 |
| :Bridge Yong'an, Fujian, China Taken from Wikimedia |
Now I'm in the middle of another non-fiction book, a memoir by Da Chen, an American writer from China who has written two books about his life in China, the one I'm now reading, Sounds of the River, and an earlier book, Colors of the Mountain. The earlier book covers his early life during the Cultural Revolution, and the later one covers his college years and beyond.
Sounds of the River is very well written and interesting. China is a complex country and its people are also complex. Their relationship with communism and their increasingly close contact with the West are topics that are not as easy to pin down as Americans might think. I'm learning a lot about China.
Chen writes about how he was chosen to go to Beijing to learn English so he can help his country communicate with the West. But since he is from a little farming village in the Fujian region of China, he is definitely out of his element in the big city and must learn how to get along there. He is not out of his element at school, however, and finds that he is different from many of his classmates who have come from more privileged backgrounds. They don't think they need to work very hard at succeeding in school because of their political connections. But Chen knows he needs to do his best to surpass his more advantaged fellows, and fortunately he is capable of that, thanks to the lessons he learned at home about hard work and persistence.
Chen does a great job of describing his village, his region of China, his family members and other people who live in his neighborhood. I have no trouble visualizing all that he presents. He makes the place and the people seem quite wonderful, and that is what he is aiming for, I think.
Chen has written some fiction as well. I'd like to read more of his work in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment