Comments on: Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese

By: THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC

THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:36:17 +0000

I enjoyed ABC, but I hadn’t noticed any heavy handed christian influences. I mean if there were, they certainly weren’t dogmatic.

By: Chris Wong

Chris Wong — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:37:11 +0000

Gene Yang was my comp sci teacher! You should check out the Gordon Yamamoto series he made, too.

By: jaehwan

jaehwan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:39:31 +0000

Hey Ernie,

I saw that Catholic teacher note on the book…after I had bought it! Haha.

I grew up in a Christian household too, but my experience with the church wasn’t so great. I’ve seen some really bad things take place under the cross by people who were ostensibly God-fearing people, and so I’ll admit that I’m biased.

Yang and other writers have a right to play with the stories, but one thing that Frank Chin mentioned when he was up in Portland is that we don’t know the original stories. I read an abridged version of the original a few months after reading ABC, and the tone is completely different. It was amazing how of a difference that one panel made…

By: Moye

Moye — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:32:44 +0000

i agree with jaehwan’s thoughts. not that you should compare the two, but i read shortcomings at the same time as well and considered it much more emotionally provocative and relevant.

i did like ABC, but something about it seemed a little too “safe.” then again, this is probably because it’s geared towards young adults. so i’m really glad it got the recognition that it deserved.

By: Akrypti

Akrypti — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:57:44 +0000

Kartika interviewed Gene in our first issue:
PDF: http://www.kartikareview.com/issue1/1gene.pdf
HTML: http://www.kartikareview.com/issue1/1gene.html

By: Ernie

Ernie — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:25:07 +0000

jaehwan: For me, I kinda grew up in a Christian household so it probably didn’t bother me as much as it may other people. An interesting footnote: the author is a high school teacher at a Catholic School in the Bay Area. They may have something to do with it. Or maybe not.

By: jaehwan

jaehwan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:22:49 +0000

I got this one from Amazon at around the same time I got Adrian Tomine’s “Shortcomings” (though Shortcomings wasn’t yet available in graphic novel form, so I got three separate comic books). I enjoyed Shortcomings a lot because it was open, honest, and thought-provoking.

I would’ve enjoyed American Born Chinese as well, but that Western Christianity thing that you mention ruined it for me. It happened at one of the crucial moments, and I felt as if I’d been blindsided. I won’t spoil it for those about to read it, but I felt as if I had been jumped by missionaries when the story brought that out of left field.

I will say that the artwork and general storyline were good. If you happen to be an Asian American Christian, I think you’ll like this book a lot.