***WARNING*** This is a reading journal rather than a review, so it will be riddled with unmarked spoilers. You have been warned. China Mountain -- Zhang:- So far, Zhang is nothing like I expected, neither the character nor the book. I expected a cyber-punky action thriller, and it may still become that, but this first chapter offers no signs that a change is going to come. At this point it is a study of two characters: Zhang and San-xiang; the former is our gay half-ABC (American Born Chinese)

These are the slices of "normal" life that I like. Usually when I read non sci-fi literature relating to the human condition and pieces of everyday life, is either too much like what I see all the time and I am bored or I can't actually relate at all. For some reason the blend with clearly fantastical backdrops give me enough interest or wonder to keep me engaged.China Mountain Zhang is really just a glimpse of an everyday life, someone who is trying to figure out where he fits in the world, alo...

I have been hearing about China Mountain Zhang on Goodreads for so long that I finally decided to break down and read it. China Mountain Zhang is famous for being the debut novel of Maureen McHugh that was nominated for many of the most prestigious awards in speculative fiction: the 1992 Hugo Award, the 1993 Nebula award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel (1993), the James Tiptree, Jr. Award(1993), and the Lambda Literary Award (1993).China Mountain Zhang is also well-known for its unusual st...

I find it challenging to pinpoint exactly why this book is so remarkable, especially because the plot is not its strength, and I find that's what most people are looking for in a book (I see that many of the lukewarm reviews point to this). Part of my admiration is for the richness of the language. For a 300 pager, the language was dense enough to make me feel I was reading something epic (i.e. longer), and I found myself slowing down to savor every bit. There's no padding . . . every single wor...

This book is one of those that sneak into your high regard. It's not flashy or sensational, it's just very real. The author has the knack of writing characters you care about. All the various subplots weave together, touching at points. You find that you care deeply about what happens to each of them, and the story of their struggles, their loves, and their accomplishments makes really good reading. The world is extremely well-built and realistic. I totally do think China will be the world's mai...

I have complicated feelings about this book. It’s something I’ve meaning to read for a while so, um, thank you pandemic? And while I was reading it, I was pretty enamoured of it—that kind of disconnected-but-maybe-connected-oh-how-does-it-fit-together-what-does-it-mean structure really really tickles my pickles. I was disproportionately into Cloud Atlas for the same reasons, although that is much more aggressively constructed than this – since the chapters not directly following the protagonist

McHugh told a story in the gaps between her words, about people who live in the gaps. A heartbreaking, compassionate, imaginative story that reminds us that people are people, no matter how far into the future, or from home we get, and that exhorts us to remember that unity is not the same as similarity.CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ extreme homophobia, rather explicit rape, suicide, loss of a loved one, racism, vehicle crashes, pretty extensive medical scenes. (hide spoiler)]Things to love:-...

The GR-default cover (red & black, vibe of a pyramid) is much better than the mm pb I read (military vibe). This is not an adventure, much less a military one. It is world-building, it is philosophy, it is character development and interaction. How does one young man, a gay "half-breed," stumble up from being an ordinary construction worker to being a professor of organic engineering? From being uncomfortable with his identity to realizing that he can bring beauty and joy to the worlds?I do reco...

I really enjoyed this book. I started it without knowing anything about it, and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a dystopian set in a distant future where China is the dominant power in the world, and humans have also begun to colonize Mars. The story starts off in New York, but we visit a few other places, including China and Mars. There are multiple POV characters, but we spend the most time with the titular character, Zhang Zhong Shan. His name means “China Mountain”, which explains the title...

DNF after 75 pages. There was zero action and the interactions between the characters had a trite YA quality to them. I put the book down for a couple of days, after 45 pages, to see if a change in mood would help but it didn't. I was engaged in a few other reads and wanted to get back to those.

China Mountain Zhang is an impressive work, well deserving of its Hugo and Nebula nominations and its Tiptree and Lambda awards. Thoughtful, precise writing and Zhang’s fully developed characterization make this a stand-out read, with only overall structure and the subject of one point of view preventing me from awarding a full five stars.Setting is thoughtfully built; information about society is shared indirectly through character experience. China appears to be the dominant world power after

if the plot had been half as interesting as the characters were, or the world they inhabit is, this book would have been fantastic. as it is, only so-so.basic concept summary: china has come out on top of the political/ideological dogpile, so the world is a (mostly) socialist sino-centric place. the good schools, the quality jobs, the big money, and all the envy & prestige are gazing toward china. enter zhang, who's chinese/hispanic - his parents had him gene spliced as a kiddo to look purely as...

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.“Dao ke dao, fei chang dao” = “The way that can be spoken is not the way” (page 220).This simple aphorism exemplifies the tone of this novel. Lots of things left unsaid, but at the same time, because of that, conveying lots of meaning.I’ve just finished this astonishing novel and I’m still trying to deal how it made feel.One of the things that impressed me the most was McHugh’s refusal to let her secondary characters remain two dimensi...

3.75/5In the 22nd century, China has replaced America as the world’s dominant political, economic and cultural capital, following a political revolution in America that has displaced its capitalistic economy and brought in an era of socialism.It is an immensely well-imagined and portrayed account of a plausible future where China takes precedence over the States – the latter becomes akin to a third-world dump following a financial crisis, while China rises in economic importance, and consequentl...

When I was reading China Mountain Zhang, I was enthralled by the authenticity of the characters, the believability of their words and actions, and the credibility of the future that McHugh envisions. It was thoughtfully and elegantly written. I truly felt for, and felt with, the characters. I didn't have to suspend disbelief as the storyline was so plausible. It was easy to read. Not "easy" like Shoots and Ladders is easy to play, but easy in the way a beautiful painting (or a beautiful woman) i...

A lovely, subtle, humane, intelligent, sensitively detailed novel about the interior lives of a diverse and deeply interesting cast of characters. There were moments of incredible pathos and humanity, and a wonderful sense of self-discovery that flowed through the narrative. In its best moments, it deeply moved me.

Loved it, I think I’m even going to have put this in my top-10 list of favourite sci-fi novels. I can’t believe this was written almost 30 years ago. It felt so current and eerily plausible in many ways. In essence, it’s a book about ordinary people just trying to get by in a tightly regimented socialist society. It describes an 'alternative future' in which the world is dominated by communist China, after the USA has undergone a proletarian revolution. Parts of the USA have become inhabitable f...

The brilliance of China Mountain Zhang lies in the lack of complexity of this well drawn near future world. McHugh delivers on a slice of life journey with some very smart and clever extrapolations on the ordinariness of life. This book is a scifi version of humorless but culturally observant Seinfeld. The mundane becomes fascinating in this novel where nothing much happens. McHugh puts us on a life journey with "everymen" who are unmistakably human. (view spoiler)[Rafael Zhang is your average J...

I feel pretty confident in saying that this is the best book you've never read. I had the joy of discovering this book when it first came out, almost a decade and a half later, I still feel it is one of the best SF novels I've ever read. The novel is made up of several stories loosely intertwined.McHugh draws upon her experiences living in China to craft future in which China has become the dominant power, and America has been reduced to a third-world country controlled by China. Chinese-born Ch...

This book is one that's brilliant on multiple levels, but first, you have to manage your expectations. What do I mean?This came out in 1990 but it resembles the more modern trend of literary SF in that most of the focus is on characterization and social interactions but in my opinion, it is superior to those because McHugh's wild worldbuilding is detailed, pervasive, and devoted to a fundamental conclusion. Or several conclusions. Interesting ones. In this respect, it's more like Samuel Delany's...