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Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

G.B. Tran

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Dec 15, 2010 Tony rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic-storytelling, memoir, nonfiction

This graphic memoir tackles one of the crucial themes of the American immigrant experience: the tension between the first generation immigrants' struggle to get to America and their children's relative lack of interest in that struggle and their cultural heritage. The family story being told here is that of Gia-Bao ("GB") Tran, who was born in South Carolina to parents who escaped Vietnam hours before the fall of Saigon in 1975. While he touches upon the problems of cultural assimilation experie This graphic memoir tackles one of the crucial themes of the American immigrant experience: the tension between the first generation immigrants' struggle to get to America and their children's relative lack of interest in that struggle and their cultural heritage. The family story being told here is that of Gia-Bao ("GB") Tran, who was born in South Carolina to parents who escaped Vietnam hours before the fall of Saigon in 1975. While he touches upon the problems of cultural assimilation experienced by his siblings and parents, the bulk of the book takes place in Vietnam, from 1940-1975. He traces his extended family's path through the complex history that saw the country first occupied by Japan during WWII, then taken over by France, and then split and invaded by the United States. Each of these geopolitical shifts had rippling effects on the lives of his grandparents and their children, whether they were rebels or schoolteachers. The book is GB's attempt to understand where he came from and honor his parents.

As far as graphic memoirs go, it's great subject matter. At times, however, it can get quite confusing with shifts in time and place, and trying to keep track of different people through different marriages, etc. I read about fifty pages or so and found myself so mixed up that I went back and started the book all over from the beginning. There's a partial family tree which goes a long way toward clarifying things on page 62 and I found myself flipping back to refer to it throughout the book, and had it been at the start of the book, things would have been a lot clearer. I was reading a black and white preview copy, and from what I understand, the finished book will be in full color -- which might also help differentiate between people and timelines. Besides jumping around in timelines quite a bit, the author also shifts between narrators quite a bit, which adds another layer of potential confusion to the mix.

Other than some confusion about whom is whom, the art is quite effective and I enjoyed the author's style. I especially enjoyed some of the larger compositions that range over a full page or two -- these really allow for full use of his artistic imagination and fluidity. I'm curious to see how color will add to the richness of the presentation in the final version. If you like the graphic memoir genre, or have an interest in Vietnam, this is definitely worth checking out. ...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Cheryl marked it as started-not-gonna-happen

Shelves: grazed-n-gleaned

Began - Gorgeously done.
Great 'reality check' into history, but hard to keep the families straight (subtly overlapped in the story-telling).
Well-worth perusing! ...more

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May 31, 2011 Ching-In marked it as to-read

Oct 11, 2011 Vicky marked it as to-read

Shelves: comics, asian-plus

May 31, 2016 Erica Renée marked it as to-read

Jan 01, 2017 Suzanne marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 14, 2017 Celeste added it

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