Jonathan Franzen comments on his visit to China here on the New Yorker.com. His visit to China was prompted by his characteristic writerly curiosity but also dovetailed with his well-documented obsession with birds. He had a plastic toy puffin that had become somewhat of a beloved object around the house, that was, like most plastic chotchkes, made in China, and decided to visit the birthplace of this bird. What he found there among birding aficionados and factory owners both confirmed and counfounded his beliefs about China: polluted, dynamic, chaotic, exciting, and utterly bewildering.The audio interview started out being rather cringe-worthy, more due to the reporter's completely puerile volley of questions than Jonathan Franzen's responses. "Are there environmentalists in China? and do they take a different form?" What, like beady-eyed hobgoblins?? Franzen rather fairly answered that the key point to remember about the pollution in China is that the Chinese are the primary sufferers of its drastic environmental calamities, and America--or American greed--is entirely complicit.
One thing he said really resonated with me, and that was the palpable perception that global node of excitement had passed from America to China. "Back in the 80s, when I was reading Don DeLillo, and being in supermodern areas in the US, when the Simpsons came on and the sophistication and irony, and that sense of excitement--it's that excitement that's in China now. It does feel new to see the lethargy and the tiredness of the United States in contrast..." He even described New York as a "staid" place, which, based on my recent visit, I must say I agree with.
That said, though, it still remains inexplicable me as to why the New Yorker chose Franzen, chronicler of quintessential Americana, to answer questions on social issues such as the Olympic torch relay. Yet he was incredibly open-minded and even-handed about the Chinese condition, even from his limited view as a foreign visitor. He talked about the necessity of a country long mired in destitution to jumpstart itself into development, and also to contend with the coming demographic crunch. It was refreshing to hear a fair-minded and balanced voice on China from an American author, given the often hysterical pitch of Western reportage.
