Out West Books’ late summer reading suggestions look toward China

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends three titles that delve into history and changing roles in Chinese society.

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From the publisher: An intimate and revelatory eyewitness account of two generations of students in China’s heartland, chronicling a country in the midst of tumultuous change through the prism of its education system. More than 20 years after teaching English to China’s first boom generation at a small college in Sichuan Province, Peter Hessler returned to Sichuan to teach the next generation. At the same time, Hessler and his wife enrolled their twin daughters in a local state-run elementary school, where they were the only Westerners in a student body of about two thousand. As both a window onto China and a distant mirror onto America and its own education system, “Other Rivers” is a classic, a book of tremendous value and compelling human interest.

From Marya Johnston, owner:  I read Peter Hessler’s “River Town” about his years as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher, a good five years before I found myself living in this area of China myself.  So, some of the things that might be culture shock for some people, I’d read about. This is what reading does: it prepares you for the world. 

Hessler’s new book compares the time he spent teaching in “River Town” (1996 in Fuling, near Chongqing), to teaching students at Sichuan University in Chengdu in 2019. Then, in the early days of the reform, students were mostly from farming families and first generation college students.  Later, most students were from cities (by 2011 China’s population was a majority urban) and from families that had been lifted out of poverty.  

I loved the first hand “then and now”  experiences in this book, which were even different from my time there.  Added bonus:  National Book Award finalist Hessler lives in Ridgeway.

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From the publisher: The scandalous story of the corruption of the Bo Xilai family — the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood; Bo’s secret lovers; the secret maneuverings of Bo’s supporters; the hasty trial and sentencing of Gu Kailai, Bo’s wife — was just the first rumble of a seismic power struggle that continues to rock the very foundation of China’s all-powerful Communist Party. By the time it is over, the machinations in Beijing and throughout the country that began with Bo’s fall could affect China’s economic development and disrupt the world’s political and economic order.

From Marya Johnston, owner: A couple of days ago, my daughter texted me and asked me if I knew about this book. (Yes, I had read it!) She’d just heard about it on a murder podcast.  I lived in China during the time of this incident (2011) and the whole seedy drama was so interesting to follow (on the VPN, of course). Our residency in China ,2008-2013, was a time my husband and I often compared to the “Wild West.”  Everyone knew government officials were corrupt, everyone knew the police were ineffective and probably on the take, but it was exciting to be there during that time of Wen Jiabao’s great reform, as it was a period of huge change in Sichuan and China. 

When we first arrived, most people were riding bikes and there were few English speakers. When we left, few people were riding bikes anymore and every 6 year old knew some smattering of English. Bo Xilai was a product of this time, his rise to power in the Politburo, China’s ruling council, and CCP Committee Secretary of Chongqing was the result of nepotism, backroom deals, extortion and bribery. 

When his chief of police showed up at the American Consulate in Chengdu, claiming Bo and his wife had conspired to murder an English businessman, it seemed like everyone in Chengdu knew within minutes. We were abuzz. I’ve always felt that this incident marked a big turning point in Chinese politics.  So much so, that when Xi Jinping took the reins in 2012, he made government corruption one of his top priorities…. Probably as a result of this sordid affair.  This book spills all the tea on all the Chinese government shenanigans of the day.  You don’t have to be interested in China or Chinese politics to enjoy the dirt so well dished.  A great read.

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From the publisher: According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From Marya Johnston, owner:  Though this book is based on the real life Tan Yunxian, a female doctor in 1400s China (that’s right, I said the 1400s!), at its core, this is a story about women.  How they support each other, how they can undermine each other, how they cultivate lasting, deep friendships.     

You will be captivated from the start of this book, as Yunxian sees her mother die from complications of foot binding. Lisa See can absolutely and effectively relate the horrors and pain of foot binding, which was practiced for a millennium in China. Raised by her doctor grandparents, Yunxian befriends the midwife’s daughter, Meiling, and it is this class difference between the two that plays out through the book.

Though Yuxian is privileged, an arranged marriage and bound feet make her a caged bird. Meiling, on the other hand, is a much more free woman. This begs the question even now, do women who are “haves” really have it better?  This is a great read!

Type of Story: Review

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