A review by finlaaaay
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
4.0
This novel is written in what's apparently called a "Mosaic" style - it seems to be a collection of short stories, but they're ordered and they interlock in various ways. Actually it's pretty similar to "Trainspotting" in that structure, but I was a little confused by it at first.
The book shows great imagination about a possible future in which China is by far the dominant culture, influencing a Maoist socialist revolution in the US. And most of it rings true - it is still a possible future, despite the intervening twenty-something years since the writing of the book. I was struck how the various experiences of being a minority are depicted realistically - especially that of being gay in an authoritarian society.
It's always a fear of mine when reading gay male characters written by women that they won't capture the experience well enough - I've been noticing this a lot with Japanese BL manga recently. But McHugh captures it perfectly, and as the introduction points out, Zhang is a quite unapologetically gay character without that being the sum total of his character. I grew to like him in the novel despite his flaws.
The book shows great imagination about a possible future in which China is by far the dominant culture, influencing a Maoist socialist revolution in the US. And most of it rings true - it is still a possible future, despite the intervening twenty-something years since the writing of the book. I was struck how the various experiences of being a minority are depicted realistically - especially that of being gay in an authoritarian society.
It's always a fear of mine when reading gay male characters written by women that they won't capture the experience well enough - I've been noticing this a lot with Japanese BL manga recently. But McHugh captures it perfectly, and as the introduction points out, Zhang is a quite unapologetically gay character without that being the sum total of his character. I grew to like him in the novel despite his flaws.