"Level Up," by Gene Luen Yang

I don’t usually read graphic novels, but there have been a few I really enjoyed, such as Posy Simmonds’ “Gemma Bovery” and “Tamara Drewe,” modern takeoffs on classic novels. Another that I enjoyed was Gene Luen Yang’s “American Born Chinese,” which aptly captured at least one character’s view of being part of this particular demographic. I have just read Yang’s new graphic novel, “Level Up” (First Second, 2011), with art by Thien Pham. The main character, Dennis Ouyang, feels constrained by his dead father’s dream for him to become a gastroenterologist (ironic in that Dennis gets sick to the stomach easily), when all he really wants to do is play video games. He fell in love with Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers when he was a young kid, and ever after felt the tension between what he “should” be doing and what he loved doing. The story of this tension is the focus of the book. It is an evocative portrayal of the burden placed on young people -- Asian or not -- who feel it is their duty to fulfill their parents’ wishes even when those wishes are very contrary to the young people’s own dreams. To Yang's credit, he makes both sides -- father and son -- sympathetic. Using the form of the graphic novel to portray this tension is very effective, with the absorbing, somewhat wistful drawings reinforcing the spare-but-powerful writing. It is easy to read this book quickly, but I urge readers to slow down to appreciate the details of the drawings, and the way the language and the art reinforce each other.