Nick's review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
TAAOKAC is, in my mind, lumped in with Eugenide's Middlesex, in that they were both hugely hyped and awarded books that were published at the beginning of this century, and in that they were both middling affairs at best and undeserving of acclaim.
Both novels had virtuosic prose, huge winding, nuanced plots and subplots, but both were ultimately boring (I felt).
TAAOKAC the physical book is designed to look like a rip-roaring adventure through the golden-era of New York City, with brilliant ideas and witty jokes and daring escapes. It looks like a comic book in novel form. That's what I was expecting. That's what I didn't get.
If you lure me in with the promise of action and adventure, then blindside me with caring, feeling, and warmth; jewish guilt and homosexual identity struggles; acceptance and life-lessons learned...if you do that, then no matter how well-written your book is, your maximum star allowance is 2.
Both novels had virtuosic prose, huge winding, nuanced plots and subplots, but both were ultimately boring (I felt).
TAAOKAC the physical book is designed to look like a rip-roaring adventure through the golden-era of New York City, with brilliant ideas and witty jokes and daring escapes. It looks like a comic book in novel form. That's what I was expecting. That's what I didn't get.
If you lure me in with the promise of action and adventure, then blindside me with caring, feeling, and warmth; jewish guilt and homosexual identity struggles; acceptance and life-lessons learned...if you do that, then no matter how well-written your book is, your maximum star allowance is 2.
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