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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I wish I could give this a million stars! It was wonderful. Gene Luen Yang is a master storyteller. I read both Boxers and Saints together, in one shot. Definitely depressing as hell, but extraordinarily told!
Deeply affecting, emotional, personal fictional recounting of the Boxer Rebellion told with Yang's trade mark humor and magical realism.
The excitement I felt for this pair of companion graphic novels was boundless. I majored in history, so just the idea that someone would write a two-sided graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion was completely awesome. The fact that that person was Gene Luen Yang just multiplied my excitement exponentially (I enjoyed American Born Chinese, and he's also been doing a FANTASTIC job with the Avatar continuation graphic novels).
Having read it, I'm impressed with what he's done, but it just didn't have the emotional punch or historical detail I was expecting. (I'm not sure what one is really supposed to expect from a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion, honestly.) The artwork is fluid, consistent, and eye-catching. The choice to limit the color palette keeps the reader's focus on what is happening instead of just on the visuals. It also serves to accentuate the vivid nature of the characters' god-forms - their power and the strong influence their stories have on the characters.
The story is sad, then inspiring, then sad again. I'm not sure how I felt when it was over. It very accurately shows the horrors of war, and also the way that a person's mindset can be just as influenced, maybe even more, by personal day-to-day events (putting food on the table, for example) as by grand, over-arching moral or philosophical ideas. This is something that should be kept in mind in ANY conflict, including those currently taking place (Afghanistan). I was actually surprised at how much the author stressed and developed the religious/philosophical influences. I think that, as a history major, I needed a bit more background on the conflict before I started - whose ideas were coming from where, and more about the final outcome.
Little Bao is a sympathetic character in many ways, but as the story goes on, it gets harder to accept his actions. I think this is why, in the end, the book didn't have the emotional impact for me that I wanted. When I finished, my feelings were more along the lines of, "It's all such a pity."
Anyway.... thank you, Gene Luen Yang, for a classy, thoughtful, beautifully-rendered addition to the world of graphic novels.
Having read it, I'm impressed with what he's done, but it just didn't have the emotional punch or historical detail I was expecting. (I'm not sure what one is really supposed to expect from a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion, honestly.) The artwork is fluid, consistent, and eye-catching. The choice to limit the color palette keeps the reader's focus on what is happening instead of just on the visuals. It also serves to accentuate the vivid nature of the characters' god-forms - their power and the strong influence their stories have on the characters.
The story is sad, then inspiring, then sad again. I'm not sure how I felt when it was over. It very accurately shows the horrors of war, and also the way that a person's mindset can be just as influenced, maybe even more, by personal day-to-day events (putting food on the table, for example) as by grand, over-arching moral or philosophical ideas. This is something that should be kept in mind in ANY conflict, including those currently taking place (Afghanistan). I was actually surprised at how much the author stressed and developed the religious/philosophical influences. I think that, as a history major, I needed a bit more background on the conflict before I started - whose ideas were coming from where, and more about the final outcome.
Little Bao is a sympathetic character in many ways, but as the story goes on, it gets harder to accept his actions. I think this is why, in the end, the book didn't have the emotional impact for me that I wanted. When I finished, my feelings were more along the lines of, "It's all such a pity."
Anyway.... thank you, Gene Luen Yang, for a classy, thoughtful, beautifully-rendered addition to the world of graphic novels.
I appreciate the history lesson as well as Yang's artistic work. It's hard, however, to appreciate a protagonist that mercilessly kills Christians during the Boxer rebellion. I can understand the context of his situation, and many of the Christians were ruthless themselves. This just seemed like a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
I thought this graphic novel was fantastic! I don’t feel like I can comment much on the art since I’m not too immersed in this genre, but I thought it added a lot to the story and I enjoyed looking at it. I was very impressed with the historical fiction elements of this. It was super interesting to read and incredibly dark. It explored the nature of war and rebellion very realistically in my opinion. We may want to romanticize it, but it’s ugly. There may be “good intentions” whatever that means as there are so many sides to everything, but we get misguided. We lose our morals. It shows the ugly of both sides and also makes you feel for both sides which I love. I don’t remember that much of Chinese history from class (even though I know I learned it, it’s still not as entrenched in daily life as European history is), I thought this was a really fun way of teaching it. I didn’t love the magical, “god” elements as much but I didn’t mind them either. I think they added a fun element. I laughed at times and I cried as well. I loved the characters and the journey they take. And I believe we got a snippet from the second book as well which is cool. I’m interested to see if that takes on more of the other side of the it. Interesting concept!
Also I love that Yang included Muslims in this especially considering what’s going on in China today with them being held in concentration camps, I really appreciated the acknowledgment of their place in China!
Also I love that Yang included Muslims in this especially considering what’s going on in China today with them being held in concentration camps, I really appreciated the acknowledgment of their place in China!
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes