Kavalier and Clay--whole book, spoilers (Jan 2018)

[Casceil]

This thread is for those who have finished reading the entire book. Spoilers are okay in this thread only.

[Peter]

Still thinking about this. The primary themes seem (to me) to be craft and friendship and loss and love in all forms. But there is a lot going on here!

And what's with the golem? It's the one fantastic element in an otherwise non-fantastic (if at times unlikely) novel. Any theories?

[Casceil]

I think the golem is an example of something made from nothing and brought to life. My list of primary themes would include art and creativity and creation.

[Joy D]

Another theme is, of course, escape, not only literally, but figuratively. I think the two main characters were escaping from their fears.

[Casceil]

Good point. The hero the boys create is someone who can escape from anything, and helps others escape

[Marc]

This notion of comic books as a sort of golem seemed pretty rich to me, symbolically. A couple of quotes:

P119: “Every universe, our own included, begins in conversation. Every golem in the history of the world, from Rabbi Hanina’s delectable goat to the river-clay Frankenstein of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, was summoned into existence through language, through murmuring, recital, and kabbalistic chitchat---was, literally, talked into life. Kavalier and Clay---whose golem was to be formed of black lines and the four color dots of the lithographer---lay down, lit the first of five dozen cigarettes they were to consume that afternoon, and started to talk.”

P171: “Sammy and Joe went for a series of long strolls, in and out of the streets of Manhattan and Empire City, talking and dreaming and walking in circles in the prescribed manner of golem makers.”

[Casceil]

Wonderful quotes, Marc. Here is a quote I liked, about comic books as an escape:

"For that half hour spent in the dappled shade of the Douglas firs, reading Betty and Veronica, the icy ball had melted away without him even noticing. That was magic—not the apparent magic of the silk-hatted card-palmer, or the bold, brute trickery of the escape artist, but the genuine magic of art."

Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (with bonus content): A Novel (p. 576). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[David]

Just finished this fascinating novel ... I was a huge Marvel Comics fan in my childhood, and this well-researched account of so many names I remember, like Stan Lee, really took me back. I'm struck by the number of different ways in which the story brings out themes of escape, as some other readers have mentioned. Escapes from fears, from the past, from heartache, from obscurity, from the bondage of secrets, and so much more. Lots of surprises along the way for Sammy, Joe, Rosa, and others, and such intriguing circumstances that kept causing their lives to intersect.

[Casceil]

David, I'm glad you enjoyed the book.

[David]

Casceil wrote: "David, I'm glad you enjoyed the book."

Thanks, I very much did. Don't remember reading anything quite like it. Chabon is a definitely a talented writer.

[Casceil]

He is a talented writer, and many of his books are not quite like anything else I've read. And none of his books that I've read are anything much like other books of his that I have read. He keeps striking out in new directions.

[Marc]

Also, a lovely quote, Casceil! This book did seem to have quite a few quotable passages. The notion of art as a type of magic is one that appeals to me and one I thought Chabon conveyed extremely well. Also being a comic books fan growing up like David, I was impressed with how well Chabon was able to convey the feeling and experience of telling stories through the medium of comics using only prose.

It's funny, there were parts of this book I loved (especially the last 200 pages or so when Joe comes back and is meeting with his son in secret), but overall I found it a bit disappointing (probably due to pretty high expectations on my part).

[Casceil]

Certainly some parts of it were better than others. What did you think of Joe's rescue of Salvidor Dali?