(no subject)
Mar. 11th, 2010 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsOkay, you guys know I love Laurence Yep . . . in the way where up until recently the only books of his I had read involved CRANKY DRAGONS and CRIMEFIGHTING GREAT-AUNTS and he is an author who is actually known for writing Newbery-award-winning YA historical fiction about Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, um. But now that is no longer true, because I finally got around to reading Dragonwings, which is possibly his most famous book. (Dragon's Gate is the other famous one which may come next!)
Dragonwings was loosely based on the account of a Chinese man who, inspired by the Wright Brothers, built and tested an improved version of their flying machine in the hills of Oakland in 1909. (Because that wasn't enough awesome for him, for good measure he also built his own wireless sets and telephones for the local Chinese community.) The book is told from the perspective of Moon Shadow, the hypothetical son of the builder, who leaves his mother behind and goes to join his flying-obsessed father in America at the age of eight.
The coolest thing about the book - aside from, dude, flying machine - is how Yep is very consciously setting out to provide a Chinese perspective and not an American one. All the spoken-in-English dialogue is conveyed in italics to emphasize that most of the time Moon Shadow is thinking and speaking in Chinese, and Moon Shadow takes the time to carefully explain to the reader all the bizarre things that those wacky Americans do. One of my favorite scenes is when Moon Shadow kindly and condescendingly decides to enlighten his American landlady on the subject of dragons, because it is such a glorious reversal of the standard "kindly American shows immigrant the ways of learning!" trope.
A lot of the ugliness that was a part of the early immigrant experience is - not glossed over, exactly, but lightened. Yep is not out to write a grim and depressing book. So while institutionalized racism is very clearly a factor the threat of serious danger is always there, and there are background references to prostitution and lynch mobs, most of the white people that Moon Shadow himself encounters and interacts with on a long-term basis are surprisingly enlightened and kind. On the other hand, I don't think that everything has to be grimdarkdepressing all the time, and it's kind of nice to get to read a story like this where the protagonists get to actually win some of the time. I also really liked the focus on the sense of community and family within the Chinese company that Moon Shadow's father works for.
So in short: Laurence Yep continues to be awesome. (But because I'm shallow I still like the ones with cranky dragons and crimefighting elderly aunts best.)
In other news, in a few hours I am leaving for Chicago to descend on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
newredshoes >:D So if I don't see you, internets, have a good weekend!
Dragonwings was loosely based on the account of a Chinese man who, inspired by the Wright Brothers, built and tested an improved version of their flying machine in the hills of Oakland in 1909. (Because that wasn't enough awesome for him, for good measure he also built his own wireless sets and telephones for the local Chinese community.) The book is told from the perspective of Moon Shadow, the hypothetical son of the builder, who leaves his mother behind and goes to join his flying-obsessed father in America at the age of eight.
The coolest thing about the book - aside from, dude, flying machine - is how Yep is very consciously setting out to provide a Chinese perspective and not an American one. All the spoken-in-English dialogue is conveyed in italics to emphasize that most of the time Moon Shadow is thinking and speaking in Chinese, and Moon Shadow takes the time to carefully explain to the reader all the bizarre things that those wacky Americans do. One of my favorite scenes is when Moon Shadow kindly and condescendingly decides to enlighten his American landlady on the subject of dragons, because it is such a glorious reversal of the standard "kindly American shows immigrant the ways of learning!" trope.
A lot of the ugliness that was a part of the early immigrant experience is - not glossed over, exactly, but lightened. Yep is not out to write a grim and depressing book. So while institutionalized racism is very clearly a factor the threat of serious danger is always there, and there are background references to prostitution and lynch mobs, most of the white people that Moon Shadow himself encounters and interacts with on a long-term basis are surprisingly enlightened and kind. On the other hand, I don't think that everything has to be grimdarkdepressing all the time, and it's kind of nice to get to read a story like this where the protagonists get to actually win some of the time. I also really liked the focus on the sense of community and family within the Chinese company that Moon Shadow's father works for.
So in short: Laurence Yep continues to be awesome. (But because I'm shallow I still like the ones with cranky dragons and crimefighting elderly aunts best.)
In other news, in a few hours I am leaving for Chicago to descend on
newredshoes >:D So if I don't see you, internets, have a good weekend!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 06:26 pm (UTC)Also yay you'll be a bit closer to my part of the country.
I hope your travel goes well.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 06:31 pm (UTC)Thank you! :D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 07:25 pm (UTC)