davramlocke's Reviews (777)

I am clueless about the historical accuracy of this book, but making a assumptive leap, this is a great way to learn about a period in history or even a mythological story. Yang's humor and the way he manages to inject a simple humanity into his characters and art makes reading potentially dry subjects vastly more interesting. Not that the Boxer Rebellion is necessarily a dry subject, but learning about it through the graphic novel medium is infinitely more palatable than trying to struggle through a history book.

Obviously this book is full of authorial bias and injects a fair amount of supernatural hoo-hah into it, but that's part of what makes it so interesting. It also imparts some actual knowledge and tells a great story. I'm looking forward to reading the companion book, Saints (which seems to tell of the same time period through someone else's eyes).

Man has sex with bird. Babby formed.

A surprisingly relevant book considering that it's 75 years old or whatever. Still plenty to learn, and a testament that human behavior doesn't change all that much over time.

I enjoyed reading this. It breaks down somewhat complicated neuroscience research into readable information, while integrating brain chemistry with more ephemeral things like love and joy. It doesn't explain why or how our emotions work, but it gives some insight into how they might work. Definitely readable.

A book that could teach entire courses on understatement. Beautiful in many ways. Subtle. As sparse as a tree in winter but with deep roots.