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stoutfellowI finished reading The Satanic Verses some days ago, and decided to reread Maureen McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. (I read it once before, probably in the mid-90s; I remember almost nothing, but must have enjoyed it somewhat - I bought McHugh's second novel, after all. I'm enjoying it quite a bit on this go-round.)
I find myself a bit surprised by the similarities between the two books. Not to overstress that: Rushdie (nominally the mainstream author) flirts with magic realism throughout, while McHugh (the writer of science fiction) is grittily realistic. Still, there are thematic connections. Among its several strands, TSV is about acculturation, about colonialism, and about the problem of finding one's self under the pressure of those forces. So too is CMZ. (Chamcha and Zhang both find themselves meditating on the fact that, no matter where they go, they are still the same person; the one thing you can't run away from is yourself.) The strains put on Gibreel and Chamcha, suspended between ex-colonial India and ex-colonizer Britain, are the same as those on Zhang, the barbarian from New York seeking his fortune in Nanjing. Not having finished CMZ (and not remembering the ending), I can't comment on how well the parallels persist, but they are there, and they are striking.
I find myself a bit surprised by the similarities between the two books. Not to overstress that: Rushdie (nominally the mainstream author) flirts with magic realism throughout, while McHugh (the writer of science fiction) is grittily realistic. Still, there are thematic connections. Among its several strands, TSV is about acculturation, about colonialism, and about the problem of finding one's self under the pressure of those forces. So too is CMZ. (Chamcha and Zhang both find themselves meditating on the fact that, no matter where they go, they are still the same person; the one thing you can't run away from is yourself.) The strains put on Gibreel and Chamcha, suspended between ex-colonial India and ex-colonizer Britain, are the same as those on Zhang, the barbarian from New York seeking his fortune in Nanjing. Not having finished CMZ (and not remembering the ending), I can't comment on how well the parallels persist, but they are there, and they are striking.
