Han Song is a journalist with Xinhua News Agency and one of China’s leading science fiction writers. A native of Chongqing, Han earned an MA in journalism from Wuhan University. He began writing in 1982 and has published numerous volumes of fiction and essays. His novels include “The Red Sea,” “Red Star over America,” the Rails trilogy (“Subway,” “High-Speed Rail,” and “Orbits”), and the Hospital trilogy (“Hospital,” “Exorcism,” and “Dead Souls”), which has been described as a new landmark in dystopian fiction. “Hospital” is a twisted, experimental narrative of one man’s mysterious illness and his journey through a dystopian hospital system. It is translated to English by Michael Berry.

Michael Berry is Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies and Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA at UCLA. He is the author of “Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers” and “A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film,” among other books. He is a two time NEA Translation Fellow (2008, 2021) and has received Honorable Mentions for the MLA Louis Roth Translation Prize and the Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize.

“Hospital” – It begins in the Prologue – Red Cross On Mars where the destination of the SS Mahamayuri is Mars but inevitably ends in disaster. It has nothing to do with the rest of the book, which is divided into 3 main parts: Illness, Treatment, and Postscript: Surgery. Illness is where Yang Wei’s story gets underway. He is traveling to C City for work but aside from the usual business trip, he mainly expects a break from his daily routine and a pleasant stay at a nice hotel.  When he checks into his hotel room, that is where his problems begin. A complimentary bottle of mineral water from the hotel minibar results in sudden and debilitating stomach pain, followed by unconsciousness. When he wakes three days later, things do not improve; they only get worse. With no explanation, the hotel forcibly sends him to a hospital for examination. There, he receives no diagnosis, no discharge date, just a diligent guide to the labyrinthine medical system he is now circulating through. Armed with nothing but his own confusion, Yang Wei travels deeper into the inner workings of the hospital and the secrets it is hiding from the patients. As he seeks escape and answers, his mysterious illness takes him on a quest through a corrupt system and his own troubled mind.

This novel is described as dystopian, a “twisted and dreamlike tale of a man’s journey,” and indeed, reading through it, it definitely feels dreamlike and unstructured. It has elements of science fiction, suspense, social satire, experimental fiction, and commentaries on the Chinese social structure. It is narrated in the first person point of view but does not have much of a plot; it is mainly Yang Wei’s hospital experience in the ‘Age of Medicine.’ What begins as a normal hospital admittance warps into philosophical musings: “the pain reminded me that I was still alive” which leads to his spiritual enlightenment. Halfway through it, he feels like he has no control over what happens to him in the hospital, which could be considered a metaphor for life itself. The writing style is at times descriptive “Her blood flowed over my chest and dripped down over my stomach, which added some cozy warmth and colorful excitement to my pain,” but sometimes tends to drone on just like the philosophical musings. Even though Yang meets several people throughout his journey, they are in his life briefly and have little character development, unlike Yang himself. This review is for the English translation, so some cultural aspects might be overlooked or misinterpreted. Overall, “Hospital” is a long and dark novel with hints of satire, allegory, and social commentaries and is recommended for readers who appreciate dystopian fiction and dark humor.

“The bench was littered with a dense mass of patients huddled together like flies, their moans converging into a constant buzz-like drone as if they were all trying to tell me, Thank goodness you made it here to the hospital in time.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.