Country Driving

A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory

By: Peter Hessler

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

From the best-selling author of Oracle Bones and River Town comes the final book in his award-winning trilogy, on the human side of the economic revolution in China.

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China. Hessler writes movingly of the average people - farmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurs - who have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history.

Country Driving begins with Hessler's 7,000-mile trip across northern China, following the Great Wall, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau. He investigates a historically important rural region being abandoned, as young people migrate to jobs in the southeast.

Next, Hessler spends six years in Sancha, a small farming village in the mountains north of Beijing, which changes dramatically after the local road is paved and the capital's auto boom brings new tourism.

Finally, he turns his attention to urban China, researching development over a period of more than two years in Lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new government-built expressway will transform a farm region into a major industrial center.

Peter Hessler, whom The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the Western world's most thoughtful writers on modern China", deftly illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a traditionally rural nation that, having once built walls against foreigners, is now building roads and factory towns that look to the outside world.

©2010 Peter Hessler (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best yet from Peter Hessler, whose two earlier books, River Town and Oracle Bones, were exemplary forays into the genre. . . . Told with his characteristic blend of empathy, insight, and self-deprecating humor." ( Time)

"[A]n utterly enjoyable guide, with a humane and empathetic eye for the ambitions, the failures, and the comedy of a country in which everybody, it seems, is on the move, and no one is quite sure of the rules." (Amazon.com review)

"Peter Hessler is a fine tour guide for the new China, a writer who is capable of tossing aside the country’s (deplorable) maps and admitting: 'In China, it’s not such a terrible thing to be lost, because nobody else knows exactly where they’re going, either.'....It’s not merely that Mr. Hessler convinces us that the Chinese, being new to driving, are simply awful at it. He makes the additional, and delightful, case that perhaps no other people 'take such joy in driving badly.'" ( The New York Times)

Thoroughly enjoyable look at a growing nation!

I couldn't put it down! Truly enjoyed this authors writing and work!

Great listen even if you don't have an interest in automotive topics.

Never drive in China!

After being driven (but not driving ourselves) in China a year ago, I found this book fascinating. It brought back lots of memories and explained some of the regional differences in driving style and etiquette we observed. The only problem is that audiobooks don't have maps!

Hilariously bad narrator

This seems to be a typical Peter Hessler book; it's a meandering, well-researched and well-written examination of a quickly transforming nation. Sometimes I wish the trajectory the book travels was a bit straighter, but overall, I respect the author's design and intentions.

However, the narrator was ridiculous! I can't tell if he enhances the book by adding unintentional humor, or if he completely derails it. All of his renderings of the Chinese people quoted in the book make it sound like they are born-and-bred New Yorkers, and possibly chain-smoking New Yorkers. (I suppose born-and-bred New Yorkers might disagree with me — this is an opinion of someone not from there.) Still, I wish the publisher had hired someone who is more familiar with Chinese accents, and who could have reproduced subtle and diverse voices for the many different people featured in this book.

Better and more interesting than I thought

I had read reviews about the reader and was anticipating some badly pronounced Chinese and weird accents. I have studied Chinese so I didn't know how I would like this. While it was true that the author didn't seem to even have the least bit of preparation in pinyin, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Also, while all the Chinese characters have accents, some of the accents are not so noticeable. For the most part, while the reader is speaking English, he is very entertaining and great charisma.

As far as the content, I think that this is a great introduction about China and I've learned a lot about things that I probably wouldn't have been able to learn anywhere else. For example, I've learned weird details about geography, about rural village life, laws, and a lot about the transportation system and the auto industry. I don't feel as much of a pull to listen as for a novel, but that is how nonfiction tends to be. After finishing this book, I think that I'd like to listen to his other books about China as well.

Haunting

I would have given this book 5 stars if not for the narrator. The material is extremely interesting, and a real page-turner, which is not common in non-fiction writing. The choice of voice actor however is inappropriate, and took a lot of determination for me to get over and keep going with the book anyway. I really had to grit my teeth for this one - impersonal, sounds like he's giving a generic sales pitch, not reading a personal and engrossing sociological account. I now want to read all of Peter Hessler's books, but the narrator holds me back.

educational entertainment at it's finest

Peter Hessler did a phonominal job of combining a great story with facts. Country Driving is a narrative of Hessler's life in the country side of rural China, describing his adventures, and he introduces the people he met while there. His descriptive build on those individual characters caused his readers to want to know more.

After reading (listening to) this book, you will find yourself much more aware of the Chinese traditions and cultural norms of the time the book was written. Without even realizing it, you will have learned so much and been entered while gaining that valuable education.

amazing view into China!

We got this to listen to while in China for a couple weeks. it was fascinating to hear about some quirk (to our eyes) while seeing first hand. it really made the trip stand out! I highly recommend this book, thanks Mr. Hessler!

The Best Book I have read in a long time

This is a charming account of modern day Chinese life, warts and all. Great reading for young and old. This should be required in schools. You can't go wrong with this one for yourself or as a gift.

a whole lot of detail

Hessler takes us close up to a wide range of situations he "ran into" during his years in China. While the close up stories are rich in detail, don't expect to fully understand China after listening to the entire book.

people of china > nation of china

i recently completed an 18 mo. term at a university
the large home i lived in housed other doctors and teachers
while there, i met a young business law professor from china

as the time came for me to leave, he recommended a book
he said it was " a truthful introduction " to the people of china
peter hessler's book more than lives up to that assessment

hessler's fearless life in china gives him a unique authority
he drives their roads, eats their food and lives in their villages
his rugged resilience is rewarded with their kindness and insight

at this point, even the chinese don't believe in communism
they will, in time, throw off the corrupt shell of party bureaucracy
at that point, we'll see the true character of the chinese people

peter hessler's book is an honest preview to that moment