7.8 /10 1 Votes7.8
Language English Pages 313 pp OCLC 24670648 Country United States of America | 3.9/5 Goodreads Publication date March 1992 ISBN 0-312-85271-1 Originally published March 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Genres Fiction, Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction Awards James Tiptree Jr. Award Similar Maureen F McHugh books, James Tiptree Jr Award winners, Science Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China mountain zhang by maureen f mchugh review
China Mountain Zhang is a 1992 novel by science fiction author Maureen F. McHugh. The novel is made up of several stories loosely intertwined.
Contents
- China mountain zhang by maureen f mchugh review
- Title
- Plot summary
- Connections to other works
- Awards and nominations
- References
Title
The novel's title derives from the name of the protagonist, a young gay man of mixed Chinese and Puerto Rican ancestry who goes by the name Rafael Zhang in non-Chinese contexts and Zhang Zhongshan in Chinese contexts. His Chinese given name, Zhongshan, is written with the characters with primary meanings "center" and "mountain"; the Mandarin name for China also begins with the character meaning "center" or "middle". Thus, "China Mountain" is an alternate reading of his Chinese given name. (Zhongshan is also one of the given names used by Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen.)
Plot summary
The main story involves a man's maturation in a future dominated by China, where the United States has undergone a Communist revolution (the "Cleansing Winds Campaign") after a period of economic crisis. His personal evolution is paralleled by four side stories in his narrative, following characters progressing from arrogant outsiders to finding a place in society. These stories never fully interconnect in the normal manner of a novel.
Connections to other works
McHugh's short story "Protection" is set in the same future history as China Mountain Zhang, detailing the experiences of a petty criminal in a "Reform Through Labor" camp in Kansas under the future Communist system.
Awards and nominations
The novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Nebula Award for Best Novel and won a Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.