Summerland
by Michael Chabon
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1824)
Read in November, 2007
An intriguing mix of Beowolf, Native American lore and baseball, "Summerland" is the coming-of-age story of Ethan Feld. Many of the standard elements of this type of story are found in "Summerland" including a difficult past for Ethan as well as a search for acceptance by his father. Other characters include Ethan's friend and sidekick Jennifer T and his guide, 'Cutbelly,' a werefox.
Mr. Chabon is clearly working within the 'arch-myth' framework. "Star Wars," &qu...more
Mr. Chabon is clearly working within the 'arch-myth' framework. "Star Wars," &qu...more
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Read in January, 2008
Ethan Feld is a regular kid who is not very good at baseball. He's going through some things that a lot of kids go through, except for the fact that he's chosen to save Clam Island on which he lives. He makes some friends, all of whom are imperative in his adventures to defeat Coyote, the essence of all Evil.
Chabon had a relatively decent idea, bringing in a lot of Native American folklore and mythology, religion, fantasy, etc. But the fantasy he chose to create was ultimately flat. Clam...more
Chabon had a relatively decent idea, bringing in a lot of Native American folklore and mythology, religion, fantasy, etc. But the fantasy he chose to create was ultimately flat. Clam...more
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Summerland, by Michael Chabon, is a baseball-themed novel about Ethan Feld and his friends'(Jenifer T. Rideout, Thor Wignutt, Cinquefoil the ferister, Taffy the sasquach, Cutbelly the werefox, Grim the giant, Pettipaw the wererat, and Spider-Rose the ferisher) attempt to defeat the evil Coyote (he's not a coyote, that's just his name). In this novel, Ethen starts out as a kid who is not that good at baseball and is on the worst team in Summerland. His dad loves baseball, so Ethan tries ha...more
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Read in August, 2006
recommends it for:
you
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author take a stab at writing for young adults. A very clever fantasy incorporating our ‘real’ world with a parallel one that most mere humans don’t know about, this is adventure and fantasy in brilliant colorful language and solid, interesting characters, mostly young or not human. Ethan Field, the protagonist young fellow, is wonderful as he embarks on the challenge of rescuing his father from evil Coyote, and ends up working to save the world while he’s at...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
only people who have not read Chabon's other work
In one of my favorite books, Wonder Boys (also by Chabon), the main character Grady Tripp is described as writing a novel that just goes on endlessly without any real end in sight...Reading this book felt like that a lot of the time! The only difference was that instead of endless, overly detailed description (which is supposedly what Grady Tripp fell victim to), I felt that this book did not have enough - he contstantly introduced new concepts and characters, with little explanation, and I had ...more
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Read in May, 2006
I love Michael Chabon and this was one book of his that I haven’t read. I picked up it at Gotham Books in Manhattan and couldn’t wait to read it…even though it was a book for *kids*. I was disappointed in a way. It was a fantastic tale of *other levels of existence* that just rang flat for me. Here is what Amazon says: The setting is Clam Island, Washington, specifically the area on the western tip of the island known as the Summerlands, which enjoys zero rainfall and yearlong fine w...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
"They traded in their hell-hammers for bats, and their iron slippers for lace-up leather spikes. That's how all the demon virtues-patience, deception, quick hands, craftiness, an eye for the mistakes of others-they all got dragged deep into the game."
No, Mr. Chabon wasn't talking SPECIFICALLY about the New York Yankees...but we all get the reference, right? You know the feeling you get when you start reading something and internally you're going, "yeah, what he said, uhhuh, y...more
No, Mr. Chabon wasn't talking SPECIFICALLY about the New York Yankees...but we all get the reference, right? You know the feeling you get when you start reading something and internally you're going, "yeah, what he said, uhhuh, y...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
children who love wild adventure
While I had trouble falling into the story, the writing, as would be expected with venerable Mr. Chabon, was superb.
I read this book on the recommendation of my daughter and my wife as they both really loved the book. As a kids book goes, this thing is packed with everything that make children's literature memorable and stuffed with so much more that I hope children everywhere get the opportunity to read this book.
Using baseball as The Creation Story, Michael Chabon delightfully spi...more
I read this book on the recommendation of my daughter and my wife as they both really loved the book. As a kids book goes, this thing is packed with everything that make children's literature memorable and stuffed with so much more that I hope children everywhere get the opportunity to read this book.
Using baseball as The Creation Story, Michael Chabon delightfully spi...more
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Read in December, 2007
This book was about a guy who hated baseball but finds out it ain't so bad after all. The only reason he had to go play baseball was because the little league having their playoffs summerlands needed a substitute and he was there only choice. As you reach the climax or middle you will learn plenty of canges about Ethan and his attitude towards summerland and baseball.The ending is amazingly surprisingly I just thought that the indians he meets or the players make you get confused with who's who ...more
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Read in January, 2008
Imagine Lord of the Rings if the characters stopped every couple days to play baseball.
Working within an amalgamation of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his way across the...more
Working within an amalgamation of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his way across the...more
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Read in January, 2008
Imagine Lord of the Rings if the characters stopped every couple days to play baseball.
Working within an apotheosis of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his way across the S...more
Working within an apotheosis of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his way across the S...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of both baseball and His Dark Materials
You see, Michael Chabon is easily in my top 3 of living writers. He had a pretty high bar to reach. He did not go over the bar. He hit the bar, BUT he fell with a flair of finesse.
This book is well written and I liked it but not nearly as much as his other works. It is for children and therefor very different than his regular style but I simply felt he left out or bungled the descriptions of the fantastic creatures he writes about. There was also a hollowness in a lot of the characters th...more
This book is well written and I liked it but not nearly as much as his other works. It is for children and therefor very different than his regular style but I simply felt he left out or bungled the descriptions of the fantastic creatures he writes about. There was also a hollowness in a lot of the characters th...more
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Read in January, 2008
I loved this book! Jason and I came across it while looking in the juvenile fiction section for books that would be a little more challenging for Anna. I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by the same author a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I was intrigued. I requested it from the library and decided I would read it before Anna to make sure it was appropriate (and because it sounded good). I think the reading level and length (it's 500 pages) may be a bit much for Anna righ...more
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Think Narnia meets Western/White culture. Think Excalibur as a baseball bat in the hands of Smalls from The Sandlot. It's totally cute and makes you feel like you are 8 again, with clever archetypes and brilliant writing.
The subtext is also quite compelling. The kids are white and live in the San Juans of Washington, so the "ferishers" (fairies) of their alternate universe summer have Native American-ish heritage.
Classic themes include escapism, the hero quest, friendship, etc......more
The subtext is also quite compelling. The kids are white and live in the San Juans of Washington, so the "ferishers" (fairies) of their alternate universe summer have Native American-ish heritage.
Classic themes include escapism, the hero quest, friendship, etc......more
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I had high hopes for this book. I've been looking for a while for a YA Fantasy book strongly rooted in America, using our past and culture instead of referencing a midieval European culture we have little relationship to. This book substituted baseball, bigfoot, and Native American mythology for wizards and dragons and chainmail, but it unfortunately didn't take itself seriously enough.
Michael Chabon may be a truly talented writer, but I got the feeling like he wrote this as vacation from ...more
Michael Chabon may be a truly talented writer, but I got the feeling like he wrote this as vacation from ...more
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Read in December, 2005
Summerland is a difficult book to review. I waffled for a few moments between 3 and 4 stars. Ultimately, I gave it three largely because I could not imagine myself reading it again.
Chabon mashes up the children's fantasy with his intense love of baseball. This is a book tailor-made for me, right? Well, I got through it. And, honestly (here comes reason #2 for demoting it to 3 stars), I don't remember a lot about it.
It has sort of the typical plot of the somewhat outcast kid who fi...more
Chabon mashes up the children's fantasy with his intense love of baseball. This is a book tailor-made for me, right? Well, I got through it. And, honestly (here comes reason #2 for demoting it to 3 stars), I don't remember a lot about it.
It has sort of the typical plot of the somewhat outcast kid who fi...more
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Read in October, 2003
recommends it for:
Fans of baseball, fantasy, and fun combinations of the two
First things first: I don't like baseball. I don't like sports.
That said, I read this book while the Chicago Cubs were in the American League playoffs, which was a modern miracle in itself. And this book played into that perfectly.
My best description is that it's "The Sandlot" as a fantasy novel. Chabon wrote it as a children's novel, but it's a big fat adults' book as well. It has the simpler, straightforward language of young adult fiction, but the respect for the reader fou...more
That said, I read this book while the Chicago Cubs were in the American League playoffs, which was a modern miracle in itself. And this book played into that perfectly.
My best description is that it's "The Sandlot" as a fantasy novel. Chabon wrote it as a children's novel, but it's a big fat adults' book as well. It has the simpler, straightforward language of young adult fiction, but the respect for the reader fou...more
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Read in June, 2008
I began listening to the audiobook of this just over a month before the day of my wedding. The first thing I'll say is that Chabon's reading of his characters is unbelievable. He has voices for every character that really create a great picture in the listener's mind. I was instantly enthralled. Then the one month mark hit and, while I've listened to about six discs since then, my wandering mind has caught very little. Now with under a week to go, I've decided to table this one until my min...more
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Read in December, 2007
I loved this book. Not quite as much as Kavalier & Clay, but still in the five star range. It had a kind of Neil Gaiman-y take on myth. I love books that explore myth or archtypes in a modern context, but this was a really good example. I have to admit the characters were far more likeable and accessible to me than many of Gaiman's characters. I enjoy baseball but I can't say I'm a big baseball fan' this really conveyed a sense of what the true fans see in it. I haven't read Chabon's wo...more
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I liked The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and was eager to see how the author would do with a book for teens... and I was disappointed. There is a misconception out there that fantasy is easy to write - just make anything up and bang you've got yourself a fantasy novel... well, this book would be exhibit one when arguing that that is just not true. Fantasy, GOOD Fantasy, it turns out is very difficult to write. Nothing about this book is believable or rings true. It's just a bunch...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.43 (1411 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.44 (1063 ratings) number of reviews: 189popular shelves
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"It really is a shame that through our sad neglect of wonders, hopefulness, and trust we allowed so much clutter and debris to build up in the space that once connected us to Diamond Green.""
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