He argues that the stories about the country reported in the West are typically superficial, “like splashes of foam on the surface of a massive sea change.” The narrative of Hessler’s own experiences in China begins in May 1999, when the news reaches China that the country’s embassy in Belgrade has been bombed by American planes. Hessler sets out his goal: to describe what is happening in China in a deep and measured way. Reviewers have hailed Oracle Bones as one of the most informative pieces of English-language writing on contemporary China: “Everyone in the Western world should read this book” ( Publishers’ Weekly). These chapters allow Hessler to explore Chinese history and some of the contentious contemporary debates about that history. Woven into this narrative are 13 chapters about the “oracle bones” used by Shang dynasty diviners in the second millennium B.C. The book attempts to provide an overview of contemporary China by recounting Hessler’s experiences in the country and those of some of the people he has met there. Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present is a 2006 work of travel journalism by Peter Hessler, the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker magazine.
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