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| Image taken from http://www.amazon.com |
Gene Luen Yang
I finally got my hands on Gene Yang's Boxers & Saints. It's a remarkable story told from two different perspectives. Yang brings his magical realism to the story of China's Boxer Rebellion in this funny, sad, and touching graphic novel. Both sides show the heartbreaking repercussions of giving of your self for a greater purpose, be it nationalism or faith. One story leads to massacre and one story leads towards martyrdom, but both sides are told from the perspective of very believable characters, with no clear winners, no good guys or bad guys.
I really loved the stories of Little Bao and Four-Girl. I appreciated the interwoven nature of the two parallel tales. I read Saints first, but want to read both again a couple more times. I'm sure both narratives will benefit from repeat reads. The books embrace the myths of Joan of Arc and Ch'in Shih-huang as avatars of different faith systems, and both become symbols of the forces driving Bao and Four-Girl to take action. I cannot recommend these books more highly!
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