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I Don't Know Chinese, But I Know ...
... good comics. In case you haven't already heard, Gene Yang's new graphic novel, American Born Chinese, has been nominated for a National Book Award. Cue the shock and awe of a book with drawings getting an award for Literature (OMG UFB LMAO!1!11!1!1!1!!)
Sadly, you actually will find people making that point. Even at Wired News, Tony Long is insisting that:
as literature, the comic book does not deserve equal status with real novels, or short stories. It's apples and oranges. If you've ever tried writing a real novel, you'll know where I'm coming from. To do it, and especially to do it well enough to be nominated for this award, the American equivalent of France's Prix Goncourt or Britain's Booker Prize, is exceedingly difficult.
Whereas writing a book with drawings in it, of course, is not difficult. That's why we all do it so often, and so well.
Tony hasn't read the book, as he admits, but he goes on to acknowledge that's it "probably damned good" -- so it's not about the quality, it's just that having pictures prevents it from being Literature. Plot, character, dialogue, nuance and depth all come easily if you have pictures. That's why it's so easy for Hollywood to produce such brilliant and deeply moving cinema all the time.
Happily (and amusingly), the webcomics world has already taken issue with Long's pointless prejudice, so I'm going to hope this one is an isolated instance of an ill-considered rant. It's also fun to read the comments on Long's own post to see the reactions.
I mention all this because A) I found the Wired article this morning (via Jeph Jacques), and B) I got my copy of ABC yesterday and finished it last night. It's great - no wonder it's nominated! Now I might be biased; Yang himself is a teacher in Oakland, so he's already my hero. But the book should have no trouble winning you all over, and it's one of those perfect examples for showing people the difference between using the comic book format and just drawing a superhero slugfest. It's a wonderful work and you should all buy it, read it, and show it to anyone who doubts a comic book can be literature.
And, in case you're interested: Mr. Yang's point of view.
Comments (4)
I am in awe of Mr. Yang's being such a busy teacher and still having the energy to produce great art!
Posted on Oct-27-2006 | Link
I just bought this a week ago from Super 7!
A few years back, I read about half of it when it was being serialized on Modern Tales, but then I forgot about it. EC recently bought me the minicomic version of the last chapter, and that made me curious enough to go buy the whole book and reread it (as well as catch up on the chapters I had missed).
It's definitely good stuff, though I'm biased because it features the Monkey King, my favorite character ever. :P
Posted on Oct-27-2006 | Link
TK, can I borrow it from you when you're done with it? I like me a good graphic novel any day, as a break from my usual, longer, more text-y fare!
Posted on Nov-06-2006 | Link
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Posted on Jan-02-2012 | Link