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A review by ambershelf
Hospital by Han Song
4.0
When Yang Wei travels to C City for work, he expects nothing more than a standard business trip. But after drinking a complimentary bottle of mineral water that results in excruciating stomach pain, Wei is sent to a "hospital," where he receives no diagnosis or discharge date, just a guide to the labyrinthine medical system he's now circulating through.
Set in a future dystopia where medicine has transcended all its technological bottlenecks and can treat any disease, HOSPITAL reads like a fever dream as we follow Wei's journey of navigating the complicated medical system. The story examines fascinating medical advancements, such as gene therapy, artificial organs, stem cell treatment, and designer babies.
Apart from the futuristic sci-fi plots, Song brilliantly examines the extreme power imbalance between doctors & patients. He challenges the notion of powerful institutions (the hospital) requesting the people they serve (patients) to blindly trust their decisions without any repercussions and how that extreme power corrupts the foundations of tradition, family, and humanity.
Some parts of HOSPITAL contain quite misogynistic descriptions that may be uncomfortable for readers. I'd say from the scale of Cixin Liu to Murakami Haruki, the majority of the gender dynamic is closer to Liu, with one particular scene really pushing to the Murakami extreme.
The translator's note is extremely helpful in understanding and interpreting HOSPITAL. It actually validates some of my hypotheses while reading the book, and I'm glad it wasn't all in my head, especially when the other Goodreads reviews seem to be very different from my interpretations. Those with a better understanding of the Chinese political landscape may be able to derive more nuance from HOSPITAL. I encourage interested readers to start with the translator's note before reading the book.
HOSPITAL is a thought-provoking and unsettling book that challenges me to examine my attitude towards politics, power, and technology and how they intersect with traditions and humanity.
Thank you to Wunderkind PR for the gifted copy.
Set in a future dystopia where medicine has transcended all its technological bottlenecks and can treat any disease, HOSPITAL reads like a fever dream as we follow Wei's journey of navigating the complicated medical system. The story examines fascinating medical advancements, such as gene therapy, artificial organs, stem cell treatment, and designer babies.
Apart from the futuristic sci-fi plots, Song brilliantly examines the extreme power imbalance between doctors & patients. He challenges the notion of powerful institutions (the hospital) requesting the people they serve (patients) to blindly trust their decisions without any repercussions and how that extreme power corrupts the foundations of tradition, family, and humanity.
Some parts of HOSPITAL contain quite misogynistic descriptions that may be uncomfortable for readers. I'd say from the scale of Cixin Liu to Murakami Haruki, the majority of the gender dynamic is closer to Liu, with one particular scene really pushing to the Murakami extreme.
The translator's note is extremely helpful in understanding and interpreting HOSPITAL. It actually validates some of my hypotheses while reading the book, and I'm glad it wasn't all in my head, especially when the other Goodreads reviews seem to be very different from my interpretations. Those with a better understanding of the Chinese political landscape may be able to derive more nuance from HOSPITAL. I encourage interested readers to start with the translator's note before reading the book.
HOSPITAL is a thought-provoking and unsettling book that challenges me to examine my attitude towards politics, power, and technology and how they intersect with traditions and humanity.
Thank you to Wunderkind PR for the gifted copy.