Grant's review

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3985.The_Amazing_Adventures_of_Kavalier_Clay?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier &amp; Clay" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226235457m/3985.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3985.The_Amazing_Adventures_of_Kavalier_Clay?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2715.Michael_Chabon">Michael Chabon</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9861405?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 3 of 5 stars<br/>     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 not super-hero like escapades, but the everyday triumphs, ordeals, and suffering two middle-class men in america might face in that time.  they are not saving women and foiling super villains.  they are doing the unglamorous and unfullfilling: creating their art of which they do not reap the full benefit, living a lie and losing a chance at love because of others' closed minded views on sexuality, and living with extreme guilt because you live comfortably while your family abroad is killed for no good reason and on top of that feeling powerless to stop it.  at times all of that great, everyday desperation comes out.  i like that sammy is kind of joe's side-kick in keeping with the comic book theme.  though i think not enough attention is given sammy through most of the book.  chabon's talent for detail and research or very evident here. the wet streets and smokey dinner rooms of prague, the inky, long hours of the comic business.  awsome.
<br/>     but for me the book seems to lose its sturdy ground after the first 200 pages or so and not gain it back until the end.  for me too much detail or space was focused in the wrong place.  chabon's writing is solid, which comes out is his descriptions of action, work, cities, food.  but the writing does not dig the reader deeper into the story, into the characters.  so many mini adventures happen in the middle, and they are always easily solved by a phone call to the president's wife or a quick fight.  these little adventures are wrapped up faster than a comicbook.  many of these take place during the tease regarding thomas's situation.  everything's fine, not fine, fine, not fine, then you know...the you know lost it's power for me.  the situation from the beginning seemed to rely on a fix that was too quick.  i did not get the build up of sweat and ingenuity that put it in place.  so when the end of that smaller story came, i did not feel it was earned. this also goes for characters whose background takes up nearly as much space as their actual interaction in the book. for instance the other comic book creators who start with joe and sammy or the american facist who joe stops in one single move. then there is one of the biggest characters of all; cigarette ash.  a lot of time was given to describing cigarette ash. and instead detail is missing that builds the relationships between joe and sammy, sammy and rosa, and to a lesser extent rosa and joe. for me it was not until the end where rosa and sammy  are married that any real intimacy is conveyed.  but even there the relationship is not explored much.  not to give it away, but that to me is the most interesting part of the book, the dynamic twist.  but we end up knowing little about it's day to day life.  
<br/>     which leads me to joe's disappearance.  like "to the lighthouse" this could have been an opportunity for change based on an event larger than the story and the event's personal effect it has on the characters causing them to take on new roles, grow if you will.  joe's absence set's up rosa and sammy's relationship, but what does it serve.  joe does return.  and he is the same.  we learn very little about what he has been doing, people he has been in contact with, if he has truly come to terms with the holocaust.  a fourth of the book is taken up telling about him being stationed in antartica after his attempt to actually fight in the war effort.  so he can't do anything about his family?  we already knew that.  and all the time rosa still loves joe.  and sammy still hates having to live a lie about his sexuality and work by selling his soul.  joe's disappearence simply serve to createa reunion.  but no one changed, which means the drama of the reunion is limited. joe and sammy even want to start doing comics again together. it's like the beginning of the book.
<br/>      last i feel the theme of the golem is never really taken advantage of.  certainly their comic hero nor any of the individual characters embody that role.  and maybe it is that they are all at times playing that role for each other, taking care of each other.  
<br/>     i liked it.  but it could have been much better.  the book is torn about what to focus on and i think chabon was weighed down by the volume he took on, and simply skimmed the surface of the incredible characters he created.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/652004?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Grant's review
rating:

bookshelves: 20th-century-american-literary-nove
status: Read in July, 2008

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 not super-hero like escapades, but the everyday triumphs, ordeals, and suffering two middle-class men in america might face in that time. they are not saving women and foiling super villains. they are doing the unglamorous and unfullfilling: creating their art of which they do not reap the full benefit, living a lie and losing a chance at love because of others' closed minded views on sexuality, and living with extreme guilt because you live comfortably while your family abroad is killed for ...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 not super-hero like escapades, but the everyday triumphs, ordeals, and suffering two middle-class men in america might face in that time. they are not saving women and foiling super villains. they are doing the unglamorous and unfullfilling: creating their art of which they do not reap the full benefit, living a lie and losing a chance at love because of others' closed minded views on sexuality, and living with extreme guilt because you live comfortably while your family abroad is killed for no good reason and on top of that feeling powerless to stop it. at times all of that great, everyday desperation comes out. i like that sammy is kind of joe's side-kick in keeping with the comic book theme. though i think not enough attention is given sammy through most of the book. chabon's talent for detail and research or very evident here. the wet streets and smokey dinner rooms of prague, the inky, long hours of the comic business. awsome.
but for me the book seems to lose its sturdy ground after the first 200 pages or so and not gain it back until the end. for me too much detail or space was focused in the wrong place. chabon's writing is solid, which comes out is his descriptions of action, work, cities, food. but the writing does not dig the reader deeper into the story, into the characters. so many mini adventures happen in the middle, and they are always easily solved by a phone call to the president's wife or a quick fight. these little adventures are wrapped up faster than a comicbook. many of these take place during the tease regarding thomas's situation. everything's fine, not fine, fine, not fine, then you know...the you know lost it's power for me. the situation from the beginning seemed to rely on a fix that was too quick. i did not get the build up of sweat and ingenuity that put it in place. so when the end of that smaller story came, i did not feel it was earned. this also goes for characters whose background takes up nearly as much space as their actual interaction in the book. for instance the other comic book creators who start with joe and sammy or the american facist who joe stops in one single move. then there is one of the biggest characters of all; cigarette ash. a lot of time was given to describing cigarette ash. and instead detail is missing that builds the relationships between joe and sammy, sammy and rosa, and to a lesser extent rosa and joe. for me it was not until the end where rosa and sammy are married that any real intimacy is conveyed. but even there the relationship is not explored much. not to give it away, but that to me is the most interesting part of the book, the dynamic twist. but we end up knowing little about it's day to day life.
which leads me to joe's disappearance. like "to the lighthouse" this could have been an opportunity for change based on an event larger than the story and the event's personal effect it has on the characters causing them to take on new roles, grow if you will. joe's absence set's up rosa and sammy's relationship, but what does it serve. joe does return. and he is the same. we learn very little about what he has been doing, people he has been in contact with, if he has truly come to terms with the holocaust. a fourth of the book is taken up telling about him being stationed in antartica after his attempt to actually fight in the war effort. so he can't do anything about his family? we already knew that. and all the time rosa still loves joe. and sammy still hates having to live a lie about his sexuality and work by selling his soul. joe's disappearence simply serve to createa reunion. but no one changed, which means the drama of the reunion is limited. joe and sammy even want to start doing comics again together. it's like the beginning of the book.
last i feel the theme of the golem is never really taken advantage of. certainly their comic hero nor any of the individual characters embody that role. and maybe it is that they are all at times playing that role for each other, taking care of each other.
i liked it. but it could have been much better. the book is torn about what to focus on and i think chabon was weighed down by the volume he took on, and simply skimmed the surface of the incredible characters he created....less

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message 1: by Noelle

05/29/2008 12:04PM

I hope you are enjoying this book, I really liked it.

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message 2: by Grant

05/29/2008 12:46PM

i'm about a fourth of the way through and so far it's great. especially kavalier's prague background. since you liked this book a lot, i think you'd like "motherless brooklyn" by johnathan lethem. kinda in the same vein. but i hope you and the fam are doing well.

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message 3: by Noelle

05/29/2008 02:02PM

Thanks, I added Motherless Brooklyn to my "to read" list. The Fam is great...big fun.

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message 4: by Sarita

09/22/2008 08:38PM

Nicely summed up.

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