Book Review: Chinese Lessons

Non-Fiction: Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China
Author: John Pomfret
Genres: Non-Fiction, Historical
Rating: 7/10

I'm not a non-fiction fan, but once I picked up John Pomfret's memoir detailing the last thirty years of Chinese history, I simply couldn't put it down. Pomfret offers a rather compelling account of the significant political and cultural change that has gripped China with the fall of imperialism, the rise of communism and the quasi-authoritarian integration of capitalism.

Pomfret starts off with his first visit to China as an international exchange student from Stanford. Imagine how the dusty, old agrarian villages must have seemed through his worldly, journalistic eyes. And his description was exactly that - workers crowded on hard-seat trains; women in shapeless uniform clothing. But such derelict beginnings was exactly what Pomfret needed to provide a powerful contrast to the growing economic powerhouse China is today. The book's impact was made through the consistent focal lens that saw China through both the bad and the good.

The focus of the book is not on Pomfret himself (though he does occasionally digress to his own experiences), but rather on the stories of five particular classmates of his. There is no point to offer a summary of each one, but I have noticed one thing in common amongst four of them - the injustice suffered by each individual through the political regime of Mao. The last classmate was portrayed as an opportunist who threw away all morals for a seat in the government.

Prejudiced? Of course. Pomfret digs a little too deep for a good story on one side of the extreme, and fails to encompass any other aspects of the culture and society of China in the 1970s-80s. His book seemed to point out that nobody could flourish during that tumoultous period of China's history without losing their dignity by working for the only thing that would allow for them to flourish - the government. The reader is encouraged to empathsize with the Chinese people; rail against the system, but ultimately remain unenlightened of the fact that the system is not Big Brother Mao - it has human faces controlled by human minds.

Definitely a book to check out if you want to get to know China on a deeper and more personal level. It brings to light many of the aspects that define Chinese culture and Chinese life. Well-written, analytical, and a a good read, even if it is a little on the biased side.

By: Annie