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39th out of 3,121 books
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13,868 voters
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just smuggled himself out of Nazi-invaded Prague and landed in New York City. His Brooklyn cousin Sammy Clay is looking for a partner to create heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit America - the comic book. Drawing on their own fears and dreams, Kavalier ...more
Paperback, 636 pages
Published
August 25th 2001
by Picador
(first published September 19th 2000)
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Jessica
rated it
Recommends it for:
everyone but me, they all seem to love it
Shelves:
here-is-new-york
Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman are drinking Peet's coffee and eating zampanos in front of the Cheeseboard on Shattuck Avenue.
MC: Ayelet, I'm trying to think of a new idea for a novel. It's gotta be fresh, bold.... Something nobody's ever thought of before!
AW: Wow, Michael, that's a tough one. There have been so very many novels written over the years, it's hard to come up with something new that's never been done before....
MC: Yeah, I need an idea that's to...more
MC: Ayelet, I'm trying to think of a new idea for a novel. It's gotta be fresh, bold.... Something nobody's ever thought of before!
AW: Wow, Michael, that's a tough one. There have been so very many novels written over the years, it's hard to come up with something new that's never been done before....
MC: Yeah, I need an idea that's to...more
In the street
“Hey!”
“Huh? me?”
“Yeah – you. You wouldn’t know great American literature if a pigeon pooed it all over your anorak.”
Wow – that was surreal… who the hell were those guys?
At the office
“The boss wants to see you.”
Oh my… that’s Mrs Higgins sitting there with Mr Duthie – she’s from the HR department! What’s going on?
“Paul, hi, sit down, yes. This is… rather awkward. You see, it has come to o...more
“Hey!”
“Huh? me?”
“Yeah – you. You wouldn’t know great American literature if a pigeon pooed it all over your anorak.”
Wow – that was surreal… who the hell were those guys?
At the office
“The boss wants to see you.”
Oh my… that’s Mrs Higgins sitting there with Mr Duthie – she’s from the HR department! What’s going on?
“Paul, hi, sit down, yes. This is… rather awkward. You see, it has come to o...more
"Absolutely, gosh ,wow" (cover quip) on his sentences? Yes, very yes. Chabon can flat out compose sentences. Think Dickens, Pynchon, Tolstoy. But that's it. You keep waiting for the sentences to compile some meaning but they never seem to achieve any depth. He uses the backdrop of the comic book heydays, WWII, and magic acts, his neither here nor there Jewish-ness, to stitch together an overly long book that basically explores the relationship between two male characters who are carica...more
Kelly
rated it
Recommends it for:
everyone, particularly anyone who has had an "escapist" hobby (esp. comic books)
Whenever I mentioned the name of this book to a friend, a huge grin broke out of their face. This was a universal reaction. As were the words: "I LOVE that book. That book is GREAT." Not just how good it was, or skilled writing (though those things are also very true), but just how in love with it they were. You can't fake that. And now I know why! It's the sort of book you just get deeply attached to. Which usually doesn't come with this level of writing skill. This is a rarity. A cla...more
I did not get this book. First of all, there was too much gay rape. Second, not enough cocaine. Also, I do not like cartoons. This book could be renamed Superman Had Daddy Issues and nobody would know the difference, except the people who read it, who wouldn't care anyway, 'cause they'd all be too shocked about the gay rape. Ban this useless book from Good Reads.
NC
NC
Katja
rated it
Recommends it for:
people who "just don't get comics". and people who do
Shelves:
meh
This book might eventually merit a new shelf: stuff I keep trying to read and put aside because while they are good and everyone raves about them I just jump at the chance to read almost anything else.
In terms of writing, scope of imagination, and peregrinations of plot, completely deserving of its Pulitzer, but there's a self-congratulatory facility, a "look how I make a marginalized hobby into an academic metaphor for life and growing up in America and I TALK ABOUT THE HOLOCAUS...more
In terms of writing, scope of imagination, and peregrinations of plot, completely deserving of its Pulitzer, but there's a self-congratulatory facility, a "look how I make a marginalized hobby into an academic metaphor for life and growing up in America and I TALK ABOUT THE HOLOCAUS...more
Aaron and I are starting a club for people who hated this boring, boring book. Anyone want to join?
Laura
marked it as tried-to-read-and-gave-up
I know I'm totally an outlier on this one. But I tried four times, literally four times, to read this and could never get past page 50. It's extraordinary enough for me to give a book a second chance after flunking my 50-page rule, but a third and a fourth? That was enough for me. And I love comic books, too. So go figure.
Taka
rated it
Awesome (4.5)--
Chabon is now one of my three favorite contemporary writers (others are David Foster Wallace and Neal Stephenson) with his graceful, elegant prose, extensive vocabulary, and entertaining plot. While the book was not "fall-on-the-floor-funny" as one reviewer says, it certainly was entertaining and beautifully written. I really was floored by many of his metaphors.
Many reviewers complain of Chabon's narration that does a lot more telling than showin...more
Chabon is now one of my three favorite contemporary writers (others are David Foster Wallace and Neal Stephenson) with his graceful, elegant prose, extensive vocabulary, and entertaining plot. While the book was not "fall-on-the-floor-funny" as one reviewer says, it certainly was entertaining and beautifully written. I really was floored by many of his metaphors.
Many reviewers complain of Chabon's narration that does a lot more telling than showin...more
Recently, I attended the Mountains and Plains regional trade show in Denver. As I was walking out the door to go to the airport, I realized I did not have a book to read during my flight. I dropped my suitcase and walked over to my book shelf. Hurriedly scanning the books, my eyes settled on ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay’ the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Chabon. I bought this when it first released in 2000. Back then, I got about 50 pages into it and gave up. I don’t kn...more
Is it just me or do you hate it when you can see how a book is going to end and you don't want it end that way? With 100+ pages to go, I lowered the book and sulked. Sulked in that way I knew that Maria would ask what was wrong. She did. She never fails me.
Do you not like the book?
I did. I loved the book. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon is a wonderful book. Maria's kids wanted to buy their father a book for his birthday and had pi...more
this is a bit of a rant. i liked this book, but it just did not live up to my expectations. what to say. not quite sure. it opens great. sammy's background with his father and joe's escape from prague are a wonderful set up. but in some ways, in particular joe's very adventurous beginning, the beginning is unbalanced. we never really see that kind of adventure again. but nor do we want to, because the beauty of this novel is that "the amazing adventures" of these two men are...more
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY BY MICHAEL CHABON: Michael Chabon, author of Wonder Boys, brings us the Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. A riveting novel of the comic book world set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Its two heroes, Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, fight through the world of color, ink and writing, to compete with the likes of Superman and Batman - the result is an amazing story that has never been told.
This is a co...more
This is a co...more
I hated this book. For me the characters were not only unlikeable but lifeless. The whole thing was contrived and pretentious and painful to read from start to finish. I am dumbfounded by people's enthusiasm for this book. Dumbfounded.
An odd thing about Chabon - when I'm immersed in the middle of one of his books, I'm as fully engaged as with just about any work by anyone else I've ever read. But, inevitably, as I near the end of his novels, I sense a growing distance, and somehow, upon reaching the end, I'm disengaged, and no longer have that compelling urge and desire to want to know more, as you might in a book you don't wish to end; nor do I find the sense of completion that works its way into being at the completion of o...more
I read this book mostly because I had heard that Chabon has mad writing skillz (when someone has skills with a "z" it's pretty impressive). Chabon certainly has a way with words. This book only earned two stars from me for two reasons. The first being that the book was altogether too long. I felt several parts could have been stricken from the book and the story would not have suffered for it.
The second, and more controversial reason, is that I did not care for the grap...more
The second, and more controversial reason, is that I did not care for the grap...more
Book Review: Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, (Harper Perennial, London, 2005)
When I chose to study my Twentieth Century American Literature module, I did so in spite of this book, rather than because of it. The idea of a book about comic books did not exactly enamour me. I'm not a fan of the genre (the main reason being the amount of time it would take to go back and become up to speed with it all).
At 636 pages of rather small (althoug...more
i couldn't help it! one day i went down to the fiction floor of the library when i was supposed to be doing something industrious and boring and ended up with this in my hand. we'll see...
(LATER THAT MONTH) sitting in the car on monday night, i had a long discussion with my novel dealer and confidante the Frog about michael chabon's writing. here was my experience with this book. i felt informed, interested and edified about the world of pre-wwii prague that chabon vivified, about th...more
(LATER THAT MONTH) sitting in the car on monday night, i had a long discussion with my novel dealer and confidante the Frog about michael chabon's writing. here was my experience with this book. i felt informed, interested and edified about the world of pre-wwii prague that chabon vivified, about th...more
I recently heard an interview in which Michael Chabon compared his plotting skills to Bob Dylan's singing skills -- Chabon feels he is not a naturally gifted plotter, but he enjoys a good plot so much that he is willing to work hard to find his own voice, so to speak. What most struck me about the plot of Kavalier and Clay are the risks Chabon is willing to take -- moving the action to truly unexpected places. Some of the routes he takes to get to his destination feel a bit circuitous, with the ...more
michael chabon has co-opted the rich history of comicdom's golden age to produce his signature melodrama. in choosing to totally squander the potential of said history to tell a trite, glitzy story of successful Jewish boys torn apart by war and their love for a woman, he's making light of his superior source materials in a way that's frustrating for anyone who has grown up with serious appreciation for comics. it's clear chabon has read comics and that he likes them, but i'm not altogether sur...more
Shovelmonkey1
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone looking for a philip roth-lite
Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by:
1001 books list and a chance encounter in a book shop
Shelves:
1001-books,
read-in-2012
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is amazing. Well, some of it is. To be specific I found it fairly amazing up until about page 429. Then it got slightly less amazing which was sad really because, prior to that it was zipping along so nicely like Superman with a new stream-lined cape sliding in and out of the slip stream. After page 429 it became a bit more like Superman trying to erratically jump over tall buildings with Dr Octopus tied to one leg and the Juggernaut tied to the other....more
chabon's a good writer, and for the first 50 pages or so, I thought it was gonna be a good one. but then it just started to suck. I shouldn't even have finished it, but I did. can't believe it won a pulizter or whatever. he beats you over the head with the escape/escapist theme, the reader had totally figured out that the main dude is gay for like 150 pages before the gay guy does, argh god it was awful....
Peter
added it
I consider myself an aficionado of scrambled eggs. I cook them every day. So, of all the remarkably researched details that Chabon gets right, I was most impressed when one character explains the best way to scramble an egg—and he’s spot on.
Amazing, indeed. The title of the novel sounds childish and gamey, but it is apt; to read this is to embark on an amazing adventure.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is the story of two comic book-loving Jewish cousins—one fro...more
Amazing, indeed. The title of the novel sounds childish and gamey, but it is apt; to read this is to embark on an amazing adventure.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is the story of two comic book-loving Jewish cousins—one fro...more
This book left me pretty cold. The only character who interested me much was Joe. The rest were at best unappealing, at worst repellant. Granted, the whole comic book scene of the late 40’s and early 50’s has little enough interest for me, but I don’t think that was the problem.
This is not a funny book, though parts of it are funny. It’s more of a saga, really, and is longer than the material merits, in my humble opinion. Michael Chabon is rather a long-winded guy, as I pointe...more
This is not a funny book, though parts of it are funny. It’s more of a saga, really, and is longer than the material merits, in my humble opinion. Michael Chabon is rather a long-winded guy, as I pointe...more
Bloated with historical detail, it reminded me why I never liked reading history textbooks: no matter how salient the facts, external detail just can't move me in the way that empathetic, developed internal detail can. I think Chabon should have either written a creative non-fiction work about the comic book heyday (for which he obviously has a strong passion) or focused more on writing a gripping novel. I imagine that if you're as enthralled with comic books and their place in American history ...more
An amazing book.
Kavalier operates on a number of levels. It is a romance, a love triangle among Joe, Sammy and Rosa all loving each other in various ways. It is an historical fiction about the Golden Age of comic books featuring many of the big names in the industry. It is a literary exploration of the concept of Escape, physical and psychologic—from magician tricks, from political pogroms. from reality, from closets, from guilt and fear. And like comics, the joys, hopes and sorrows,...more
Kavalier operates on a number of levels. It is a romance, a love triangle among Joe, Sammy and Rosa all loving each other in various ways. It is an historical fiction about the Golden Age of comic books featuring many of the big names in the industry. It is a literary exploration of the concept of Escape, physical and psychologic—from magician tricks, from political pogroms. from reality, from closets, from guilt and fear. And like comics, the joys, hopes and sorrows,...more
Michael Chabon is an artist of the highest order. The sentences in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay had my mind doing backflips. I couldn't help but think of Dostoevsky, of Joyce, of Woolf, of Morrison. This guy can really write--and to my delight, Chabon has written many novels I can start devouring in the future.
But more than the simple, aesthetic pleasure of reading all 636 pages of narrative prose, I became enraptured by these characters. So enraptured, in fact, by Sam...more
But more than the simple, aesthetic pleasure of reading all 636 pages of narrative prose, I became enraptured by these characters. So enraptured, in fact, by Sam...more
Jennifer (aka EM)
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by:
Turtle Culpepper
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Much like Catch-22, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Fortress of Solitude, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay has long been on my list of "books I'm pretty sure I'll really like, but daaaamn it's long so maybe later." But after listening to two of my sophomore boys gush over it last spring, I decided that if they can find time for Michael Chabon's materpiece, then so can I.
And so I did.
And I am so, so glad.
Hailing from Prag...more
And so I did.
And I am so, so glad.
Hailing from Prag...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| better shorter | 16 | 158 | Feb 07, 2012 07:57am | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Kavalier and Clay - Part VI - FINAL Discussion | 5 | 8 | Feb 01, 2012 12:16pm | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Kavalier and Clay - Part V - Discussion | 7 | 8 | Jan 28, 2012 10:15am | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Part IV - The Golden Age | 4 | 6 | Jan 28, 2012 10:12am | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Kavalier and Clay - Part III - Discussion | 2 | 6 | Jan 27, 2012 09:08pm | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Kavalier and Clay - Part II - Discussion | 4 | 9 | Jan 15, 2012 08:24am | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Kavalier and Clay - Part I - Discussion | 10 | 12 | Jan 14, 2012 09:57am |
Readers Also Enjoyed
Michael Chabon is the bestselling author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.
More about Michael Chabon...
He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, the novelist Ayelet Waldman, and their children.
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“The true magic of this broken world lay in the ability of the things it contained to vanish, to become so thoroughly lost, that they might never have existed in the first place.”
—
39 people liked it
“In the immemorial style of young men under pressure, they decided to lie down for a while and waste time.”
—
37 people liked it
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Feb 06, 2012 04:49pm
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