Tuesday, January 7, 2014

And Now for Something Marginally Different...

Well, December has come and gone without me managing a post.  In all honesty, I've fallen behind.  My stack of unread books is growing and, due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm not up to date on some recent comic book events.  So, while I put a little time into catching up on Forever Evil, Cataclysm, Infinity, and Inhumanity, I thought I'd divert a little time and present Gene Yang's American-Born Chinese.

Yang's graphic novel is an interesting look at Chinese-American culture and the struggles of multicultural students fitting into a primarily Caucasian school/suburban life.

The graphic novel develops three plot lines, alternating the stories of the mystical Monkey King (this is about as close as this comes to my usual reading habits), Jin Wang (a second-generation Chinese-American student), and Danny (who is humiliated by the over-the-top stereotypical antics of his visiting cousin, Chin-Kee).  Yang blends these seemingly different plot lines together masterfully, providing some of the best writing that I've read lately.  Ultimately all three (yes, even the Monkey King) come together in an interesting twist of an ending that I was not expecting.

The Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Cousin Chin-Kee



Beyond the well-crafted plot lines, Yang's work gives the reader a look into the difficulties of reconciling the desire of wanting to assimilate into a dominant culture and the desire to preserve one's own traditions. There is a lesson to be learned here for all readers. While this graphic novel does present some very stark (some may argue racist) stereotypes of Chinese-Americans, I would recommend it for readers who can set aside the cheap laugh in order to see the deeper lesson.

I'll be looking into another of Yang's graphic novels, Level Up, soon.