London Times Literary Supplement: Forget Sorrow
Drawing, and specifically calligraphy, also offer the Taiwanese-born American author Belle Yang a spiritual escape, in her case from ‘Rotten Egg', an abusive boyfriend-turned-stalker. Yang is used to being a free-spirited, independent Westernised woman, but she is forced to take refuge in the family home. And there begins her cautious reconnection to her Old World Chinese father, Baba, who wants her to understand more about his own grandfather's ancestry in Manchuria. The strains between parent and child depicted here recall Art Spiegelman's attempted reconciliation with his father in Maus. Yang applies the same practice of combining a father's oral testimony of the past with her present-day autobiography. Forget Sorrow: An ancestral tale illuminates the tides of early twentieth-century Chinese history which sweep over one extended family, the House of Yang, from warlord battles and Japanese occupation to Soviet invasion and civil war. In successive generations, parallel tensions emerge between parents and their children over duties and desires, as bonds are stretched sometimes to breaking point. Coming afresh to graphic novels from making illustrated books for adults and children, Yang writes and draws the Chinese soul, capturing its phraseologies and philosophies. Her varied brushstrokes, from bold to dry, tap into a long tradition of ‘simplicity' in Chinese art and notably the acute observations of everday life by master cartoonist Feng Zikai (1898-1975). By the redemptive conclusion, Yang's newfound perspective allows her to fulfil the promise of her Chinese name, Xuan, which means ‘Forget Sorrow'.-- Paul Gravett, author of "Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know," and "Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics."
Click here to begin reading sample pages of Belle Yang's "Forget Sorrow."
Belle Yang drawing her comic book in a Youtube vide
Belle Yang Asia Society, NYC, Talk on Video (complete)
Published Reviews:
Bloomsbury Review of Forget Sorrow
Huffington Post Reviews Forget Sorrow
Belle Yang ups the ante on the autobiographical graphic novel in Metro San Jose
Belle Yang's "Forget Sorrow" in Comic Book Resources
Interview in San Francisco Chronicle by staff reporter Meredith May
Wall Street Journal video of interview
Comic Book Resources Reviews Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale
Santa Cruz Sentinel:Belle Yang's Third Adult Title is her First Graphic Nove
Santa Cruz Weekly Cover Story: Time Traveler
About Belle
Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is often asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter. Answer: "When I'm writing, I'm a writer; when I'm painting, I'm a painter." Is she a children's author or writers of adult...
Connections
Causes Belle Yang Supports
826 Valencia Street
Belle is a fan of
14 years
Thank you for sharing this and the other links. I can well imagine how the 14 years in the making must have altered vision while having to recreate the truth about ancestry.
Belle, I did not know that your Chinese name, Xuan' means 'Forget sorrow'. It is such a beautiful and profound idea, for we 'get over' sorrow but rarely forget it.
Only the very best for you and your work...
~F
Farzana,
I threw the I-Ching coins once to ask whether I'd ever get this book published. I came up with the hexagram for "Army," which indicates that I had a long struggle ahead. Battle.
Thank you for checking in and your kind words.
Great news!
Hi Belle:
Speaking of great news from England, get a load of this:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100812151632.htm
The gist of this is that, when you're down to your last brain cell, you can still do some thinking. Some of us are closer to that point than others, but we're all headed there. :)
May all your eggs be fresh.
Hugs n such,
Eric
i'm thrilled . . .
. . . that you're getting such great reviews and opportunities to share your work with people! I listened to about the first 1/3 of the Asia Society video, and will finish it later (but soon!). You tell your story so movingly and with just the right level of detail. Your callings are many.
Peace.
Hi, Evie
Thanks for watching the Asia Society program. I had not expected the TLS :)
Thanks, Eric, for the link. I hope your ham radio book is coming along nicely.
Eric P. Nichols P.O. Box
Eric P. Nichols P.O. Box 56235 North Pole, AK 99705 kl7aj at acsalaska dot net eric.nichols at eielson dot af dot mil http://ericnichols.net
Hi Belle:
Thanks for the good words. The publisher wants to have the Opus on the shelves by Christmas. I'll be pretty busy until then gathering sidebars and art and all. But it's a whole lot of fun.
I hope you got to peruse the chapter, "Shady Radio." Your grandfather's experience listening to clandestine Western stations was quite common, and such activities deserved more than a scant mention in the Opus. :)
Eric
I agree - hard to forget sorrow
But if we can substitute joy, or some creative pursuit, it gives our brain a rest. My son is a graphic artist too - first book, "This American Drive," which he wrote and drew, published last year. There is something so poignant about telling a true story, which you have and which he did, that soothes the heart and honors your part in the memory. Best, Barb H.