Tag: Book Review

Martin Jacques TED Talk on China’s Economic Rise

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This is a great talk and synopsis of Martin’s fabulously well researched book “When China Rules the World” which I reviewed a couple years ago on this blog.  If you’re not up for reading the 500+ page book, this is a good way to get the gist, and it’s updated with some post-financial crisis analysis.

His fundamental argument is against the conventional thought that when a country modernises it also westernises and that we can’t use Western ideas and thoughts to frame China when attempting to make sense of it.

Book Review: Twilight in the Forbidden City

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It’s hard to find good books on China.  Most writings on China suffer from the author just not having lived there long enough.  The Chinese culture really can’t be skimmed – you have to marinate in it.  For a long time.  The language barrier can be very real, and while modern China has a feeling of openness and transparency that eminates from the coastal cities and it’s younger working class, the real China lays hidden behing many layers that most foreigners just can’t get through.

Twilight in the Forbidden City was written by a Scottish academic named Reginal Fleming Johnston who was appointed as Imperial Tutor to the last Chinese emperor, Puyi.  Johnston spent thirty-two years in China, from 1898 to 1930, and wrote this incredible account of his time with the Dragon Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who he tutored for five years from the time the boy was 13.

This is an important book as it provides a very rare glimpse into the very secretive court life of China.  It was written and published prior to the Communist takeover in China and therefore sits squarely in one of the most tumultuous periods of Chinese history, without the benefit of hindsight.  Through it all, Johnston provides remarkable opinions on the issues of the day via his brilliant writing style.

Johnston is often accused of being a monarchist, and to some extent this was true, but his belief in the Chinese monarchy was driven by three main factors: that gross mismanagement by the Empress Dowager had squandered the benefits of a strong monarchy, that millions of lives and untold suffering and chaos could have been prevented had the monarchy remained intact, and his love and respect for his pupil who he believed would someday have the necessary skills to run the country.  In short, Johnston was correct in his assessment that China has always needed a strong central government and would continue to naturally tilt towards whoever or whatever could fill that power vacuum.  In this context, why couldn’t that figurehead be the Emperer in conjunction with a democratically elected parliament or some other such body?

Quite a bit of historical context is provided at the beginning of the book and seeing as how the Chinese Imperial system has ceased to exist for a hundred years, much of it was new to me.  Considerable time is spent on explaining the complex heirarchies within the family and court structures, and the backdrop of facts that he provides is richly interspersed with criticism of the rampant corruption of the Nei Wu Fu or imperial household department.  Johnston has provided what is probably the only Western eye witness account over a period of many years and he does so with discipline and rigor, often bringing into the narrative the necessary context for the reader to truly appreciate the landscape.

The story of the last emperor is ultimately one specific instance of sadness that is personalised for us during one of the most violent and turbulent period of Chinese history. Millions perished during a period of warlords, dueling republics, civil war, and World War II. There’s no escaping this while reading through the book, and even though Johnston’s account ends prior to the Emperor heading to become a puppet ruler for the Japanese, you can sense the foreboading.  Johnston ended up leaving China prior to major Japanese hostilities and moving back to the United Kingdom.  He remained friends with Puyi even after he ascended to the throne of Manchuko which was a controversial statement of loyalty.

Johnston tells us early in his book about the unique bond in Chinese culture between student and teacher, how it is revered above almost all other commitments, and how honored he was to be brought into that relationship.  When he retired to Scotland in 1937, he bought a small island in Loch Craignish, and proceeded to cultivate a Chinese garden.  He flew the flag of Manchuko, the new kingdom of his one-time pupil.  Despite the political difficulties he was communicating by endorsing the puppet state of a British rival, Johnston believed in the character of his student.  He believed in their relationship.  He believed in China more than many Chinese of the time.

Anyone wanting to know more about Chinese history, particular those influences that still reverberate in modern China should read this book.  It’s scolarship, the quality of writing, and the personal investment in the story by the author make it a rare and delighting read, if a bit wistful.

Book Review: The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming

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Note: I’ve previously read and reviewed two other books by Charles Cumming here.

Charles Cumming is an interesting author, someone I happened to find recommended to me via Amazon.com’s engine, probably because I’ve bought books about Spain and China where two of his other books are set.  I read both these books while traveling in Europe and enjoyed his style of equally focusing on setting and story.  You really live in the environment with those books, and I had The Trinity Six on preorder after that experience.

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The Trinity Six, I’ll admit, was a little hard for me to get into.  Being an American, I just wasn’t as familiar with the Cambridge Five incident from the UK, and I often felt like you needed to really have a better grasp of the weight of that event to fully appreciate the idea that there may have been a sixth agent involved in the ring.

Cumming seems to be a student of the John le Carré school of spy fiction writing, and having never read le Carré before, he got me to download one of his books on the Kindle, which I slogged through and although I tried valiantly, I eventually lost interest.  The idea is to provide a realistic counterweight to the over-the-top James Bond tendencies you see in movies and focus more on plausible espionage plots.  In this, Cumming betters his hero (at least as far as I can tell from my admittedly small sample size).

The plot of the book is interesting – an academic finds himself hurtling along an investigation that involves Russian interest and geopolitical consequences, and the gritty scenes do the job well.  Still, I felt that Cumming almost tried to focus less on the descriptions of the scenes for the books – again perhaps because his readers in the UK would know what London is like and probably have visited Budapest and Vienna.  As a sheltered American, I need more.

All in all, I think this is a book that has merit, but hopefully the next will incorporate the setting more, something Cumming is a master at.  My last major criticism of his previous books (of using the verb “to sink” a drink) was rectified in this outing, and I like to think I had something to do with it.  Regardless, I’ll preorder his next work sight unseen.  If you like spy novels that don’t involve lunatic unrealism, The Trinity Six is a good outing and a quick read.

Book Review: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

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This book came up on Amazon as a highly recommended (for me, and by hundreds of other reviewers) title in the science fiction category.  It was billed as a gritty dystopian work set in a post-global warming apocalyptic Thailand, where man has been overrun by both his hubris towards genetically engineered crops and creatures, and his penchant for polluting the world with carbon emissions.  I bought it and was pleased with the first chapter or so, as the world was vivid and had an obvious steam-punk feel to it what with its treadle powered computers, algae baths for providing oil, and “kink springs” which provided kinetic energy to trains, cars, and factories.

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However, it seems like Bacigalupi was consistently overtaken by his own beautiful writing.  His breathtaking and vivid descriptions of Bangkok, now ringed by massive levees to beat back the rising tides of Globally Warmed oceans and plunged into a three way tug-of-war between a mysterious Queen, a greedy trade group, and a fanatical “White Shirt” regimen devoted to the ongoing sustainability of the kingdom were muddled by the absence of a clear plot.  In fact, the setting continues to sound amazing when I write this, and yet, while the characters involved become decently developed throughout the story, at the end of it all, you’re left with this overwhelming feeling of “who cares?”.  While writing this review, I read that Paolo Bacigalupi made his name writing short stories, and all of a sudden, the entire book and it’s lack of plot made perfect sense.The “windup girl” noted in the title is in fact a prostitute genetically engineered to be the perfect plaything for the pre-apocalypse rich.  Her character is probably the weakest point of the entire book.  Her wish for a world of other windups to live in beyond the walls of Bangkok is I guess the main theme of the book which earned it a comment of “It sounds just like the movie A.I.” when I was describing it to a friend.  At first I fought this comparison but in the end, it fits remarkably well.  Another friend mentioned that someone he knew had read the book and had initially disliked it, only to think about it for several months and then proclaim that “it was one of the best books of the year.”  We can all check back here in the fall, but I doubt I’ll change my opinion.Interesting (fascinating, even) world, wonderful writing, no plot.  At least no plot that we care about, and it certainly isn’t resolved in any way.  Maybe this novel is designed to be a cautionary tale, but even then it seems to be nothing more than a rehash of a whole host of dire predictions, movies, and warnings from radical environmental groups.  All in all, the book was extremely hard to get through despite it’s beautifully designed cover illustration and I’d recommend staying away.

Book Review: The Confession by John Grisham

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Grisham’s books have this familiar quality to them and even though I think The Firm and A Time to Kill stand head and shoulders above his other more recent books, I generally pick up his latest and find it enjoyable.  One of his most unusual works is the non-fiction Innocent Man that he released in 2006 and which was quite an aberration from his normal writings.  An extremely depressing mostly because it very well researched, it detailed the wrongful murder conviction (and eventual exoneration) of a white high school athlete from Oklahoma.  Despite the exoneration, the entire process left the innocent suspect mentally damaged from his decades in prison.Innocent Man had to have been one of Grisham’s least popular books.  It clearly showed the numerous problems we have and continue to have with the application of the death penalty in the United States.   This case in particular was devoid of any kind of racial bias that seems to lend a distracting slant to death penalty discussions in America.  In short: I’m sure many judged this book by its cover, and passed it over.The Confession seems to be Grisham’s way of getting everyone who ignored The Innocent Man to hear his message.  It’s fiction and it’s hard to tell from the title that it deals with the death penalty.  The parallels between the stories are strong: high school athlete, white girl victim, incompetent prosecutor, incompetent judge, the story takes place in red states that pride themselves on their use of the death penalty, and key evidence is provided by corrupt witnesses.Even though this book is essentially a fictional rehashing of a previous work, I found myself admiring Grisham’s guts.  He believes that the death penalty is a problem.  He’s lent his name to two books to this effect.  He wants to persuade you, and he’s probably just pissed off a majority of his readers, including those who tried to avoid his last book.Whether or not you agree with the death penalty, you should read one of these books as they’re great food for though.  My advice?  Read Innocent Man. You’ll wish it was fiction.

Double Book Review: Typhoon and The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming

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I’m reviewing both of these books together because I read them back to back, and because I think the merits and weaknesses I felt applied to both books.  Both of these titles had been on my wishlist for quite some time after being recommended to me by Amazon, and I finally snagged both of them to read on the iPad while we were in Europe over the holidays.  The themes seemed interesting and they were both set overseas: Typhoon in Hong Kong / China and The Spanish Game in Madrid.

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I read both of these books after Tom Clancy’s latest, and in contrast to that disappointment Charles Cumming does a relatively great job with character development, setting the scene, and with the dialog of his characters.  Overall, I enjoyed these books.  Cumming is billed by his publisher as the next John Le Carre who I’ve never read (but now have on the reading list) and while I can’t speak to that comparison yet, I’d say that he is definitely in the category of “enjoyable read.” Both books are set in cultures that were obviously very well researched and visited by the author.  I’ve read very few spy related or thriller style books that deal almost exclusively in a foreign setting to the point where it becomes believable, and to his credit, Charles Cumming immerses the reader in the surroundings.  His use of street names, location names, food descriptions, smells, and general cultural accuracy are admirable and only at times a little overwhelming.  He could definitely have included some maps, particularly for Shanghai and Hong Kong, but the story in general didn’t suffer much for lack of supporting material.  All in all, he managed to distill two complex cultures down into an authentic description, a task that other authors seem to really struggle with or at least willfully gloss over.

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 My main criticism of these books was that both plots generally hung on very subtle motivations and plot points, not all of which were entirely believable.  While this sounds bad when I write it, it probably makes for a much more believable or gritty book, and I’m fairly sure that Cumming is out for a more realistic story with great dialog.  There’s not a lot of action in these books, although when there is in The Spanish Game he does a masterful job of really helping the reader experience what the character is going through.  The author certainly spent considerable time setting up, rewriting, and investing in polishing the dialog in these books – it’s where his strength is and its where most of the action takes place.  These aren’t tactical thrillers for armchair storm troopers. Supposedly, the author was approached about being an agent in MI6 and regardless if that is true, most of the spy craft feels very believable, at least to my untrained eye.  I was annoyed that the only adjective that seems to be used to describe drinking alcohol is “sinking the drink” and in both books there is a LOT of drinking, so it got old pretty fast.  I didn’t feel particularly attached to the character in Typhoon but The Spanish Game did a great job investing me in the character.  

Typhoon had closure at the ending, The Spanish Game did not but I think this point and the previous issue with character attachment were functions of Typhoon being a one-off story and The Spanish Game being a continuation. The bottom line – if you enjoy books about spies and enjoy feeling immersed in a foreign culture, these books are for you.  Less action than Clancy, more believable than Grisham, great dialog, and a breath of fresh air are what you can expect even if the plots leave a little to be desired.

Country Driving – A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory

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I first heard about Peter Hessler’s book “Oracle Bones” from my mom.  She was reading through it and enjoying it immensely, and she recommended it profusely.  I promptly ignored her for a year, until I managed to read a corroborating review from somewhere.  I picked up both of his books at the time, “River Town” and “Oracle Bones”, and the more I read of them, the more I was both annoyed and delighted.  Delighted because the books are some of the best  from a foreign author regarding modern China, and annoyed because I had always dreamed of someday writing a book about my experiences, and I realized that Hessler had, well, written the book I wanted to write.  So much for that (and sorry mom!).I should note that before reading Hessler, I had almost zero interest in the travel literature genre, but he helped interest me in several other books by the likes of Paul Theroux (Riding the Iron Rooster) and even several Chinese authors such as Ma Jian or Gao Xingjian.Hessler also writes for the New Yorker, and while I was in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, he wrote a great piece for that magazine that reminded me why I enjoy his perspective so much.  I was therefore very excited when I got an email (again from my mom) telling me about his newest book, “Country Driving”, which again focuses on modern China and it’s rapid industrialization.While “River Town” was set in the mid to late nineties, and “Oracle Bones” in the early 2000s, “Country Driving” is set in a span from roughly 2002 through 2008.  It’s divided into three sections, one details his trip by car along the Great Wall, one focuses on rural living in a town outside of Beijing, and the last takes place in a booming Special Economic Zone in Southern China.Hessler is unique among most journalists covering China in that he speaks fluent Chinese (this was essentially a matter of survival while spending two years as one of two foreigners in a Chinese city), and that he both appreciates the context of China (history, literature, politics) and the people.  Culturally, there is much that can be mocked about China, and many foreigners focus on these nits that differentiate China from the West to their own detriment, and one of the things I like most about Hessler’s writing is he manages to poke fun at some of the more amusing aspects while still maintaining a deep respect for the country and its people.  He also manages to not romanticize China’s poverty or lament it’s rapid modernization like many foreign observers tend to do, instead, he strikes an engaging balance of description, context, humor and human interest.For a glimpse into China’s complexities from a richly personal point of view, I recommend any of Hessler’s books.  To appreciate how rapid China’s rise has been since the mid nineties, read all three in order.  There is no other author today who writes as well or as thoughtfully about China.

Book Review: When China Rules the World

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Reading is one of my favorite things to do, and it’s become harder and harder to make time for books over the last few years.  However, over Christmas I was given Martin Jacques’ book  “When China Rules the World” and I read most of it on the six flights we took over the holidays.This is an extremely important book, in that I feel Martin accurately distills and describes a few integral pieces of China and the Chinese mindset that are almost universally missed by Western commentators.  These pieces, when placed in the proper context can often combine to explain the more (to Western eyes) puzzling questions about China, events that happen within China, and China’s reactions to external pressures.One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book is that the author is a master at providing historical context and to illustrate and reinforce his ideas.  With a history as long as China’s this isn’t a small task, but he accurately makes the point that few nations are as cognizant of their history and traditions as China.  Ignoring thousands of years of constant cultural development leads to gross misunderstanding, and is something that is all too easy to do from a Western perspective that’s driven by the acceptance of a Western order that is really only three centuries old.Jacques begins his book with the relevant facts of how China will most likely overtake the US as the largest economy in the world by 2027, and focuses on the central question of the book: What will a modern world dominated by China look like?  The prevailing thought of most attention paid to China is that capitalism, free markets, and Western style economies inevitably echo Western values of freedom, human rights, democracy, and culture.  In other words, free trade begets free societies.  Not necessarily so in China.This misguided belief that a swing towards Western style freedom and government is inevitable is a key miscalculation that negatively affects US foreign policy and undermines true understanding of China and the rest of East Asia.Reasons for China not following the Western model of modernism coalesce around different set of values.  In China, unity and stability is a key value that is reinforced by the strong, hierarchical family unit, the universal acceptance of Confucian thought, and the reality that China is a civilization-state, not a nation state.  The Chinese desire of unity explains the tolerance of the “one state, two systems” approach to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and even within the numerous special economic zones found within the country.  This type of duality is almost inconceivable to the West.  Stability is valued highly due to China’s  experiences with turmoil during its history (estimations of 25 million dead during Manchu invasion, 50 million dead during Taiping rebellion, and as many as another 50 million dead during World War II and the ensuing Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution), and it’s long experience with a strong central government and its emphasis on a Confucian trained and tested government bureaucracy.  Stability, therefore, is enough of a priority that the Chinese are content with a system that values the group over the individual.History teaches us that the Chinese civilization has never wavered in it’s attitude of superiority towards outsiders.  Indeed, even when conquered by external invaders, which happened often throughout history, the invading groups (Mongols, Manchus) forsook their own identities and adopted Chinese customs, dress, and language while moving their capitals and governments to China.  Today there is an overwhelming sense among the Chinese that China is finally regaining it’s rightful place in the world as the Middle Kingdom.  Most forget that in the 1800s, the Chinese standard of living was slightly higher per capita than that of Europe.  England had a strong navy and easy access to coal close to its urban centers, China did not.  A crippled and weak end of the Qing dynasty, the Japanese invasion, World War II and the disastrous effects of Communism contributed to a net decrease in China’s GDP between 1820 and 1950.The idea that modernism must revolve around the Western model is rejected by the examination of how little modernity has affected Chinese politics.  China has always had a strong central government that was paternalistic in nature and was bound to the collective well being of society.  This is unlike Western governments, which have evolved to the point where they exist as a utilitarian entity in exchange for popular support.Jacques also spends significant time exploring the reasons behind the current Chinese policies towards trade, it’s own citizen’s freedom, and it’s long term goals.  In the light of the many historical and political contributing factors, it’s much easier to understand China’s currency peg (which hurts China more than it hurts the US), it’s continuing support for US debt, and it’s aggressive stance towards opening its own markets.  According to Deng Xiaoping, two things must remain for China to lift its population from poverty: domestic stability and international peace.  Seventy-five percent of China’s economy is accounted for by international trade of some sort, and while this may decrease as China continues to diversify, this is an unprecedented level for a country that is so large.  This precarious balance between its economy and the implicit social bargain (like all Confucian states have) to its citizenry for future standard of living improvement are the key drivers to China’s behavior.This book isn’t without its faults.  Jacques, like the good Marxist he is, glosses over the disastrous effects of Communism for China’s people and its economy.  Like many intelligentsia (Thomas Friedman and almost any other environmentalist) , he finds himself almost in awe of the incredible power that the Chinese Communist Party has to command policies that he wishes or wants to see implemented.  His exploration of China’s tributary system and it’s possible resurgence in the future is incomplete as it doesn’t resonate well with the Western reader.  Some of the book’s information is outdated or at least could have been updated, and some of the statistics feel as though they’ve been cherry picked.  There also doesn’t seem to be enough credit given to the remarkable lever of capitalism: lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in just thirty years is nothing short of a miracle.While the overall message of the book is that China will not become the US or a prototypical Western nation-state, this doesn’t mean that the China of today will exactly mirror the China of tomorrow.  It does mean that we shouldn’t prescribe the Western template to China, and should remain mindful of the powerful historical currents that remain in full force for China.