I intended to post this book in honor of lunar new year. Oops. Happy Year of the Tiger!
American Born Chinese is one of my few re-reads planned for this year, but frankly it's so amazing that I can't keep quiet about it. At first, Yang's graphic novel appears to be three separate stories, influenced respectively by Chinese folk tales, memoir, and stereotypical sitcom. These individuals stories were enjoyable enough, but when they started to converge into a single story, that was it-- no one could have pried this book out of my hands. Some parts had me laughing; at other times, I felt like I'd been socked in the stomach.
An incredible book about coming to terms with identity.
Also, I had the opportunity to check out some of Yang's original drawings on a visit to this fantastic museum-- highly recommended for visitors to and (residents of) the Great Northwest!
P.S. It occurred to me later that the stereotypes in the "sitcom" narrative were familiar to me at this age, but I am not sure if I would have understood them when I was younger and I am not sure how dated these references are. I would be interested to know what young readers take away from that part of the book.
You know, I was not blown away by this book, and I lent it to someone else so now I can't reread it to double-check my first impressions. ;b To me the various sections felt incoherent and random. But I love, LOVE Yang's drawing style!
ReplyDeleteOn that last point-- me too! I appreciated the art so much more on the re-read; I was so drawn into the plot the first time around that I missed a lot of the detail.
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