Historical

How Much of These Hills is Gold

How Much of These Hills is Gold

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-06-12 08:51:10
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：C Pam Zhang
  • ISBN：0349011451
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone。 Newly orphaned children of immigrants， Lucy and Sam are suddenly alone in a land that refutes their existence。 Fleeing the threats of their western mining town， they set off to bury their father in the only way that will set them free from their past。 Along the way， they encounter giant buffalo bones， tiger paw prints， and the specters of a ravaged landscape as well as family secrets， sibling rivalry， and glimpses of a different kind of future。

Both epic and intimate， blending Chinese symbolism and re-imagined history with fiercely original language and storytelling， 'HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD' is a haunting adventure story， an unforgettable sibling story， and the announcement of a stunning new voice in literature。 On a broad level， it explores race in an expanding country and the question of where immigrants are allowed to belong。 But page by page， it's about the memories that bind and divide families， and the yearning for home。

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Reviews

Heather（Gibby） ，

This book was ok， but not very memorable。

Scott ，

For me at least， this one reads a little too much like heavy-handed YA coming of age。

Kameron ，

A heavy story， and one worth telling。 Glad to have read it。 At times had to work at it though - not a straightforward story telling。

Amanda ，

and to think I ALMOST stopped reading ~80 pages in

Jim ，

The book gets some good marks for presenting an alternative story of Chinese Americans living in the West during the gold rush years and for introducing a trans character， but for some reason I didn't fall completely in love with any of the characters nor the odd delivery of the story。 There's a lot to like and it was interesting， which pushed me to give 3 stars， but I easily could have picked 2 and not have felt that guilty about it。 The book gets some good marks for presenting an alternative story of Chinese Americans living in the West during the gold rush years and for introducing a trans character， but for some reason I didn't fall completely in love with any of the characters nor the odd delivery of the story。 There's a lot to like and it was interesting， which pushed me to give 3 stars， but I easily could have picked 2 and not have felt that guilty about it。 。。。more

Bill Marshall ，

I wish I'd liked this more than I did because there's some merit to its writing style。 For some reason， though， C Pam Zhang seems bent on writing gross-out fiction reminiscent of the splatterpunk writing of the early 1990s。 The story， which is about two sisters during the late gold rush in mid-nineteenth-century California， is interesting enough but Zhang too often goes for transcendent depth more than it warrants， and her use of cinematic devices confuses and annoys。There's also a generous spri I wish I'd liked this more than I did because there's some merit to its writing style。 For some reason， though， C Pam Zhang seems bent on writing gross-out fiction reminiscent of the splatterpunk writing of the early 1990s。 The story， which is about two sisters during the late gold rush in mid-nineteenth-century California， is interesting enough but Zhang too often goes for transcendent depth more than it warrants， and her use of cinematic devices confuses and annoys。There's also a generous sprinkling of Chinese in it， phrases and words I understood because I lived in China for a year but I doubt other general readers would。 Their use doesn't prohibit the understanding of the text， but it could frustrate readers as they're not being used for effect。 For the first seven years of Lucy's life， Ba was a prospector。 Seven years of life lived as if windblown， drifting from site to site on the rumor of gold。Ma set her foot down two years back。 One night she left Lucy and Sam in the wagon， and for hours she and Ba talked in the open hills。 Snatches drifted back， Ma's voice holding forth on hunger and foolishness， pride and luck。 Ba was silent。 Come morning， the prospecting tools were packed away。 Ba nursed sullenness for a month， gambled and drank。 It was Ma who first mentioned coal mines。Since then， Ba's put away most of the gambling， and most of the drinking too。 He blusters of fortunes made in coal， as he once blustered of fortunes made from other materials。 The forbidden word went unsaid—till now。Tonight， as ash from a burning mine falls through their window， Ba tells them about the gold。 。。。more

Jason ，

Meh。 Even Leaving aside the redundancy of plot and the affected prose in How Much of These Hills Is Gold， given the current politico-cultural situation we’re witnessing in Hong Kong， it’s clearly in very poor taste for Zhang， as a Beijing-born Asian American writer to appropriate Chinese American history—and its attendant trauma—by having her characters speak in an implausible pinyin-ized ‘pidgin’ Mandarin （early Chinese immigrants of gold-rush America mostly hailed from Southern China and would Meh。 Even Leaving aside the redundancy of plot and the affected prose in How Much of These Hills Is Gold， given the current politico-cultural situation we’re witnessing in Hong Kong， it’s clearly in very poor taste for Zhang， as a Beijing-born Asian American writer to appropriate Chinese American history—and its attendant trauma—by having her characters speak in an implausible pinyin-ized ‘pidgin’ Mandarin （early Chinese immigrants of gold-rush America mostly hailed from Southern China and would have conversed in Cantonese， Toisanese， and the like）。 Irresponsible and arrogant。 。。。more

Amy Lyke ，

It took me some effort to get into the book。 It was a slow and confusing start。 I ended up really liking it about half way through。 The characters were original。 The story was interesting。

Julia Mitchell ，

Bloody brilliant and utterly beautiful。 Cannot wait to see what else C Pam Zhang conjures up。 Will definitely be lending this to anyone and everyone I can。

Kerry Harrison ，

Things I loved about the book: 1） A debut novel by an Asian author on this year's Booker longlist！2） Recognition of a young writer3） Pride in one's ancestryBut that story was a little too dark and too sad for me。 I only stuck with it to read it for a book club。 Things I loved about the book: 1） A debut novel by an Asian author on this year's Booker longlist！2） Recognition of a young writer3） Pride in one's ancestryBut that story was a little too dark and too sad for me。 I only stuck with it to read it for a book club。 。。。more

Ryan Fischer ，

This took some time to grab me， but things really clicked into place in the third part when I think these characters place in the world starts to make sense， and I ended up really enjoying it。 Heavy on metaphor。

Jonathan Lee ，

“You should always ask why a person is telling you their story。”― C Pam Zhang， How Much of These Hills Is GoldI read this novel soon after finishing Tea Obreht's INLAND。 I was searching for another book that might reinvent the historical western。 How Much of These Hills is Gold delivers on that front。 It is a work of subtlety that also manages to entertain。 As the quote above suggests， this is a novel that （for me） gets much of its power from being about myth-making。 I was reminded at times （be “You should always ask why a person is telling you their story。”― C Pam Zhang， How Much of These Hills Is GoldI read this novel soon after finishing Tea Obreht's INLAND。 I was searching for another book that might reinvent the historical western。 How Much of These Hills is Gold delivers on that front。 It is a work of subtlety that also manages to entertain。 As the quote above suggests， this is a novel that （for me） gets much of its power from being about myth-making。 I was reminded at times （bear with me） of the HBO show Chernoybl。 Both Zhang's novel and Craig Mazin's show tackle the dangers of narrative: the ability of an accepted version of events to become calcified， irremovable， accepted。 History is made of stories， and the dominant stories can serve to marginalize or entirely erase certain people from what becomes established history。 “Young enough to think desire alone shapes the world，” goes one line in the novel。 The suggestion is that maturity may involve accepting that storytelling itself — for better and for worse — shapes the word， whether we desire that or not。 。。。more

jin jie ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 What a read。 A stunning debut novel by C Pam Zhang as she writes of the forgotten histories of Chinese characters in the American West。 To be honest， I would have never known this part of history had it not been for her novel， and I'm glad to have read it （refer to https://themillions。com/2020/09/corre。。。 for more historical information）。 The novel is a riveting tale of two sisters and their interactions with their parents and these conversations， interspersed with English and Mandarin， continue What a read。 A stunning debut novel by C Pam Zhang as she writes of the forgotten histories of Chinese characters in the American West。 To be honest， I would have never known this part of history had it not been for her novel， and I'm glad to have read it （refer to https://themillions。com/2020/09/corre。。。 for more historical information）。 The novel is a riveting tale of two sisters and their interactions with their parents and these conversations， interspersed with English and Mandarin， continue to elicit themes concerning Chinese people in America， ranging from overt racism to blatant mob behaviours。 At the heart of this family lies the question "What makes a home a home？" and this novel explores this question through the tensions between family members and also through the author's exemplary writing style。 。。。more

Stephen Byrne ，

A little slow， but， I loved the characters， Lucy and Sam， and the setting mid 19th century at the end of the gold rush in the United States。 Zhang is a beautiful writer and I look forward to reading more from her。

Amy ，

What an absolutely depressing， drawn out saga。 I won’t rate it lower because I enjoyed some of the story， I just didn’t enjoy most of the story。 Admittedly， I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator to be to breathy and melodramatic， but the poetic style didn’t suit me either。 I thought the whole book had a Chinese Louise Erdrich feel to it but fell significantly short of that mark。 Obviously this won prizes and obviously I am in the minority， but the uneven pacing， poetic attempts at w What an absolutely depressing， drawn out saga。 I won’t rate it lower because I enjoyed some of the story， I just didn’t enjoy most of the story。 Admittedly， I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator to be to breathy and melodramatic， but the poetic style didn’t suit me either。 I thought the whole book had a Chinese Louise Erdrich feel to it but fell significantly short of that mark。 Obviously this won prizes and obviously I am in the minority， but the uneven pacing， poetic attempts at word play， and just downright meanness of every character left me with far too much grit in my teeth。 Different angle but Daughter of Fortune was a little similar and a lot superior。 Oh well。 。。。more

Robin ，

Interesting structure and language。 A story with no beginning and no end。 Sad and pointless lives。 Not my kind of story dispute it’s creativity。

Peigi Marshall ，

I guess I am stupid or something。 I honestly couldn't understand the theme of this one。 Yes， there were some references to the discrimination faced by Asians in the US， but I was expecting some historical perspective for the poor treatment。 Also， I couldn't find even one likeable character in this book - Ma was self a absorbed and felt sorry for her life of poverty， Ba was an untreated psychopath （maybe this was due to his liquid diet）， Lucy was a constant whiner， and Sam was born in the wrong c I guess I am stupid or something。 I honestly couldn't understand the theme of this one。 Yes， there were some references to the discrimination faced by Asians in the US， but I was expecting some historical perspective for the poor treatment。 Also， I couldn't find even one likeable character in this book - Ma was self a absorbed and felt sorry for her life of poverty， Ba was an untreated psychopath （maybe this was due to his liquid diet）， Lucy was a constant whiner， and Sam was born in the wrong century。 Everybody they met were mean and cruel or just needed to use someone in the family for their own benefit （ie。 Teacher Leigh）。 Just found little redeeming qualities。 。。。more

Alida Hanson ，

Finished it in one sitting—a beautifully written western historical fiction about two Chinese American orphans in the gold rush。

Amy Colbert ，

4。7

Chantal Tseng ，

Haiku。。。Premise excitingMetaphor and myth mergingHistory expands。。Faulkner， McCarthyNo small wonder my malaiseBroken dreams， new voice。。Siblings are tortureTiny things don't sit quite rightNot just cruelty。。Adventure seekingStability fantasySilver and the dead。。Tiger haunts the hillsBuffalo bones pave the countryBias so evil Haiku。。。Premise excitingMetaphor and myth mergingHistory expands。。Faulkner， McCarthyNo small wonder my malaiseBroken dreams， new voice。。Siblings are tortureTiny things don't sit quite rightNot just cruelty。。Adventure seekingStability fantasySilver and the dead。。Tiger haunts the hillsBuffalo bones pave the countryBias so evil 。。。more

John Back ，

Gold is mentioned several times

Michelle ，

3，5

Rebecca ，

sad and sobering

Alanna Inserra ，

Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize。 Read this in one sitting with occasional breaks for snacks and hydration。 Two Chinese american orphans struggle to survive following the death of their father in a coal mining town in 1850s America， adjacent to great wealth generated by successful prospectors。 A feminist Wild Western about racism and intergenerational trauma， this was a moving character study and exploration of family。

Amanda ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This is a really well written story of two sisters who， at first， start traveling alone in the wild west to bury their father。 I believe that part is a metaphor for leaving burdens behind。 The second part of the story is more about self discovery and how to remake yourself into the person you want to be。 I loved the transgender role of the sister。 It was poignant without being heavy-handed。

Felicity ，

Excellent debut。 Sweet， wistful and engaging。 Interesting to read that the author has travelled widely but is still looking for home。 This is beautifully evoked in the story。

Margaret ，

I've set this book aside for now， as I have such a large pile of books I want to read。 I'm finding it hard to get into， and haven't currently got the energy。 I've set this book aside for now， as I have such a large pile of books I want to read。 I'm finding it hard to get into， and haven't currently got the energy。 。。。more

Kat ，

I think it was good but I didn’t really understand what was going on

Hollyy ，

finished it hoping there would be a reason for all this suffering but there really wasn't。 so bleak finished it hoping there would be a reason for all this suffering but there really wasn't。 so bleak 。。。more

C M Kirsch ，

Absolutely worth all the hype！ Read it。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=How Much of These Hills is Gold

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=How Much of These Hills is Gold&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,How Much of These Hills is Gold&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0