Review of Journey To The Heartland

[Anaïs Quesson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Journey To The Heartland" by Xiaolong Huang.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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"And no matter which way you go, your future lies in your hands, not others'."

Journey To The Heartland tells the story of Hanwei Zhou, a boy raised by his family in a Chinese factory town in the 1980s.
Hanwei's father, Gaoming, is known around town for tutoring young men and occasionally sharing his misogynistic opinions with them. In the secrecy of the Zhou's household, however, the men often share more lustful pleasures. In the meantime, rumors about Gaoming Zhou have grown in town.
Despite this tumultuous upbringing, Hanwei excels at school. He enters the prestigious Beijing University and is soon offered a PhD program in Los Angeles. Hanwei can explore his feelings for men among fellow open-minded students. Depenalized homosexuality doesn't mean it is tolerated, though, and Hanwei has to face the harshness of being queer in a world that largely frowns upon it.

Journey To The Heartland is an excellent historical fiction. Among other themes, its exploration of sexuality is fascinating.
Young Hanwei starts by thinking like his father: masculine attributes are meant to be attractive. Just like the lion's mane or the peacock's feathers attract one's attention, it is natural that a man's body attracts both men and women. On the contrary, the Chinese government strongly represses homosexuality, which they deem as immoral and unnatural. Hanwei's world is binary: the government tells him he should only be attracted to women, while his father repeats he should only be attracted to men.
As he attends university, Hanwei learns to be more open-minded. Both ends of the spectrum can coexist. Humanity will not turn gay once homosexuality is depenalized. Here is a quote from Hanwei on the matter: "The attraction between male and female is essential for the reproductive process. So, human's heterosexual tendency will be naturally retained among offspring through natural selection." (page 59) On the contrary, if homosexuality is still witnessed across different animal species after thousands of years of natural selection, it must have some evolutionary utility.
I enjoyed how the author portrays queerness through Hanwei's character. The book positively shows how individuals can discover their sexuality without experiencing homophobia and violence. Self-discovery can be peaceful, even in a society that deems it unlawful.
Sexuality isn't the only theme portrayed in this book. The author also addresses themes like immigration, what it's like living in an economic crisis, depression, or even police brutality against black people.

Hanwei is a touching character. Despite his rough childhood, he shows compassion towards others. Once at university, he quickly understands that everyone can have different views on sexuality. I particularly enjoyed the conversation with Xiong in the chapter Young Hearts. Hanwei explains to his lover that he doesn't have to label himself as 'gay' if he's uncomfortable with it. Xiong can live his life as it comes without overthinking his sexuality.

Overall, the author's writing style is easy to understand. However, the pace is a little uneven. There are some lengthy and confusing passages at times. For example, Hanwei's lesson on Einstein's relativity is heavily detailed. Having already deep knowledge of physics and computer science, I could follow these chapters without issues. It might not be the case for every reader. The author could have easily cut such passages to make the scientific content more accessible.

This book has been extraordinarily well-edited. Indeed, I found no errors, which shows incredible work from the editing team.

To conclude, I give Journey To The Heartland a rating of 92%, which translates to a perfect and well-deserved 5 out of 5 stars.
I appreciate the multiple themes explored in this book. The author built strong and loveable characters. The few negative points I mentioned in my review did not impact my reading experience.
I recommend this book to anyone curious about LGBT+ themes on a well-researched and large historical background, from eighties China to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please be aware that, although it suits people of all religions, it mentions many mature topics such as detailed same-sex intercourse, child abuse, or domestic violence.

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Journey To The Heartland
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[Gerry Steen]

i gather from your review that this book examines and portrays human sexuality as it happens in real life. Hanwei's journey is interesting. The portrayal of China from the 1980's to now is intriguing. I enjoy historical fiction. Thank you for the great review.

[Abril Zacca]

What a thorough and insightful review! Your analysis of "Journey To The Heartland" beautifully captures the complexity and depth of Hanwei's journey. I appreciate your highlighting the portrayal of sexuality and the broader themes of immigration, economic crisis, and social issues. Your thoughtful critique and personal reflections make this review a valuable read. Well done!

[Runan]

Your review made me interested in the story. I see character development of the lead. It makes me wonder where the story will lead to.