Comments on: Kampung Boy Review (Which goes completely off the rails about half-way through.)

By: undertaker

undertaker — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:06:51 +0000

hey lat i like ur story books and i also want to make story book i like the one when u go napha test then u pretended to faint so the teacher said that go bring water when the water come u said u want orange juice that was so fun i want to bye many of ur books bye

By: Esther

Esther — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:17:53 +0000

I'm Malaysian (currently lounging about in the USA at the moment, though), and by golly, I'm late to comment on this. xD In any case, I'm actually rather surprised and pleased you managed to get as much feel out of Kampung Boy as you did. I'm a big fan of Lat, but I'll admit that there are huge amounts of inside jokes and Malay words in it that require some knowledge of the culture; or someone to explain it to you. "Datuk", directly translated, means "Grandfather"; Khairul is right in comparing it to the "Sir" of knighthood. It's basically a title of respect granted by the Malaysian government/crown upon some particular deed(s) of yours which have benefited Malaysia in some way. A lot of his people are based on different sterotypes, which might explain the differences in the drawings that you noted.

By: amir

amir — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:09:07 +0000

mail me...

By: amir

amir — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:08:36 +0000

Not include comics strip in daily news paper. every monday,tuesday and saturday. ican put it in my blog if you want. for the sake of comics.

By: amir

amir — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:05:26 +0000

Lat's title in that series are 28 in total. i have them all.. I'm from Malaysia btw.

By: rieka

rieka — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:13:14 +0000

HI. everybody I wanna buy comic Lat.
Please, inform me, when I can the book that. Thanks

By: Bradley Curry

Bradley Curry — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:09:13 +0000

Yeah he lives in California now, according to the wiki. This really isn't worth arguing and I'm not trying to one-up anyone. Sergio's work has never been imported so I guess that does make him American. Just sounded weird to me.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:38:05 +0000

Nitpicky time: Aragones is American? If youâ€™re talking about the continent, maybe. (Even then, Wiki says he was born in Spain.)

S. A. was born in Spain, but I think he lives in the US now-a-days.

I know he drew an autobiographical strip about moving to New York.

By: Bradley Curry

Bradley Curry — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:07:06 +0000

Nitpicky time: Aragones is American? If you're talking about the continent, maybe. (Even then, Wiki says he was born in Spain.)

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:21:45 +0000

(A) Thanks Matthew and Kairul for the confirmation that Kampung Boy was originally written in English. It didn't FEEL like a translated work and I know that most of Lat's writing was originally done in English - but I couldn't find any sources that said that Kampung Boy, specifically, was originally written in English. (B) I edited in a quick definition of "Datuk." Although I'm still not completely up on the concept. To be one you have to win one of two awards, right? Are they BOTH awards for excellence in arts? Google is surprisingly unhelpful here. (Or I'm slow an' stupid 'cause it's late and I'm tired.) (C) According to US Publisher First Second, Kampung Boy was originally released way back in '79. And Town Boy should be available state-side in October.

By: Khairul

Khairul — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:38:24 +0000

Hey, a review of LAT's Kampung Boy! Nice! It was an instant hit here in Malaysia when it first came out in '84 ('85? I don't remember). Lat writes in English and Kampung Boy was originally written in English. It was later translated into Malay. Muhammad Nor Khalid is Lat's name. 'Datuk' is a title awarded to him for his work in the arts. It's like the British 'Sir'. There's a sequel called TOWN BOY where his family moves out from the 'kampung' (village) and into a new township in 1960s Malaysia. It focuses on his teenage years and his relationship with his Chinese classmate.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:08:58 +0000

The version I bought in Malaysia was in English, and the other Lat books I've seen have all been in english too.

Sadly, most of the other comics by malaysians are only in malaysian...

Most people here speak english.

By: Matt Brady

Matt Brady — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 03:22:47 +0000

Nice review, MA. I agree, the book is totally about the place, but I felt like I got a good sense of it, or at least more than you indicate you did. That's an interesting point of discussion: how much an "outsider" can appreciate a work of art, and whether it is worth trying. I feel like it's worth the attempt, but I do need to recognize that there are things I'm missing. But it's certainly an interesting thing to think about.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:11:12 +0000

Either is correct.

By: Jack Fear

Jack Fear — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:27:41 +0000

Firefox spellcheck is pretty good... But I got it with continuums.

However, it has no problem with "continua," suggesting that the problem may not lie with Firefox spellchecker.