Smoke and Mirrors An Experience of China Pallavi Aiyar 9788172238469 Books
Download As PDF : Smoke and Mirrors An Experience of China Pallavi Aiyar 9788172238469 Books
Winner of the Vodaphone Crossword Readers Choice Award 2008 by far the most well-informed and entertaining account of life in the Middle Kingdom by an Indian India Today India and China share a 3500 km border and have interacted with each other for over 2000 years. It is remarkable then that their people know so little of each other what they think, how they live, their language, customs and philosophy. Or even their cuisine. Very much the average Indian in her knowledge of China when she set out for Beijing in 2002, Pallavi Aiyar soon became intrigued by the country and its strange mix of material prosperity and authoritarianism. As she compares it with Indias experience of development, Pallavi Aiyar provides a perceptive analysis of the strengths and weakness of the process in both countries. An intimate look at a society undergoing relentless change, Smoke and Mirrors An Experience of China destroys many clichés as it opens new gateways through the Great Wall of China.
Smoke and Mirrors An Experience of China Pallavi Aiyar 9788172238469 Books
Aiyar is a reporter for an Indian newspaper who documents the new China and it's prosperity through a unique set of eyes. She writes as a native of the other fastest growing nation, and neighbor, India. But the two populous countries are as different socially as they are politically. She moves to Beijing at the dawn of the twenty-first century to teach at a trade college just as China's boom is really starting. Beijing is getting ready to host the Olympics and is as busy tearing down the old as it is building the new. Massive civil engineering and construction projects are completed quickly under China's one party rule that would never get off the ground in India's democracy and China's urban elite grow wealthier by the minute. But, at what cost? And who isn't prospering? Who pays the cost of such rapid growth? All this and more is looked at in depth in a highly readable piece of reporting.Product details
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Tags : Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China [Pallavi Aiyar] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Winner of the Vodaphone Crossword Readers Choice Award 2008 by far the most well-informed and entertaining account of life in the Middle Kingdom by an Indian India Today India and China share a 3500 km border and have interacted with each other for over 2000 years. It is remarkable then that their people know so little of each other: what they think,Pallavi Aiyar,Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China,HarperCollins,8172238460,Nonfiction Politics
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Smoke and Mirrors An Experience of China Pallavi Aiyar 9788172238469 Books Reviews
As a Chinese, I can
Good book if you want to understand understand India and China with both positive and negative sides
insightful, sensitive, balanced - I recommend for everyone to ready it, not only readers interested in China and southeast Asia!
See my name?
This is an excellent read on China, particularly from the perspective of an Indian. It is a bit dated given the speed at which China changed, but valuable nevertheless to those striving to understand the middle nation, devoid of stereotypes that usually plague foreigners.
Small and easy read. Was expecting too much after reading some rave reviews elsewhere. Obviously the reviewers were not my wavelength -). A slice of life it is;through the eyes of an Indian, who is not very observant, tries hard though. Some chapters and episodes are fascinating. I did not know much of Chinese social life and was left informed. Wanted to read a lot more on the train journey to Lhasa but felt it ended abruptly. Language is pathetic for sure, then who am I to comment on the language? All the best sellers these days in India have similar standards.
This was a great read and the author kept me interested in the content from start to finish. The book was informative, factual, entertaining and balanced with a good mix of seriousness and lighter reading. It was good on many levels actually and there were many differences that set it apart from other books of a similar nature.
Obviously her Indian background and the resultant comparisions between India and China allowed for a fresh and unique perspective, and this was a big drawcard here for me. Prior to reading this book I'd always assumed the two countries to have many parallels but the author opened my eyes to some great differences between them (and also confirmed for me other aspects which I'd assumed to be true), particularly regarding levels of poverty and differences in attitudes towards religion.
What I also really enjoyed, was that the book was written with modesty and none of the boastfulness which is prevalent in many similar "foreigner in China" books. The author didn't harp on about becoming "more and more Chinese", didn't drown the book in quotes from Confucius and others, didn't feel the need to show off her new language skills to the reader, didn't carry on as if she was the only foreigner on Chinese soil etc. I really liked how level headed she was and didn't come with any of the "China expert" ego that often tarnishes these books for me.
There was a broad variety of topics covered within the book, but not to the point of creating an ad hoc feel to it, the continuity remained. Most things you can think of related to China were covered in the book (and often cross-examined with their counterparts in India) ... politics, travel, industry, food, religion, living conditions, health etc. etc., yet the book never became too bogged down in any one aspect. You had a bit of everything here, from Christmas in Beijing, to dam projects in Yunnan, the Qinghai-Tibet railway and all in between ...
Also of appeal to me was that she didn't bore me with endless irrelevant personal tales. There was enough of her daily life and personality given to make me warm to her and have me know that I was reading a memoir not a textbook, but the main focus remained on the bigger issues she was presenting. Yes, due to the background of the author, the book did maintain somewhat of a journalistic feel but it wasn't like watching the nightly news.
I strongly recommend this one and it is by far one of the top books in this sub-genre for me.
Aiyar is a reporter for an Indian newspaper who documents the new China and it's prosperity through a unique set of eyes. She writes as a native of the other fastest growing nation, and neighbor, India. But the two populous countries are as different socially as they are politically. She moves to Beijing at the dawn of the twenty-first century to teach at a trade college just as China's boom is really starting. Beijing is getting ready to host the Olympics and is as busy tearing down the old as it is building the new. Massive civil engineering and construction projects are completed quickly under China's one party rule that would never get off the ground in India's democracy and China's urban elite grow wealthier by the minute. But, at what cost? And who isn't prospering? Who pays the cost of such rapid growth? All this and more is looked at in depth in a highly readable piece of reporting.
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