Xuan

My first graphic novel and I finished it in 2 days - although it meant pushing back the books in queue to make way *guilty as charged

Forget Sorrow is really an impulse buy i.e. read an article about it in the papers in the morning and got it that same evening @ Borders.

Fortunately, it isn't something I regretted buying. 

Forget Sorrow is a true-life tale of the author's life (an American-Chinese) that mostly focus on her father's recollection of growing up in China through WWII and the Communist revolution. And yes, all in drawings, sketches, comical/heartfelt dialogues and all. Very creative I must say. 

It opened up my eyes to how bad life was back then in China where many of the people lived in poverty. And also how even your own family members could turn their backs at the first sign of a disappearing wealth. 

It was the bleakest Spring Festival in memory. In the previous year we were worried that there were no New Year Eve's dumplings. This year, we were fighting with the mice for the grain fallen beneath the floorboards.

A refreshing way of reading a memoir rather than the usual hundreds of word-filled pages to burrow through. The only thing I am not too keen is the few not-too-clear writings in the speech bubbles. I think I squinted a bit trying to read those. Overall though the story is good. Engaging and fascinating.

By the way, Xuan is the author's Chinese name which translates as "Forget Sorrow".

My Rating: