Book Review范文-《江城：长江上的两年》

www.lxws.net Book Review范文-江城：长江上的两年下面为大家整理一篇优秀的book review写作范文- River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze，供大家参考学习，这篇论文讨论了江城：长江上的两年。彼得·海斯勒是一名美国记者，于1996年参加了和平队志愿者项目，并在中国重庆涪陵待了两年，在涪陵师范学院任英语教师。回到美国后，海斯勒在他的江城:长江上的两年一书中记录了他在中国的经历。这一回应将集中在这本书的政治方面，分析海斯勒在看待中国政治时的立场。Peter Hessler took part in the Peace Corps volunteer project in 1996 and spent two years in Fuling, Chongqing in China. For his volunteer position, he taught English in Fulling Teachers College between 1996 and 1998. After returning to America, Hesseler documented his experience in China in his book River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze. This response will focus on the political aspect of the book and analysis the authors position while viewing Chinese politics.In this book, Hessler does not directly state his attitude towards the political environment in 90s China; however, the several events he described in the book has revealed his opinions. A large part of Hesselers experience about China is politics related. Especially at the beginning the book, when he was first assigned to the job, he was astonished by how greatly the city and the education system is influenced by the propaganda; he also mentioned that the name of “Peace Crops” was never mentioned by the Chinese, instead, the volunteers are called America-China Friendship Volunteers. While describing these, his tone and choice of words implied that he felt condescended at the time. The attention he and his college received made him unease, but at the same time, I do not think that he ever doubted the justification of receiving this attention.However, his attitude changed gradually after he lived for a longer time. The tone of the book grew less judgemental as Hessler had a more profound knowledge of the town. His descriptions were more objective than before. There are many other political events recorded later in the book, and those evens are not supposed to be brought up or even acknowledged by citizens in China, especially in the mainland. For instance, the Tianan Men Square protests had a huge influence in even a small town like Fuling. Hessler wrote down conversations about the protests with his college, Teacher Liao. Liao defended Li Peng (the premier of PRC at the time) aggressively, when Hessler mistook the word “bastard” for “orphan”. While Hessler did not express his judgement over this little mishap. His tone was rather declarative during the later chapters of the book.As an American, an outsider as he said, Hessler has a complicated relationship with the Chinese people. He was the rare “foreigners” that Fuling citizens saw in tens of years, and as mentioned, he received a reasonable amount of attention. He seemed to feel embarrassed by the constant stares, but on the other hand, he was very privileged in this town as a foreigner. On Hesselers side, there are three types of Chinese he encountered during the two years he worked as a volunteer, namely his students, his colleagues, and strangers he did not know personally. His students were the one he tried to change. He had the impression that they are blinded by the propaganda the Party fed them. He tried to teach them the real Shakespeare, not the one with Chinese characteristics. He saw how dangerous it is to make connection between a literary piece and the readers subjective interpretation. However, I find it to be a a fresh approach that he could have worked on as a teacher. I do not see why a reader cannot relate to a fictional character; I think that is one of the ultimate goal of literature: to make people find their place in this wide world. His colleagues are the ones he tried to observe and converse with. He learnt Chinese from other teachers and later in his stay, he managed to have some conversations with his students in their mother tongue. He found the interesting fact that whenever someone wanted to talk about a sensitive subject, they would automatically switch from English to Chinese. He realised how the political control had tainted their choice of language: they use Chinese while talking about these matters simply out of fear. The censorship had made them unable to talk freely, even in a foreign tongue that most could not understand. The last type of Chinese people Hessler met during his visit was strangers. They stared him with curiosity and they had antagonised him. These two feelings were always entwined when they saw Hessler. When he was about to leave, someone jumped out and shouted that he should not be recording a video because it is illegal. The sensitivity stayed in the crowd and the distinction between a Chinese and a foreigner was deeply rooted in their mind.After reading, I find Hessler in the position of an observer. He did not want to take a stand but he truly wanted to understand more about the entire society in China. I also find his opinions sometimes inevitably biased because he was never actually accepted by the society of China at the time; after two years of teaching, he w