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arcyeus's review against another edition
challenging
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A solid entry in the canon of singlit, especially in the graphic novel department. Sonny Liew does such a good distillation of Singaporean culture and there are just so many intertwining layers to this text, from the history of the comic as a medium to orthodox and revisionist narratives of 50s and 60s Singaporean history. You could reread this again and again and find more to discuss in the interesting variety of techniques used to tell the story.
carkaroake's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
what does it say about my own stunted relationship with creativity that the most unbelievable part of this novel was that a comic artist would take himself so seriously?
imperious, doleful, charlie chan is not exactly likeable or as it turns out, real . sonny chiew’s own rare appearances offer more comedic relief. this is an inspiring use of the frame narrative and all in all a genius conveyance of the story of the history of singapore
imperious, doleful, charlie chan is not exactly likeable
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
A super dense graphic pseudo-biography of a terrific comic creator, Charlie Chan Hock Chye. His comics relate the political happenings in Singapore as World War II ends and the transition from Japanese to English to Chinese control takes place. The book was created by Sonny Liew, creator of ShadowHero, and is composed of artwork by Chan and other local media which puts Chan's life's work in context.
This book is probably too much for middle grade and of more interest to older readers, high school or above.
This book is probably too much for middle grade and of more interest to older readers, high school or above.
clare_tan_wenhui's review against another edition
5.0
The pseudo-biographical meta-narratives skillfully weave Singapore's history with that of the comic industry, while point-blank laying the inconvenient hard truths about the Singapore story. It's been cathartic reading this when I am about to cast my vote in a few day's time.
jszymczakk's review against another edition
4.0
Doskonały pomysł - opowiedzieć o historii kraju przez postać fikcyjnego komiksiarza i jego fikcyjne dzieła. Artysta Charlie Cham rozwija się rownolegle z młodym państwem. A mistyfikacja jest na tyle udana, że sam zostałem oszukany - zorientowałem się, że nie istnieje w połowie lektury, gdy chciałem opisywanego artystę zguglać.
jwsg's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not a comics or graphics novel person - the last comic/graphic novel I read was Alison Bechdel's Fun Home in January 2015 - but The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was pretty mind blowing. On one level, it's the story of the titular character, a comic book artist devoted to his craft but who never made it big. On another, through Charlie Chan's works, it presents an alternative narrative of Singapore's history, and is part political and social commentary. It's inventive, it's clever, it's sly. Does presenting an alternative narrative of Singapore's history in comics form make it more accessible? Perhaps - more people are likely to pick up a beautifully drawn comic than a heavy tome on contemporary Singapore history. But to get all the references Sonny Liew makes would require quite a keen grasp of political history in Singapore. (I'm sure dozens went right over my head). Overall, an absorbing read.
bryanzk's review against another edition
5.0
Don't get me wrong; I know it's about Singapore. Please bear with me.
As someone grows up in China Mainland, this book really resonates with me.
Premier Lee is one of the most stubborn anti-communist, which everybody knows. But it's REALLY WEIRD that China Mainland's communist government regards Singapore as their role model. Not only so, but they also sends a lot government officials to Singapore to study its ways of running the country. Can you imagine that? Such a BIG BIG country, with over 1.3 billion people, learning from such a SMALL SMALL city, with 5.4 million people. You know how many communist party members in China Mainland? 80 million. That's 16 times of the population of Singapore.
In retrospect, it's easy to see what they want to grasp is how to implement authoritarianism combining confucianism, nothing else. How does that turn out? For them, I'd say, pretty good, except the anti-corruption part. For the ordinary people? Well... I mean yeah, many many Chinese people has more money, more freedom ( comparing to 30 years ago), but how about ruining the eco environment which will provide foods, water, even air for the children? And their children? How about brainwashing the young generation and making them provincial nationalist? How about close the Internet one step a time while other countries embracing the shared knowledges and wisdoms of human being?
By reading this book, I gradually sees where everything happens around China comes from.
And there's much more about the book: the structures are amazing, both the page structures and the underlying plot lines. Between the lines and squares, the character develops some extraordinary twists. Or should I say to Charlie sadly and pitifully: I told you so???
After having read the book from cover to cover 3 months ago, I've been keeping thinking about Velazquez's painting - Las Menias.
They all have so many layers, and so many different ways to be interpreted, while my way of course is only one of them which is shallow and transient. But I'm pretty sure that this book, as the painting is, will be one of the classics forever shining in mankind's history.
As someone grows up in China Mainland, this book really resonates with me.
Premier Lee is one of the most stubborn anti-communist, which everybody knows. But it's REALLY WEIRD that China Mainland's communist government regards Singapore as their role model. Not only so, but they also sends a lot government officials to Singapore to study its ways of running the country. Can you imagine that? Such a BIG BIG country, with over 1.3 billion people, learning from such a SMALL SMALL city, with 5.4 million people. You know how many communist party members in China Mainland? 80 million. That's 16 times of the population of Singapore.
In retrospect, it's easy to see what they want to grasp is how to implement authoritarianism combining confucianism, nothing else. How does that turn out? For them, I'd say, pretty good, except the anti-corruption part. For the ordinary people? Well... I mean yeah, many many Chinese people has more money, more freedom ( comparing to 30 years ago), but how about ruining the eco environment which will provide foods, water, even air for the children? And their children? How about brainwashing the young generation and making them provincial nationalist? How about close the Internet one step a time while other countries embracing the shared knowledges and wisdoms of human being?
By reading this book, I gradually sees where everything happens around China comes from.
And there's much more about the book: the structures are amazing, both the page structures and the underlying plot lines. Between the lines and squares, the character develops some extraordinary twists. Or should I say to Charlie sadly and pitifully: I told you so???
After having read the book from cover to cover 3 months ago, I've been keeping thinking about Velazquez's painting - Las Menias.
They all have so many layers, and so many different ways to be interpreted, while my way of course is only one of them which is shallow and transient. But I'm pretty sure that this book, as the painting is, will be one of the classics forever shining in mankind's history.
krpollard's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really neat comic that taught me a lot about Singapore’s colonial past and transition to independence. While at times I found the government’s dealings confusing, I think there are a lot of lessons on corruption that any Western reader could learn from. Liew’s style of weaving together interviews, his own narrative, and “historical” comics was really engaging — so much so that I thought Charlie Chan Hock Chye could be a real cartoonist instead of a fictional character!