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_askthebookbug 's review for:
How Much of These Hills Is Gold
by C Pam Zhang
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
• r e c o m m e n d a t i o n •
This beauty of a book is @cpamzhang 's debut novel and it is in every sense a magnificent piece of work. Set during the Californian Gold Rush, this tale is about two sisters born to Chinese immigrants living in the West. It begins with death of the girls' Ba, a coal miner turned into a gold prospector. Lucy and Sam are left with the responsibility of burying his corpse and hence begins their journey across the hills in trying to find a home to lay him to rest. The girls couldn't be any different from each other, like chalk and cheese. While Lucy has a fondness for education, Sam uses her fists to assert her presence. Lucy is like her Ma while Sam turns herself into a boy to please her Ba. She cuts her hair short, shorn almost to the scalp, talks and walks like a boy and ultimately gets to see a kinder version of her Ba contrary to the slaps Lucy receives from him. Their Ma's death changed the dynamics of the family altogether. The girls stop being children when they haul their Ba's corpse in a trunk.
Zhang's writing is grim and brutal, often making me take short pauses to digest what I had just read. There's no rainbow but only the blackness of coal that coats their hands and lungs. She portrays how rich exploit the poor, labourers being treated like disease and a strong sense of displacement. Not only is this a work of historical fiction but it also carries a subtle mix of myth and folklore. Written in a non-linear narrative, something that I usually don't enjoy, this novel is a superb coming-of-age story of two girls who are very different from each other but are connected by an invisible thread. They grow apart only to find their way back to each other. In a world of rich and hungry men, these two girls find their place. But it comes with a price. Zhang cleverly begins with the present, easing into the past and paints a rather grim picture of the future. There are quite a few traumatic instances in this book so please read it when you're in the right headspace. Otherwise, this is highly recommended.
Rating : 4.2/5.
Thank you for the copy @hachette_india
This beauty of a book is @cpamzhang 's debut novel and it is in every sense a magnificent piece of work. Set during the Californian Gold Rush, this tale is about two sisters born to Chinese immigrants living in the West. It begins with death of the girls' Ba, a coal miner turned into a gold prospector. Lucy and Sam are left with the responsibility of burying his corpse and hence begins their journey across the hills in trying to find a home to lay him to rest. The girls couldn't be any different from each other, like chalk and cheese. While Lucy has a fondness for education, Sam uses her fists to assert her presence. Lucy is like her Ma while Sam turns herself into a boy to please her Ba. She cuts her hair short, shorn almost to the scalp, talks and walks like a boy and ultimately gets to see a kinder version of her Ba contrary to the slaps Lucy receives from him. Their Ma's death changed the dynamics of the family altogether. The girls stop being children when they haul their Ba's corpse in a trunk.
Zhang's writing is grim and brutal, often making me take short pauses to digest what I had just read. There's no rainbow but only the blackness of coal that coats their hands and lungs. She portrays how rich exploit the poor, labourers being treated like disease and a strong sense of displacement. Not only is this a work of historical fiction but it also carries a subtle mix of myth and folklore. Written in a non-linear narrative, something that I usually don't enjoy, this novel is a superb coming-of-age story of two girls who are very different from each other but are connected by an invisible thread. They grow apart only to find their way back to each other. In a world of rich and hungry men, these two girls find their place. But it comes with a price. Zhang cleverly begins with the present, easing into the past and paints a rather grim picture of the future. There are quite a few traumatic instances in this book so please read it when you're in the right headspace. Otherwise, this is highly recommended.
Rating : 4.2/5.
Thank you for the copy @hachette_india