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23rd out of 30 books
—
7 voters
Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale
by
Belle Yang
Celebrated artist and writer Belle Yang makes a stunning debut as a graphic memoirist with this story of crisis and survival.
When Belle Yang was forced to take refuge in her parents’ home after an abusive boyfriend began stalking her, her father entertained her with stories of old China. The history she’d ignored while growing up became a source of comfort and inspiration,...more
When Belle Yang was forced to take refuge in her parents’ home after an abusive boyfriend began stalking her, her father entertained her with stories of old China. The history she’d ignored while growing up became a source of comfort and inspiration,...more
Hardcover, 250 pages
Published
May 10th 2010
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 2010)
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This is an interesting graphic memoir in which Belle Yang tells not only a bit of her own story (she's turned to her parents for refuge from a dangerous stalker they've nicknamed "Rotten Egg") but also shares her father's family's history. Her father's ancestors settle in Manchuria and build a prosperous life there, but by the time her father and uncles are young men, their comfortable lives are in jeopardy -- first from the Japanese and then from the Communists. Some of the relatives Yang descr...more
i judged a book by its cover and that's how this one got my attention, but i actually think that's a great way to find graphic novels.
forget sorrow is reminiscent of persepolis, in that it chronicles political upheaval in china. instead of putting us directly in the moment, the plot comes from a girl writing about her extended family in china. she tells the story after listening to hours of stories from her father. it's a beautiful tribute to her family.
it's very old fashioned in terms of asian...more
forget sorrow is reminiscent of persepolis, in that it chronicles political upheaval in china. instead of putting us directly in the moment, the plot comes from a girl writing about her extended family in china. she tells the story after listening to hours of stories from her father. it's a beautiful tribute to her family.
it's very old fashioned in terms of asian...more
I wanted to enjoy this much more than I did. You never want to speak ill of tragedy-laden true stories, of course. And it's a part of 20th century history that has never received all that much attention in the West, thanks to the distraction of our own horrors.
But I did have difficulty with the art. I was really surprised to learn at the end that Yang is an established artist, so it was a style choice rather than simply a lack of experience. Things were just too tightly packed for me, and not e...more
But I did have difficulty with the art. I was really surprised to learn at the end that Yang is an established artist, so it was a style choice rather than simply a lack of experience. Things were just too tightly packed for me, and not e...more
I feel honored to have been given an advanced copy of Forget Sorrow, as it will surely be placed among the greats of the graphic memoir subgenre. Like Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home, and Epileptic, it uses sequential art as a perfect medium for presenting an autobiographical narrative. Bell Yang's background in calligraphy is evident in her elegant line art, evoking both Classic Chinese drawings and traditional cartooning.
The book is about the expectations and assumptions that parents have for their...more
The book is about the expectations and assumptions that parents have for their...more
Unlike many of my friends, I am not a comic book reader. And then there was Allison Bechdel's amazing graphic novel Fun Home, and I discovered that I needed to reconsider my previous stance. And to be honest, I brought this lovely and poetic graphic novel home for my partner who loves comic books. But then I picked it up to browse through before returning to the library and suddenly I was halfway through Belle Yang's beautifully illustrated tale of escaping her abusive boyfriend (named Rotten Eg...more
Apr 28, 2012
Sharon
added it
Belle Yang spent years of her life trying to stay safe from a violent ex-boyfriend. She lost friends, she spent a few years studying in China, and she returned home to live with her parents. Her parents protected her, but her father resented how Belle's life had turned out, and even blamed her for the abusive ex-boyfriend.
Forget Sorrow is the story of how Belle and her father grew close again through the stories he told of the generations of their family. The conflicts, the sacrifices, the mista...more
Forget Sorrow is the story of how Belle and her father grew close again through the stories he told of the generations of their family. The conflicts, the sacrifices, the mista...more
I won this copy via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. So it goes!
I liked this. The family story is nice, and the atmosphere is really strong. I liked seeing a lot of everyday-life stories about early 20th-century China, and these make the book very illuminating. RIYL Persepolis-es. The family relationships are cool, but this narrative is a tad bland at times, as nonfiction can be when it isn't exceptionally well-structured. It's hard to give a fantastic climax to real life. Don't we know it!
My fav...more
I liked this. The family story is nice, and the atmosphere is really strong. I liked seeing a lot of everyday-life stories about early 20th-century China, and these make the book very illuminating. RIYL Persepolis-es. The family relationships are cool, but this narrative is a tad bland at times, as nonfiction can be when it isn't exceptionally well-structured. It's hard to give a fantastic climax to real life. Don't we know it!
My fav...more
I was a wee bit disappointed in this book, as I was expecting a contemporary memoir (that is, a book about herself and her life). It's mainly a history of her family, focusing mainly on the 20th century, on her paternal grandparents and great-grandparents. For those who like Dr. Zhivago-like histories of the transition from early 20th-century to post-World War II/Communist society, you'll really like this book; or if you just enjoy Chinese history and culture in general (I'm thinking this would...more
Belle Yang came to Authors' Night at my boys' school this year. This book is the culmination of many, many years of work. She showed us how she drew the pictures, how she penciled in the dialogue, and how she finished the pages. Tons of work. My 10-year-old read this book before I did. Truth be told, it's his book.
But as we are seeing her speak at TEDx Monterey in a few weeks, I was determined to get through it. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of graphic novels. But this one I did enjo...more
But as we are seeing her speak at TEDx Monterey in a few weeks, I was determined to get through it. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of graphic novels. But this one I did enjo...more
Interesting graphic novel rendition of Chinese ancestral stories, told to a Chinese-American woman by her father. The book goes through the early settlement of villages outside the Great Wall, then skips to just before the Japanese invasion and World War II. The author's father managed to escape to Taiwan, then made his way to Japan to get an education before arriving in America. But the rest of his family was trapped in China, former landowners in a country that now hated capitalists.
The story...more
The story...more
This beautiful graphic novel reminded me so much of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. It is part-memoir, part history and spans several generations in the lives of Yang’s father’s family. The family faces war, famine, and communist oppression in Manchuria. Interwoven are pieces from Yang’s own life, hiding from an abusive ex-boyfriend stalker and working toward reconciliation with her father in contemporary America. The stories of her family’s successes and failures as well as their shifting family...more
I found the narration far too confusing, especially when Yang's rather cartoony drawing style doesn't do much to distinguish between characters. They're all about the same basic build, but maybe one's hat is different or he has a wave in his hair. Yeah...who is that again? And then periodically she'll interrupt somebody's narration with her own and I had a hard time keeping track which generation was currently speaking.
Suggestions: -family tree at the beginning of the book, complete with little...more
Suggestions: -family tree at the beginning of the book, complete with little...more
An epic graphic novel. This is a great graphic novel which starts from the story of one woman stalked by a violent ex-boyfriend, expands to her father's story, her clan's story, then China during the Japanese invasion, WWII, Civil War, Communism. Wow. There were touches of sly humor in the midst of a Shakesperean tragedy (King Lear). I liked this a lot and will buy a copy after borrowing it from the library. Gorgeous art. A few maps, a family tree would have helped clarify the narrative a lot. I...more
I really enjoyed the inter-weaving of the family history with her current history, however, at the beginning of the "historical" narration, it was difficult to determine who the narrator was and how they related to Yang. (Turns out, the 4 brothers are Belle's great uncles and grandfather.) I also noticed in at least one occasion that the speech bubble was pointed toward the wrong person (I actually re-read the pane to see if I was misreading, but I'm pretty certain it was just a little mistake)....more
A memoir of early 20th Century in China, a time of slow and painful and world-altering societal upheaval, as told by father to American-raised daughter. Family catharsis and forgiveness: good. Pace of story, depth of characerization, though perhaps purposeful, not my fave. Did it feel like Yang was a bit shaky on comics format? Yes, and it made for some monotony. Was she a great illustrator in any given panel, showing people's souls speaking to one another, for instance? Yes. So good, but not gr...more
I got ‘Forget Sorrow’ by Belle Yang, as a birthday present from one of my dear friends. My friend has introduced me to a lot of beautiful literature and so I couldn’t wait to read Belle Yang’s book. I read it in one sitting. Here is what I think.
What I think
‘Forget Sorrow’ is the memoir of the author Belle Yang and that of her father. Belle Yang starts the book with her own life – on how she was born in Taiwan to parents who had come from mainland China and how they had ended up in America. She...more
What I think
‘Forget Sorrow’ is the memoir of the author Belle Yang and that of her father. Belle Yang starts the book with her own life – on how she was born in Taiwan to parents who had come from mainland China and how they had ended up in America. She...more
This graphic novel is a very well-written autobiography, which reminds me a lot of one of my favorite graphic novels, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and one of my favorite books in general, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. Like The Woman Warrior, it is about the main character coming to terms with her own life through the stories of her family's history. It's a really masterful, interesting narrative that is woven together very well and I'm excited to see what else she produces in the f...more
Though the author Belle Yang is has behaviours and personalities that is more typical of her citizenship (American) than her ancestry (Chinese), she has not failed to tell more-or-less a complete story on her family's backgrounds in this graphic novel Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale. Her ability to both infuse the drawings with a Chinese soul, plus her storytelling that is not slanted in any way whatsoever, makes her deserve a round of applause.
I really enjoy this type of story - very specific telling of a certain period from the point of view of an "average" person. Unlike some complaints I've seen, I didn't have that much trouble telling the characters apart. Some of the time shifts could have been better delineated - the author goes from panels on the present to recollections of the past with no breaks and it sometimes took me a panel or two to realize she'd shifted time periods. Overall very enjoyable and interesting.
What a good book. I checked this out from the library, like most of the books i read, cause who the hell can afford to buy a new book? Forget sorrow. This made me look out into the world and see the larger picture, that moment where you realize, ah yes! We are all going to die and so we must laugh and enjoy life now, and help each other because we might be gone tomorrow. What a good book.
An interesting book, but I kept comparing it to The Complete Persepolis, which is much a better told story. "Forget Sorrow" had lots of gaps in the narrative, many half-finished events and the narrator felt more like a young teenager than an adult woman.
I really liked the loose, calligraphic style of the artwork. Also the insight into Chinese history over the time of the revolution. I always find history more palatable in graphic novels! Interesting book-ending, involving the contemporary American Chinese narrator being stalked by a violent, murderous ex-boyfriend. Also very interesting portrait of family dynamics.
Starts out slow, and I actually didn't think it would be very good, but by the end I was fairly engaged in the tale, and learned quite a bit about the last hundred years in China and about Chinese family life. There are problems with the story, most notably the parts about Yangs stalker, but those are a minority.
From simple line drawings to those inspiring awe, sadness, and love, this family memoir from a children's book illustrator was fascinating. I was moved by the black and white drawings, and by her family's story.
This was a really cool book. A nice break from all the vampires... ;-> I'm going to recommend it to my artist niece!
This was a really cool book. A nice break from all the vampires... ;-> I'm going to recommend it to my artist niece!
While the graphic portion of this memoir was pleasing, I was less impressed with the flow of the tale. How the stories of Yang's family in Old China meshed with that of hers in the New World seemed to miss the mark. I was bummed at how disjointed the graphic memoir turned out.
Aug 10, 2011
Aishe
rated it
4 of 5 stars
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Belle Yang does with Forget Sorrow what Art Spiegelman did with Maus. This would be a great accompaniment text that deals with the life on the Pacific Theater side of the world. Add Barefoot Gen and you have a trio of representative stories of WWII. I highly recommend.
Another fine addition to the somewhat-self-centered-young-adult-gets-some-perspective-by-listening-to-his/her-father's-tale-of-struggle-in-his-homeland-during-wartime-and-journey-to-America-then-writes-a-graphic-memoir-about-it genre.
Her flashbacks have flashbacks. Also, I share her Chinese name, and multiple sources (internet and my parents) tell me that xuan1 actually translates into "day lily". link for the lazy: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%90%B1
Good story but slips in the graphic narration that I found annoying. Good but not as good as Maus or Persepolis. Not the subtlety of Mail Order Bride--things were over-explained and -revealed instead of letting the panels, narration and accumulated details speak for themselves.
This is a nice memoir and fmaily history graphic novel. My biggest problem is with the art. The woodcut print look was beautiful but it felt too cluttered with three rows of on every page.
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"My Chinese name is Xuan, or "Forget-All-Sorrow." It is also Chinese for "lily of a day," notes Belle Yang. "If life spans a mere day, why spend it in worry?" Indeed, the author-illustrator of HANNAH IS MY NAME recalls a seemingly worry-free childhood in Taiwan and Japan, where she "doodled and fiddled around with words and discovered they were her life."
Now an author and painter, Belle Yang has...more
More about Belle Yang...
Now an author and painter, Belle Yang has...more
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