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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I love it when comic books do this sort of thing: take a little bit of ordinary life and turn it through a twisted angle - Yang follows the story of a videogame-obsessed kid and traces his relationship with his demanding and expectant father through to adulthood. Things take an odd turn with the arrival of strange guests, the strange is kept well in-check though, holding the story away from Scott Pilgrim excesses. Just as you begin to think the story is a little thin, important and challenging events kick-in. The final pages are genuinely wonderful.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story of the Americanized children of immigrants chafing under parental expectations to succeed is a long-standing trope in American literature and film. There's been umpteen novels, films, and memoirs built around this theme. This graphic novel follows the rough template, taking the kid's perspective and casting the parents as villains who expect their children to be grateful for the parental sacrifice that brought them to their new country. Here we meet American teen Dennis, whose Chinese father insists that he go to medical school and succeed as a gastroenterologist. Unfortunately, Dennis is more interested in video games than school, well... more than anything really.
Like all too many boys, his schoolwork suffers at the expense of all-night Nintendo sessions, and before long, he's flunking out of college. But when his father dies, four angels appear and help to put him back on the path of academic success and med school. He makes friends with some fellow students and before long he seems to be doing well. But is gastroenterology really his destiny? And just where did these angels come from and why? Dennis has to confront these questions and more, as he struggles to figure out who he really is.
The story unfolds within a kind of videogame framework (sections are presented as "Levels") and at certain moments when Dennis isn't true to himself, a little icon appears to show that he's lost a life (as in a game). There are some other gamer conceits throughout, and that works well with the magical nature of some of the story elements. Yang manages to take a familiar story and give it a fresh gamer-geek packaging, which, when combined with the watercolor and ink art (which are kind of lackluster to my mind), make the story worth checking out. It's definitely going to appeal to those already predisposed to graphic novels and computer games, but feels too minor to connect with a broader audience.
Like all too many boys, his schoolwork suffers at the expense of all-night Nintendo sessions, and before long, he's flunking out of college. But when his father dies, four angels appear and help to put him back on the path of academic success and med school. He makes friends with some fellow students and before long he seems to be doing well. But is gastroenterology really his destiny? And just where did these angels come from and why? Dennis has to confront these questions and more, as he struggles to figure out who he really is.
The story unfolds within a kind of videogame framework (sections are presented as "Levels") and at certain moments when Dennis isn't true to himself, a little icon appears to show that he's lost a life (as in a game). There are some other gamer conceits throughout, and that works well with the magical nature of some of the story elements. Yang manages to take a familiar story and give it a fresh gamer-geek packaging, which, when combined with the watercolor and ink art (which are kind of lackluster to my mind), make the story worth checking out. It's definitely going to appeal to those already predisposed to graphic novels and computer games, but feels too minor to connect with a broader audience.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Laughing, laughing, laughing, oh shoot . . . I'm crying.
12 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback
Gene Yang once again delivers a fun story that sneaks up on you and breaks your heart. I don't know how he keeps doing it, but he does.
The story is fresh and funny, while still making you want to have a better relationship with your father and/or son.
The artwork by Thien Pham is fantastic. Understated, but still beautiful and confident.
I'm not a gamer, or male, or Asian-American, or a gastroenterologist, and I still found the characters engaging and lovable. It's the kind of book that made me think. Then made me smile.
It's a great feel-good book. I can't wait to read it again.
The story is fresh and funny, while still making you want to have a better relationship with your father and/or son.
The artwork by Thien Pham is fantastic. Understated, but still beautiful and confident.
I'm not a gamer, or male, or Asian-American, or a gastroenterologist, and I still found the characters engaging and lovable. It's the kind of book that made me think. Then made me smile.
It's a great feel-good book. I can't wait to read it again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A surprisingly compelling Bildungsroman with video games
1 July 2011
Format:Paperback
I expected a trite story about a boy growing up with video games, and Level Up starts as such, but quickly demonstrates itself to be more sophisticated than I had expected. The plot relates a young man's struggles in school and, to a lesser degree with girls, as he is powerfully distracted (seduced?) by games. Thematically, the book involves our obligations to our parents, and our children, and whether one can be happy following a path dictated by guilt.
The book has a major element of magical realism that involves the author's sense of obligation to his dead father manifested as greeting card angels who help him through school. The reader feels conflicted seeing them, knowing they are pushing him in a good direction, but that he may never be happy unless he pursues these ends for better reasons. This is ultimately resolved in a way that is natural, and yet surprising and quite moving.
Video games recur in the story, but ultimately this book is far greater than any book just about gaming could be.
The book has a major element of magical realism that involves the author's sense of obligation to his dead father manifested as greeting card angels who help him through school. The reader feels conflicted seeing them, knowing they are pushing him in a good direction, but that he may never be happy unless he pursues these ends for better reasons. This is ultimately resolved in a way that is natural, and yet surprising and quite moving.
Video games recur in the story, but ultimately this book is far greater than any book just about gaming could be.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Compelling coming-of-age story
7 July 2011
Format:Paperback
-------------------------------------------
"Level Up"
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Illustrated by Thien Pham
(First Second, 2011)
-------------------------------------------
Having established his graphic novel street cred with the powerful "American Born Chinese," Gene Luen Yang has emerged as one of the premiere comicbook artists of his generation. In this new story, Yang turns the illustrations over to Thien Pham, whose simple, zine-ish style may be off-putting for fans of Yang's sleeker, smooth-lined graphics, but the disappointment only lasts a second or two: one page into this fast-moving fictional memoir and you will be hooked. Yang and Thien Pham hit a perfect groove, and you'll find it hard to put this book down; it's a compelling, compulsive read.
The story revolves around Dennis Ouyang, an Asian-American kid who discovers his life's calling the first time he sees a video game. At least *he* thinks it's his life's calling: his parents are horrified to see him wasting his time, and unflinchingly push him to excel academically. Dennis rebels against this classic, hard-working immigrant narrative and subsumes himself in video games, but the story takes an abrupt twist when he abandons his slacker-geek lifestyle for some unexpected reasons. The book uses the comicbook format to its fullest potential, disarming readers with deceptive simplicity, while sliding through time and reality with the sort of ease that only this medium can produce. The "Asian-ness" of the story is underplayed: it's there, but not explicitly delved into -- anyone with pushy, loving parents can identify with Dennis and his dilemma. This is a subtle but strange, surprisingly mature story, a quick read and definitely recommended! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
"Level Up"
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Illustrated by Thien Pham
(First Second, 2011)
-------------------------------------------
Having established his graphic novel street cred with the powerful "American Born Chinese," Gene Luen Yang has emerged as one of the premiere comicbook artists of his generation. In this new story, Yang turns the illustrations over to Thien Pham, whose simple, zine-ish style may be off-putting for fans of Yang's sleeker, smooth-lined graphics, but the disappointment only lasts a second or two: one page into this fast-moving fictional memoir and you will be hooked. Yang and Thien Pham hit a perfect groove, and you'll find it hard to put this book down; it's a compelling, compulsive read.
The story revolves around Dennis Ouyang, an Asian-American kid who discovers his life's calling the first time he sees a video game. At least *he* thinks it's his life's calling: his parents are horrified to see him wasting his time, and unflinchingly push him to excel academically. Dennis rebels against this classic, hard-working immigrant narrative and subsumes himself in video games, but the story takes an abrupt twist when he abandons his slacker-geek lifestyle for some unexpected reasons. The book uses the comicbook format to its fullest potential, disarming readers with deceptive simplicity, while sliding through time and reality with the sort of ease that only this medium can produce. The "Asian-ness" of the story is underplayed: it's there, but not explicitly delved into -- anyone with pushy, loving parents can identify with Dennis and his dilemma. This is a subtle but strange, surprisingly mature story, a quick read and definitely recommended! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
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