The author probes many different aspects, ways of life, and the inhabitants of this large, complex country. Now they are buying cars, using high-speed rail, educating their children at university (sometimes outside Chin This is a highly interesting account of China at the beginning of the 21st century. Thirty years before this book was written the main concern for most people was getting food on the table. What comes through on every page is the extraordinary changes that have occurred in China. This is a highly interesting account of China at the beginning of the 21st century. I would love to hear what more Chinese readers think of the book - I'm sure that translations are/will make their way to the curious. While his own politics appear clear-he comes across as a pragmatic liberal-he presents competing beliefs, at least beyond the official Party line, in an insightful, unobstructed manner. Osnos does an above-average job of balancing between the biases of various sides: the domestic and Western media, Chinese liberals and conservatives, etc. For those who haven't read Hessler and want a more personal, street-level insight into contemporary China, I suggest the entire trilogy, preferably in chronological order. While I loved reading Hessler on China for all the adventure and insights into the working class he provides, Osnos excels at analyzing the grand themes and intellectual debates that China observers engage in. For those fellow Hessler enthusiasts, you'll find Osnos by comparison in book length to be similar to his longform journalism: more macro-inclined, focused on bigger issues and mover-shaker types, less personal and comical. Many of us were partly inspired to visit China because of Peter Hessler's “River Town”, and a 'Hessler versus Osnos' debate made for common conversation. I lived in China from 2007 to 2011 and, like many aspiring Western 'half-pats' in China, learned a great deal about my surrounds from reading the reportage and books of Evan Osnos, Peter Hessler (his predecessor as the New Yorker's Beijing correspondent) and others. Osnos did a good job of weaving together the characters and themes that he explores-built around the triad of fortune, truth and faith-capturing the way that prosperity and development co-exist with political dissent and spiritual exploration. I lived in China from 2007 to 2011 and, like many aspiring Western 'half-pats' in China, learned a great deal about my surr This book, more so than any other I've read on China, best captures the country's current situation, challenges and contradictions. This book, more so than any other I've read on China, best captures the country's current situation, challenges and contradictions. 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.more 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? 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. What we don't see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.Īs 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. As the Beijing correspo 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. 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.
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