Back to Blog
American born chinese graphic novel6/9/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() So when the author pulls a convoluted twist that makes them all part of the same narrative, it took away a lot of the emotional resonance for me and also just felt really random. I liked the separate stories and their commentary of alienation and race relations, but I really thought they functioned better being linked only thematically. I was generally enjoying this book until I got to the ending, which ruined it for me. The strangest one is set up like a sitcom, where a generic white kid has his life continually wrecked by his simpering but malevolent ‘cousin,’ a gleefully offensive yellow face caricature made up of every cruel assumption people have ever had about the Chinese. One story is a pretty average coming-of-age story about a teenager who’s frustrated by the way he’s treated by his peers, and one is a fable about the monkey king, who wreaks bloody vengeance on the demi-gods who mock him. ![]() The stories are very different but they all revolve around being Chinese and suffering racism that becomes increasingly self-internalized, as some people are tricked by society that they would have more value if they were white. This book is made up of three stories that switch between narratives so it feels like you’re watching a rotating series of episodes, that was actually one of the things I really liked about it at first. I’ll admit Gene Luen Yang had a good idea for a graphic novel but ultimately it could have been a lot better. Sorry, I know a lot of people love this book but I just didn’t get the hype. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |