China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power

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China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power (eBook) Pub. Date: 10/12/2011 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
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China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power Pub. Date: 8/28/1995 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
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China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power Pub. Date: 8/30/1994 Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

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Overview

The definitive book on China's uneasy transformation into an economic and political superpower by two Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporters. An insightful and thought-provoking analysis of daily life in China, China Wakes is an exemplary work of reportage. 16 pages of photos.

A definitive book on China's rise to economic and political power by the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters of The New York Times. Taking readers inside the world's largest country at a time of seismic change, Kristof and WuDunn encapsulate in human terms the exhilarating and terrifying paradoxes of China today. Photos throughout.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In one of the best books on contemporary China, Kristoff and WuDunn ponder a central paradox: an explosion of wealth and entrepreneurship in the world's third biggest economy (after the U.S. and Japan) flourishes under a repressive, authoritarian regime. This husband-and-wife team, Pulitzer Prize-winning Beijing correspondents for the New York Times from 1988 to 1993, take us from the Xinjiang region in China's far west, where an Islamic revival threatens Party rule, to occupied Tibet seething with hatred for the Chinese overlords. They report on widespread alienation from the government, massive rural poverty, rampant bribery and corruption, increasing discrimination against women in the workplace, routine abduction and trafficking in women and children. The authors also perceive ``the embryo of a civil society'' emerging that may one day undermine the dictatorship. WuDunn, who is Chinese-American, writes of her sometimes frustrating search for her native identity in a regimented society pervaded by a ``culture of silence.'' Photos. Author tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

This thought-provoking analysis of daily life in China is the first book to rival Fox Butterfield's China: Alive in the Bitter Sea (LJ 4/15/82). All the authors are New York Times correspondents, but while Butterfield did five years of graduate work in Asian studies, Kristof graduated from law school and WuDunn has an MBA and a master's degree in public administration. As a result, they analyze China in terms of its progress in the areas of civil rights and business. The authors argue that today's leaders are remarkably similar to those of past dynasties but that, given their entrepreneurial energy, Chinese people are living better now than ever before. In interviews with many different types of people, Kristof and WuDunn (who won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on the Tiananmen Square massacre) observe that Chinese society is changing slowly in the face of much blatant injustice. On a positive note, they see China as a nation that is beginning to appreciate the benefits of law over imperial rule. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/94.]-Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780679763932
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date: 8/28/1995
Edition number: 1
Pages: 528
Sales rank: 335,310
Series: Vintage Series
Product dimensions: 5.26 (w) x 7.89 (h) x 1.05 (d)

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Anonymous

Posted August 20, 2002

Good but be careful

I must admit this book was quite amazing, and gave wonderful insight into the Chinese psyche and the problems in modern China. The analgie of the Communist Party to the Old Dynasties is quite insightful into Chinese culture. However while this is an excellent, its not the book for someone who knows little of China. Much of this book concentrates on the terrible hardships and injustices the people endure. While they are no to be ignored, they must be understood. One should have a basic knowledge of CHina and its culture before reading this, lest you be left with a bad impression of the country and its people. A good starting point would be 'Understandig CHina' published in 2001 an fairly comprehensive it is a quick and easy read, with lots of important bits on China's history and culture, where the people are today and where they are going--a good primer for anyone intrested in China with little knowledge of the people. Its also makes for a good read for any Sinophile out there.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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MontePair

Posted March 27, 2012

If you really want to understand China, This stream of conscious

If you really want to understand China, This stream of consciousness rambling by the author is not your best choice. I have read perhaps 100 books about life, people, history and culture in China and this one had absolutely nothing to add to one's knowledge. You are getting more opinion than in-depth analysis and the opinions offered seemed to be based on nothing except the fact that the author has been to China. To understand the modern history of China, a good start would be Wild Swans by Jung Chang, a captivating, never boring, and extremely well written book, exceeded perhaps only by her well documented and excellent biography of Mao Zedong. Additionally there are dozens of excellent books on the Cultural Revolution, both fiction and non-fiction. If you want to read a boring and non-informative book, then this is the one. Jonathan Spence has written several extremely informative books, all somewhat tedious, more like a college history textbook. Anyone who masters Spence's general history books on China will acquire a substantial knowledge of the country and its history/culture, but prepare to be bored. At least you can learn from Spence. I do not recommend his biography of Mao. which is overly summarized, unlike the extremely detailed nature of most of his books.
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Anonymous

Posted June 1, 2000

An Enduring Analysis of China

Kristoff and WuDunn have managed to collect a series of fascinating stories and vignettes from China which capture the essence of the nation. Though the book is now five years old, I have just reordered it for my China course at the University of South Florida. No use making students read something which is dull and less informative than this volume. Don't be put off too much by the pessimistic tone of the authors in the first half of the book. There is lots wrong with communist China. But the second half is more up-beat, and they end on an optimistic note.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted May 17, 2000

This Book Is a Gem

I emigrated from China when I was fourteen. In the twenty years or so of being in the US I've never found another book on the subject of modern China as insightful and heart-warming as 'China Wakes'. The strength of the book lies in the interviews, account after account, that the authors conducted not only in the 'tourist spots' but also in the remote regions. My years of growing up there confirm their stories, if not in substance, at least in spirit. Their conclusions, always carefully disclaimed as personal and not absolute (which add to, rather than detract from, the authors' authenticity), are both logical and even-handed. I found myself respecting the author's opinions, even when in a few instances when I disagreed with them. If there were anything which may make this book less well-accepted, I think it would be the lack of academic psycho-babbles which so proliferates in the literary and journalistic elite. But for the rest of us who haven't mastered the art of obfuscation, this book is a gem.

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