The second half of American Born Chinese ends in a way I was not expecting. In this second half, the Monkey King goes on a quest as the disciple of a man working for Tze-Yo-Tzuh. He became an emissary for Tze-Yo-Tzuh after completing the journey. Jin Wang transforms into Danny after renouncing his Asian heritage and breaking his friendship with Wei-Chen. It then travels three years into the future where Chin-Kee is visiting Jin-Wang/Danny for the third time. Chin-Kee and Danny get in a fight during which Danny unveils Chin-Kee to be the Monkey King. Danny then turns back into Jin-Wang. The Monkey King then reveals that Wei-Chen is his eldest son and that he has strayed from his path to become an emissary. Danny eventually rights this wrong and becomes friends with Wei-Chen again.
The ending of this book is pretty unexpected. I knew the story would come together somehow but I didn't expect it to be so literal about it. I thought each story would have a lesson that linked with the others yet the ending was written in a way I think I liked more.
My opinions on the book is that its a good quick read. The whole book didn't take me over an hour and a half. The story itself is interesting and the animations help the reader visualize. While this may not have been my favorite novel so far, it definitely wasn't the worst. I found the style the book had to be unique and would be surprised to see another book like it in this class. Overall, I give this book a 3/5. While the majority never had me extremely interested, I was never bored with the story and I greatly enjoyed the ending.
I thought it was interesting that Wei-Chan was a monkey. That was just one more way that all the stories fit together.
ReplyDeleteIt was an easy read. The ending I think made the story. Everybody transformed in some way and everybody was connected.
ReplyDeleteI also was very surprised about the ending. I too thought that the stories would all have an overall lesion that would lead into one another. I did like the way this ended (although very confusing)
ReplyDeleteI agree. I appreciate how it tied together, but it became a bit strange at the end. I thought the Danny story would be purely in Jin's imagination. I wasn't expecting him to actually turn into him.
DeleteYeah I liked this book more than Brown Girl Dreaming. Some parts of it were a bit dull, but I also enjoyed the ending.
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