Kavalier & Clay
10/ 9/02 | Book
Michael Chabon is awesome. I really liked Wonder Boys and I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I started reading this book about nine months ago and wasn't willing to put enough time into it, for it is a mammoth book (640 paperback pages). So I only got about a third of the way through before school work got in the way. Over the last couple weeks I polished off the last 400 pages.
The story is wonderful, and terribly cinematic. I wish I'd read more of his earlier stuff, because I'm curious if he used the same imagery before he had one of his novels made into a film. It's amazing how he was able to really use each of the pages to push forward the story, and not just fill them with unnecessary bable.
Despite the strength of the story, the characters are the heart of this book. It's nearly impossible to dislike or not care about the main characters. Even the periphery characters are well-crafted.
Since this is a mini-review, I'm going to cut out all the details, but this book is just plain fantastic. Lots of entertainment, lots of emotion, and a story based on the rise of the comic book. Can it get much better?
11/19/02 8:09 AM
I bought this book in May and haven't started it yet. Busy, busy. (Guess that could be my excuse for replying to this review more than a month later, as well.) But you should read The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Let me know if it's a great book because Michael Chabon is great, or if it's a great book because it's about my city and I spent the whole time thinking, "I've been there!"
11/20/02 2:12 AM
An even shorter review: While this may have been the longest book I have read for a while, it was also one of the best. Did you happen to pick up the the issue of McSweeney's that had The Further Adventures of Kavalier & Clay? Michael Chabon also has a great web site of his own and he'll be editing the new issue (#10) of McSweeney's. Look for it.