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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Dennis loves video games but his father tells him to be a doctor. He gets some funky fantastical help from these weird angels that I was wary of but really worked, especially at the end. The last cel is very much a message that we make our destiny but it wasn't forced.
Cute enough in parts - though the story felt a bit recycled, and the ending was a fizzle for me. What threw me out of it over and over was the complete lack of med-picking. In a story set mostly in a medical school, couldn't the writer and artist spend a few minutes on Google avoiding really obvious mistakes?
The story is interesting, but the artwork is remarkably bad.
I fully intend to read anything and everything that Gene Luen Yang writes.
I read this for school in Dr. Latham's class. Loved it.
Should it comfort me that all my Gastroenterologists are former gamers?
Level Up is another solid, good story from Yang. The temptation of doing things we love to do instead of working hard on things that are not fun at all, the oppressive power family expectations have over us, the awkwardness of unrequited love all receive a good amount of attention in this story. The art by Thien Pham is perfect for the GameBoy aesthetics, which indeed has something to to with the story. The final revelation, especially regarding the "angels" is hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.
Highly recommended for PacMan fans, gaming nerds, pre-med students, and, of course, generation 1.5 and above immigrant children.
Highly recommended for PacMan fans, gaming nerds, pre-med students, and, of course, generation 1.5 and above immigrant children.
What a great book! I loved the art and the story. Dennis wants to live up to his father's memory by going to med school, but he realizes that it may not be his true destiny. I liked the video game references, like him loosing a life every so often. I felt like he was a very realistic character as well. This would be a great book to read if you are a teen or a college student.
This was really interesting and funny. And a little sad at times.
The story of the Americanized children of immigrants chafing under parental expectations to succeed is a long-standing trope in American literature and film. There's been umpteen novels, films, and memoirs built around this theme. This graphic novel follows the rough template, taking the kid's perspective and casting the parents as villains who expect their children to be grateful for the parental sacrifice that brought them to their new country. Here we meet American teen Dennis, whose Chinese father insists that he go to medical school and succeed as a gastroenterologist. Unfortunately, Dennis is more interested in video games than school, well... more than anything really.
Like all too many boys, his schoolwork suffers at the expense of all-night Nintendo sessions, and before long, he's flunking out of college. But when his father dies, four angels appear and help to put him back on the path of academic success and med school. He makes friends with some fellow students and before long he seems to be doing well. But is gastroenterology really his destiny? And just where did these angels come from and why? Dennis has to confront these questions and more, as he struggles to figure out who he really is.
The story unfolds within a kind of videogame framework (sections are presented as "Levels") and at certain moments when Dennis isn't true to himself, a little icon appears to show that he's lost a life (as in a game). There are some other gamer conceits throughout, and that works well with the magical nature of some of the story elements. Yang manages to take a familiar story and give it a fresh gamer-geek packaging, which, when combined with the watercolor and ink art (which are kind of lackluster to my mind), make the story worth checking out. It's definitely going to appeal to those already predisposed to graphic novels and computer games, but feels too minor to connect with a broader audience.
Like all too many boys, his schoolwork suffers at the expense of all-night Nintendo sessions, and before long, he's flunking out of college. But when his father dies, four angels appear and help to put him back on the path of academic success and med school. He makes friends with some fellow students and before long he seems to be doing well. But is gastroenterology really his destiny? And just where did these angels come from and why? Dennis has to confront these questions and more, as he struggles to figure out who he really is.
The story unfolds within a kind of videogame framework (sections are presented as "Levels") and at certain moments when Dennis isn't true to himself, a little icon appears to show that he's lost a life (as in a game). There are some other gamer conceits throughout, and that works well with the magical nature of some of the story elements. Yang manages to take a familiar story and give it a fresh gamer-geek packaging, which, when combined with the watercolor and ink art (which are kind of lackluster to my mind), make the story worth checking out. It's definitely going to appeal to those already predisposed to graphic novels and computer games, but feels too minor to connect with a broader audience.