I will always carry with me a love for comic books. As a child I remember waiting for new editions to come out. Over the years I have read fewer and fewer comics, but I will always hold them in my heart. I do like the fact that comic have brought out a while new genre in writing. While growing up I had to hide the fact that I enjoyed comic books from my friends because it was something geeks did. This is no longer the case (well comic books this still might be the case). There is a new genre that stems from the comic book genre: graphic novels. Whereas comic books are usually about some sort of superhero of villain, graphic novels are simply that, novels told through one long, or many shorter comics. While this genre has been out for a while, until this week I had yet to read a graphic novel. Not because I had not wanted to, it was because I had not had the time. However, after reading Persepolis I realize why this is becoming such a popular genre among teens.
I would be very interested to sit down with Marjane Satrapi to discuss how she went about writing Persepolis. One of the parts that I loved so much about the text was the story itself. It is a story that I feel would also be a great novel, so I found myself wondering if she wrote this story before creating a graphic novel out of it. Satrapi does a great job weaving this wonderful story and mixing-in the beautiful graphic artwork. It is a story that I feel many students have not heard, and told through the eyes of a person that they can relate to. Being from America brings with it a great deal of benefits, but it does also have some downfalls. One area that I feel we need to do better is learning about other cultures. I fear that many young students know nothing about Iran other than the fact it is in the Middle East, and some students may not even know that. And for the students of this generation the words Middle East bring with it a wide array of emotions, and almost all of those negative. While Persepolis may not be a way to get students to fall in love with the Middle East or the governments that run countries like Iran, it does give students a great view of the way that many of the citizens feel living in the countries. It is a lot easier to dislike another culture when we know nothing about them, Satrapi changed that for me, and I feel she would for many students.
Through Satrapi’s (Marji) eyes I was able to see the beauty of the culture, both in the pictures and the words. One of the things that stuck out for me was the closeness of family and friends. Satrapi’s uncle Anoosh was a person that I was able to connect with immediately, even though he has such a small role in the story. It was cute to see how much Marji loved her uncle Anoosh even though she had never met him. It is the idea that he was a hero to her because of everything that he had to live though as a political prisoner. He was a person though that I feel told an important story himself about what it was like for people who spoke out against his government. Another person that I loved was Satrapi’s grandmother. She reminded me a great deal of my own grandmother. That lady who is always there for you, and always seems to show up when you need them the most and know exactly what to say.
Satrapi was another person I found myself caring deeply about. She had the ability to keep her sense of humor amidst the chaos that was happening around her. She was also the voice that I wanted her to be. She stood up for herself and fought for what she believed, even when at times it might have been smarter for herself if she had not. When she was stopped by the Guardians of the Revolution, she was able to show hard it was for people living there. In the briefest of instances a person can stop you and arrest you without even letting your parents know. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to live in fear everyday wondering if a person who did not like you would turn you in.
Overall, this was a book that I feel many students would really enjoy, especially women. It was a true coming of age story, in a place that many children in America could never imagine. Hopefully it would give them the opportunity to see what growing up in a place like that would be like. There was one minor issue that I had with the text, the fact that it was hard to keep track of who was who in terms of governments, and ‘bad’ people. It was confusing because it seemed that everybody in power was bad, which may be true, but because it was told through the eyes of a girl it is not always clear who is who. But with that said, that minor detail is not enough reason to put this book away. It is a book that I feel is important for all ages, races and genders. Like all good literature, even though this is a graphic novel it still tells an important story.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
I know that I went into reading graphic novels with a little bit of hesitancy. I did not know if they would live up to my expectations. Because I loved comics so much growing up, I was hoping that the graphic novel would be able to use this format to tell a story in a new and creative way. I was not let down. It included many of the parts that I love about both novels and comic and developed a story that was fun to read but did not lose the meaning in the process.
This graphic novel did take a little bit for me to get into. I thought it was funny; however, the multiple stories seemed random at first. It was not until about half way through the text that I realized that there was a connection between all of the stories. When I realized this I read frantically to get to the end so I could figure out what that connection was. It was not until I read the story of Wong Lai-Tsao that I realized the meaning of the story. When that happened I saw American Born Chinese in a whole new light. I actually went back and read through portions again so that the confusing parts that I glanced over would actually make sense this time.
I think the part that I enjoyed the most about this novel is the idea of trying to be something you are not. I think that in high school many students are put in the position where they feel they need to act like someone they are not simply to fit in with the crowd. I see it every day in my high school; kids who act one way with one group and another way with another group. That is why I like working with seniors so much. They are much like Jin at the end. They have lived their whole life trying to hide who they are so they can fit in. Finally, like Jin at the end when he realizes that it is more important to be who he is the seniors start to step out of their shell as they realize that high school is about to end. I do not begin to believe that it is same to be a white suburban student as a minority, but I truly believe that in adolescents there are some real similarities. I feel that it is hard for all students to find themselves when so much of our society says they need to be like everyone else. It is because of this that I feel this book would be great for everybody, not just male students or minority students.
Another part that I really enjoyed about the story, even more so after finishing the book, was the story of the monkey king. In the dedications at the beginning of the book, Gene Luen Yang thanks his mother for the monkey stories. I do not know whether or not this was one of the stories that his mother told him as a child, but I know that no matter what, it was a story that perfectly intertwined with the story of Jin. I felt that it was a beautiful way to tell the story of being who you are. At first I was cheering for the Monkey King when nobody gave him any respect. Then as he gained his knowledge, he became more arrogant and stubborn. This sounds like so many people in life, and in high schools.
As a graphic novel I feel that this was a great book. But I also feel that even as a novel it would have been a good book. I think that the themes that Yang talks about are universal themes that everyone can relate to. On top of that, the story itself is very entertaining. It is both funny and meaningful. Knowing that this is such a good story, made the fact that it is a graphic novel even better. The artwork was a story into itself. Like many great comic books, the pictures themselves tell the whole story. The colors and the graphics seem to fit perfectly with the story itself. One image that I will never be able to get out of my head will be the image of Jin’s hair when he decides he wants to try to fit in more, especially when the lightning shoots out of it. Another is the image of the soap on his armpits because he was afraid that he smelled. It was the use of the images that allowed the text to carry with it so much humor.
Overall, I think this is a great graphic novel, and one that many students would love to read. It has messages that I feel most students in today’s society can relate to no matter their background. As a graphic novel, I think that it will draw in readers that might not actually want to read. The idea that they are looking at pictures makes it seems more assessable to them, they don’t lose their coolness because they are enjoying reading a graphic novel. The ironic part is that if they find themselves reading American Born Chinese they will be reading a text about staying true to themselves and not worrying about what someone else is saying about them.
This graphic novel did take a little bit for me to get into. I thought it was funny; however, the multiple stories seemed random at first. It was not until about half way through the text that I realized that there was a connection between all of the stories. When I realized this I read frantically to get to the end so I could figure out what that connection was. It was not until I read the story of Wong Lai-Tsao that I realized the meaning of the story. When that happened I saw American Born Chinese in a whole new light. I actually went back and read through portions again so that the confusing parts that I glanced over would actually make sense this time.
I think the part that I enjoyed the most about this novel is the idea of trying to be something you are not. I think that in high school many students are put in the position where they feel they need to act like someone they are not simply to fit in with the crowd. I see it every day in my high school; kids who act one way with one group and another way with another group. That is why I like working with seniors so much. They are much like Jin at the end. They have lived their whole life trying to hide who they are so they can fit in. Finally, like Jin at the end when he realizes that it is more important to be who he is the seniors start to step out of their shell as they realize that high school is about to end. I do not begin to believe that it is same to be a white suburban student as a minority, but I truly believe that in adolescents there are some real similarities. I feel that it is hard for all students to find themselves when so much of our society says they need to be like everyone else. It is because of this that I feel this book would be great for everybody, not just male students or minority students.
Another part that I really enjoyed about the story, even more so after finishing the book, was the story of the monkey king. In the dedications at the beginning of the book, Gene Luen Yang thanks his mother for the monkey stories. I do not know whether or not this was one of the stories that his mother told him as a child, but I know that no matter what, it was a story that perfectly intertwined with the story of Jin. I felt that it was a beautiful way to tell the story of being who you are. At first I was cheering for the Monkey King when nobody gave him any respect. Then as he gained his knowledge, he became more arrogant and stubborn. This sounds like so many people in life, and in high schools.
As a graphic novel I feel that this was a great book. But I also feel that even as a novel it would have been a good book. I think that the themes that Yang talks about are universal themes that everyone can relate to. On top of that, the story itself is very entertaining. It is both funny and meaningful. Knowing that this is such a good story, made the fact that it is a graphic novel even better. The artwork was a story into itself. Like many great comic books, the pictures themselves tell the whole story. The colors and the graphics seem to fit perfectly with the story itself. One image that I will never be able to get out of my head will be the image of Jin’s hair when he decides he wants to try to fit in more, especially when the lightning shoots out of it. Another is the image of the soap on his armpits because he was afraid that he smelled. It was the use of the images that allowed the text to carry with it so much humor.
Overall, I think this is a great graphic novel, and one that many students would love to read. It has messages that I feel most students in today’s society can relate to no matter their background. As a graphic novel, I think that it will draw in readers that might not actually want to read. The idea that they are looking at pictures makes it seems more assessable to them, they don’t lose their coolness because they are enjoying reading a graphic novel. The ironic part is that if they find themselves reading American Born Chinese they will be reading a text about staying true to themselves and not worrying about what someone else is saying about them.
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