Saints, by Gene Yang

Saints by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Saints is a fabulous mirror to Boxers, depicting the side of the same events from the perspective of a Chinese Christian girl, Boxers' girl with a face like an opera mask. That said, this isn't a pretty story and the only saint here is Joan of Arc, who makes periodic hallucinatory appearances much like the gods and goddesses in Boxers do. One has to wonder how the events of the conflict would have unfolded if not for the superstition, ignorance, racism, and hatred on both sides. Or even the misery on a micro-level, such as a grandfather who declares a child as a cast-off, people who make assumptions about others' activities, and religious nutbags and zealots a-gogo. Despite all this, these books are incredibly written and drawn, providing a worthy container for the content.



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