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doubleeph's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating look INSIDE China...the things you dont get to see from the outside by someone who lived there
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
This was another interesting book on China.
This book touched more on the economic factors, culture, and how those two intersect.
Found it pretty interesting.
Not a ton of new realizations to me, but still interesting.
3.9/5
This book touched more on the economic factors, culture, and how those two intersect.
Found it pretty interesting.
Not a ton of new realizations to me, but still interesting.
3.9/5
rhyslindmark's review against another edition
2.0
I mostly skimmed this, so don't fully trust my rating.
This book felt dated. I lived in China in 2014. It is now 2021.
Too much of the book focused on the rise of China from 2000-2014, much of which is common knowledge now.
I also wasn't interested in the personal stories. That's not really my preferred way to consume macro geopolitical content.
This book felt dated. I lived in China in 2014. It is now 2021.
Too much of the book focused on the rise of China from 2000-2014, much of which is common knowledge now.
I also wasn't interested in the personal stories. That's not really my preferred way to consume macro geopolitical content.
teriboop's review
4.0
Age of Ambition is a very readable commentary on modern communist China. Osnos spent 8 years in China writing for The New Yorker. During his time he met some interesting characters and saw first hand changes in China during a new age of technology. His premise is that there is a great collision going on between the authoritarian government and the aspiration of the individual. Osnos touches on political, social, and economic changes and how they affect every individual living in China today. Osnos' writing is entertaining, taking a subject that could certainly be dry and boring and making it a worthwhile read.
This was an enlightening read and one that makes me appreciate the country I live in, despite the current political pandemonium. Yet, I'm interested in learning more about China and visiting some day. I'm sure there are more changes in China yet to come.
This was an enlightening read and one that makes me appreciate the country I live in, despite the current political pandemonium. Yet, I'm interested in learning more about China and visiting some day. I'm sure there are more changes in China yet to come.
mkesten's review against another edition
4.0
This afternoon on the Internet I saw the launch of China’s second super aircraft carrier, a massive, beautiful beast. It put me in mind of the lessons of Great Leap Liu, a character in Evan Osnos’ book who built China’s massive high speed railways in record time before being fingered as one of China’s most corrupt public officials.
I look at the picture of that aircraft carrier and wonder what the size of the graft is that lurks beneath the hull of that mega-monster ship.
Because China today as when Evan Osnos wrote this book some years ago is still mired in the privilege of the elites and huge corruption even as its storied growth slows to mere epic levels.
Osnos’ book tries but in my opinion does not quite convey the entrepreneurial zest of 21st century China, nor the massive political capital the authoritarian regime has created in a mere two generations.
Rather he focuses on it’s soft underbelly and insecurities.
When I think of my own country Canada I see three centuries of scraping the countryside of its treasures and negligible influence on the world stage.
What few people will acknowledge today is that Mao’s slaughter of millions in China due to incompetent gov’t set the stage for a massive comeback using virtually slave labour to rob the West of its wealth under its own nose.
Nixon played the “China card” to push the Soviet Union into irrelevance not realizing that unleashing the Asian tiger would also be America’s undoing.
Osnos seems to think that the Chinese state needs a better rudder than the Communist Leadership can offer now or ever, and he may have a point.
When I think of a state with so many cities of 20 million or more souls, enormous environmental challenges, the aging workforce, the imperative for growth, I can barely comprehend the pressures on this government.
I look at the picture of that aircraft carrier and wonder what the size of the graft is that lurks beneath the hull of that mega-monster ship.
Because China today as when Evan Osnos wrote this book some years ago is still mired in the privilege of the elites and huge corruption even as its storied growth slows to mere epic levels.
Osnos’ book tries but in my opinion does not quite convey the entrepreneurial zest of 21st century China, nor the massive political capital the authoritarian regime has created in a mere two generations.
Rather he focuses on it’s soft underbelly and insecurities.
When I think of my own country Canada I see three centuries of scraping the countryside of its treasures and negligible influence on the world stage.
What few people will acknowledge today is that Mao’s slaughter of millions in China due to incompetent gov’t set the stage for a massive comeback using virtually slave labour to rob the West of its wealth under its own nose.
Nixon played the “China card” to push the Soviet Union into irrelevance not realizing that unleashing the Asian tiger would also be America’s undoing.
Osnos seems to think that the Chinese state needs a better rudder than the Communist Leadership can offer now or ever, and he may have a point.
When I think of a state with so many cities of 20 million or more souls, enormous environmental challenges, the aging workforce, the imperative for growth, I can barely comprehend the pressures on this government.
nelsta's review against another edition
5.0
I spent several months looking for a book that could accurately describe to me what is happening in China. I didn’t have Evan Osnos’ narrative in mind until I stumbled across it on a bookshelf. After perusing the first few pages, I was hooked. This book is a wonderful description of the three things people are searching for in the “New China:” Fortune, Truth, and Faith. Mr. Osnos’ arguments are compelling and masterfully written. He combines fact with anecdote in such a way that it often felt like I was reading a memoir instead of an explanation of Chinese politics, culture, and religion.
I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in what life is like in China. This exposé is simple enough for the layman to understand and complex enough for the experienced to pick it apart and enjoy the hidden treasures.
I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in what life is like in China. This exposé is simple enough for the layman to understand and complex enough for the experienced to pick it apart and enjoy the hidden treasures.
fresherome's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
glowe2's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Pulitizer Prize nominated book which looks at the changes in Chinese culture that occured during the shift to more of a free market economy. The author interviewed multiple people during his stay in China and highlights people who were able to use their talents to become financially successful in addition to the oppression the Communist political system put on people who were artists, critics or reformers.
China's growth to the second largest economy in the world came very rapidly and in some ways, mirrored American experiences except in a condensed time frame and in an instant media world. Their revolution was economics, they have their own gilded age where corruption and political patronage is common and the short cuts human beings take in pursuit of profits which results in deaths of individuals. Particularly poignant is the section where an earthquake causes poorly built schools to collapse and kill dozens of children but China surpresses news account of the event and won't even count the number of people killed.
China's growth to the second largest economy in the world came very rapidly and in some ways, mirrored American experiences except in a condensed time frame and in an instant media world. Their revolution was economics, they have their own gilded age where corruption and political patronage is common and the short cuts human beings take in pursuit of profits which results in deaths of individuals. Particularly poignant is the section where an earthquake causes poorly built schools to collapse and kill dozens of children but China surpresses news account of the event and won't even count the number of people killed.