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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
Honestly can't think of any books similar to this. Part history, part bio, and part art talk make it seem like a lot but all the pieces are blended together super well.
GASP.
I never remember how books get onto my "Want to Read" list. Sometimes a book is referenced in the footnote of another book, or an author I admire will mention it in passing. I have NO IDEA how this one got onto the list, but I picked it up at the library with zero expectations.
I know very little about the history of Singapore which made certain parts of this graphic novel difficult, but if you're patient enough to wade through the pages of reference notes in the back of the book you shouldn't have an issue. The combination of art styles - sketches, paintings, and traditional comic book panels in color/B&W - is incredible. Just a big wow all around. Can all history books be written this way?
I never remember how books get onto my "Want to Read" list. Sometimes a book is referenced in the footnote of another book, or an author I admire will mention it in passing. I have NO IDEA how this one got onto the list, but I picked it up at the library with zero expectations.
I know very little about the history of Singapore which made certain parts of this graphic novel difficult, but if you're patient enough to wade through the pages of reference notes in the back of the book you shouldn't have an issue. The combination of art styles - sketches, paintings, and traditional comic book panels in color/B&W - is incredible. Just a big wow all around. Can all history books be written this way?
Excellent story of an amazing artist told in an incredibly unique and captivating manner.
This book is excellent, I learned so much from it, but went into it not knowing the subject was fictional. I love the blurred lines between reality and what the author believes could have been. This is definitely a book worth checking out.
What a wonderful read! An ode to the form of the graphic novel. It tells the story of Charlie Chan Hock Chye and his illustrious career as a comics artist. On the side you get a political history of Singapore since independence. I'm not sure I got all the political references to Singaporean history, but it was accessible enough for me as a non-Singaporean to understand, and learn a bit more about this country's history. So don't let that stop you from reading this graphic novel.
I absolutely adore the way this novel is set up: as an interview with Charlie Chan Hock Chye, interspersed with excerpts from his body of work. This shows a wide range of styles and genres within the graphic novel form. And the way this grapic novel talks about comics - showing all sorts of different styles and telling how Charlie Chan Hock Chye himself grew up reading all comics he could get his hands on -, I longed to go back to my own favorite comics growing up, and spending a lazy weekend rereading them.
I can't wait to start a reread, because it will no doubt reveal new details and nuances I missed in the first read.
I absolutely adore the way this novel is set up: as an interview with Charlie Chan Hock Chye, interspersed with excerpts from his body of work. This shows a wide range of styles and genres within the graphic novel form. And the way this grapic novel talks about comics - showing all sorts of different styles and telling how Charlie Chan Hock Chye himself grew up reading all comics he could get his hands on -, I longed to go back to my own favorite comics growing up, and spending a lazy weekend rereading them.
I can't wait to start a reread, because it will no doubt reveal new details and nuances I missed in the first read.
Born in 1938, Charlie Chan Hock Chye has always loved to draw. As a child, he would spend hours doodling on scrap bits of paper in the corner of his father's shop, and this combined with artistic influences such as Osamu Tezuka (aka 'the Father of Manga'), Marvel and DC Comics, led him down the path of a comic artist. Presenting his work from his early days to adulthood, we see the progressive improvement of his art and storytelling skills. In particular, we see how hard he strives to make his art not just for enjoyment, but as political commentary on the rapidly changing society of Singapore that encountered much internal conflict in its direction of independence.
By the way, in case you didn't know, Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a fictional character :")
Written and drawn by Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a celebration of the intrinsic connection between the arts and society—Liew utilises a biographical mode of storytelling not only to walk us through Singaporean history as it happened, but also to outline to readers the richness and diversity of our history. The history we've been taught as students only follows a singular story that was written by the winners; were the bad guys really as 'bad' as we were led to believe? Liew balances this discussion out by providing the different perspectives and context behind each notable incident throughout Singapore's timeline, and this 'alternate' history at odds with what's publicised in Singapore inevitably led to the National Arts Council (NAC) revoking their grant because of the comic's sensitive content.
Overall, I highly, highly recommend this read because of the aspects and nuances of Singaporean history it tackles. Our story, unlike what we've studied in History and Social Studies, is rich in complexity and filled with the passion and fervour of the Singaporeans of the past, who all wanted what was best for the country, even if they had different ideas on what that was.
Side note: I really enjoyed Charlie's comic 'Days of August' the most out of all the ones he drew. It would be amazing if we could read it as a fully-fleshed comic book series :")
Edit: Addressing the biases of this book
1. It's a Chinese-centric perspective of Singaporean history, which happened because our protagonist was Chinese. Of course, there's nothing wrong with him being Chinese and providing the Chinese perspective, but we also need to remember that Singapore isn't just Chinese, and we have to actively seek out the stories and perspectives of other races too.
2. It separates our characters (real-life people) into villains and heroes. It greatly sympathises Lim Chin Siong of Barisan Sosialis while villainizing Lee Kuan Yew of the PAP. It would have been a much better comic if Sonny Liew had written these people with more nuance. What did they value, what were their motivations behind their stance? Instead of deciding for us who was good and who was bad, I think showing context on both sides and allowing readers to come to a decision themselves would bring about much more deeper, complex discussion regarding Singapore's history.
Overall, I think Liew wanted to try many things and the end-product is by no means perfect, but it is still an incredible milestone in Singapore's comic book industry.
By the way, in case you didn't know, Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a fictional character :")
Written and drawn by Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a celebration of the intrinsic connection between the arts and society—Liew utilises a biographical mode of storytelling not only to walk us through Singaporean history as it happened, but also to outline to readers the richness and diversity of our history. The history we've been taught as students only follows a singular story that was written by the winners; were the bad guys really as 'bad' as we were led to believe? Liew balances this discussion out by providing the different perspectives and context behind each notable incident throughout Singapore's timeline, and this 'alternate' history at odds with what's publicised in Singapore inevitably led to the National Arts Council (NAC) revoking their grant because of the comic's sensitive content.
Overall, I highly, highly recommend this read because of the aspects and nuances of Singaporean history it tackles. Our story, unlike what we've studied in History and Social Studies, is rich in complexity and filled with the passion and fervour of the Singaporeans of the past, who all wanted what was best for the country, even if they had different ideas on what that was.
Side note: I really enjoyed Charlie's comic 'Days of August' the most out of all the ones he drew. It would be amazing if we could read it as a fully-fleshed comic book series :")
Edit: Addressing the biases of this book
1. It's a Chinese-centric perspective of Singaporean history, which happened because our protagonist was Chinese. Of course, there's nothing wrong with him being Chinese and providing the Chinese perspective, but we also need to remember that Singapore isn't just Chinese, and we have to actively seek out the stories and perspectives of other races too.
2. It separates our characters (real-life people) into villains and heroes. It greatly sympathises Lim Chin Siong of Barisan Sosialis while villainizing Lee Kuan Yew of the PAP. It would have been a much better comic if Sonny Liew had written these people with more nuance. What did they value, what were their motivations behind their stance? Instead of deciding for us who was good and who was bad, I think showing context on both sides and allowing readers to come to a decision themselves would bring about much more deeper, complex discussion regarding Singapore's history.
Overall, I think Liew wanted to try many things and the end-product is by no means perfect, but it is still an incredible milestone in Singapore's comic book industry.
masterful storytelling, stirs up a mixed bag of emotions..
- made me nostalgic for a past i didn't live through (in my blood through my predecessors?)
- raises questions about the stories we've been told as truth, since young
- reflections on life and art and hope.
definitely a classic.
- made me nostalgic for a past i didn't live through (in my blood through my predecessors?)
- raises questions about the stories we've been told as truth, since young
- reflections on life and art and hope.
definitely a classic.
What a phenomenal read! I'm really not that big a fan of comics or graphic novels, but The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye really is so much more. There are stories within stories, the framing of the narrative is spectacular, and all of the art is GORGEOUS. The history of Singapore and its politics and society is fascinating already, but this book does an amazing job of telling that story from a personal level and, using comic book-style writing as in-story satire, I believe there is more truth to be found in this than there would be in a non-fiction textbook.
I loved this book. I'm looking for a new graphic novel for my English 12 class that does similar things to Maus but is more immediately engaging than Maus. I may have found it. Lots of weird things are happening with metanarrative and the nature of history. And the layers between the reader and the "truth" in The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye are reminiscent of the layers in Maus, only in a wholly different order that probably creates different effects that I haven't fully figured out for myself. And that's exactly WHY I want to teach it. I love puzzles. Also, I learned about Singapore, a country about which I knew almost nothing (to whit, all I knew: Joanna is from there; they caned an American teenager for chewing gum or spitting it out in the wrong place).
A biography of the artist as a hero, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is full of swagger even as it pays tribute to its comics predecessors. The virtuosic display of different comics styles, the mind-boggling meta-meta-meta narratives, the political satire. The result is an astounding feat, which sets a high bar not only for Singapore comics, but also for Singapore fiction. Yet much remains familiar. Singapore history may be re-interpreted but its periodization is not challenged. The reading of the historical protagonists may be flipped, but there are still clearly heroes and villains. And the greatest hero of all is the artist, who is depicted as uncompromisingly dedicated to his art. Singapore art needs such a heroic image, perhaps, given its frequent and forced accommodations to authority. Still, the terms of the artist's exaltation are traditional: he foregoes a love interest; gives up having a family; disappoints his parents. Heterosexual love, family, and happy parents are self-evident goods in the graphic novel; they are not subject to the kind of interrogation that the novel applies to political history. The artist is essentially male, as are all the politicians. Women are peripheral characters to the political and the personal stories. Having surrendered his claim to a place in bourgeois, Chinese, Singaporean patriarchy, the hero-artist reasserts his maleness in his art, ending aptly with a page of nine panels, eight of which depict the phallic instruments of his art.