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fionak's review
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Uneven in tone and content. I love Ai Weiwei but this disappointed me because it seemed so haphazard, like it had been rushed to print before it was ready. I would have liked to see more of Weiwei’s childhood and his father’s exile but less philosophical digression.
mandoreviews's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
6.25/10
Maybe this graphic novel just wasn’t for me. I thought it was decent overall, but I had a hard time remaining interested in it.
I really liked Ai Weiwei’s perspective on the role of art, and I thought the use of the zodiac as a basis to explain key experiences and geopolitical events that shaped his life was cool. I guess it just didn’t feel cohesive to me and at some points it felt just like a separate series of facts/vignettes to me at times.
#MandoReviews
Maybe this graphic novel just wasn’t for me. I thought it was decent overall, but I had a hard time remaining interested in it.
I really liked Ai Weiwei’s perspective on the role of art, and I thought the use of the zodiac as a basis to explain key experiences and geopolitical events that shaped his life was cool. I guess it just didn’t feel cohesive to me and at some points it felt just like a separate series of facts/vignettes to me at times.
#MandoReviews
annelisegordon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
elizala's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
rebus's review against another edition
0.25
The art is nearly as depthless and bland as the ideology contained within the narrative, another narcissist who believes that Art drives change in society, when in fact it's really just self serving and not about any fight for freedom (proven by the narcissistic manner in which he refers to himself throughout as 'we' in the third person plural). It's discursive and unfocused and lacking in any sort of insight about true oppression--he's clearly very well off and always had some sort of class privilege, even in his repressive culture--not to mention very little insight about Art.
There are some true things to go along with the idiotic theming of the book around the Chinese zodiac. Weiwei says that fear is the most productive tool in a society and that it acts as a brake on Art, yet he still believes Art has the power to change this political structure (society started out fascist and is more so than ever). I agree that Art should oppose repetition and that it teaches us to embrace more dangerous ways of experiencing ourselves, yet he has the privilege to travel the world in luxury and virtue signal (while not recognizing the modern 'truths' that are the true, and not the perceived, bullying). Neruda's dog, by the way, asked questions any 8th grade science student could answer, yet Weiwei thinks it's profound poetry.
He may be correct that any artist who isn't an activist is a dead artist--I hope he means dead inside and not that every artist who ever lived was an activist, which is clearly not the case--but he is no more fighting for freedom than any self serving artist who is only working in order to eat (and producing bland establishment work for the most part).
I have no interest in exploring any of his work further.
There are some true things to go along with the idiotic theming of the book around the Chinese zodiac. Weiwei says that fear is the most productive tool in a society and that it acts as a brake on Art, yet he still believes Art has the power to change this political structure (society started out fascist and is more so than ever). I agree that Art should oppose repetition and that it teaches us to embrace more dangerous ways of experiencing ourselves, yet he has the privilege to travel the world in luxury and virtue signal (while not recognizing the modern 'truths' that are the true, and not the perceived, bullying). Neruda's dog, by the way, asked questions any 8th grade science student could answer, yet Weiwei thinks it's profound poetry.
He may be correct that any artist who isn't an activist is a dead artist--I hope he means dead inside and not that every artist who ever lived was an activist, which is clearly not the case--but he is no more fighting for freedom than any self serving artist who is only working in order to eat (and producing bland establishment work for the most part).
I have no interest in exploring any of his work further.