little scattered and not particularly compelling for me personally. Probably worth a read for people very interested in and uninformed about China. The author does a good job of tracking down a wide variety of stories that filled in some of the holes I had in my understanding of China, but few were memorable and enthralling. A number of the individual anecdotes are interesting, but the overall narrative wasn't woven together in a way that made me want to keep picking up the book. Not a bad book, not a great book.

Really interesting

Pretty good glimpse into modern China. The author tries to cover as much as he can, so sometimes it feels like it can jump around. But it has a good flow.

enlightening

If you're curious and eager to learn about China, this is a great place to start