The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

I know, I know, it won the Pulitzer. And there were parts of the book I absolutely adored. HOWEVER, I think it could have been a hundred pages shorter with some incisive editing, and that would have kept me turning pages like mad, instead of what actually happened, which was that I'd get really into it for a couple chapters, and then get lost in a comic book tangent. But that's just me. Overall, entertaining.

I hate it it when people only care about a book from the perspective of making it into a movie, but I have to say I am super-excited that Stephen Daldry is directing the film version of this book. I was all prepared to swoon over this book but only thought it was OK. I think Daldry will improve it.

Historical fiction at its finest (assuming, of course, that it's fair to call the events of 60 years ago “history”). Chabon mines the real-life origins of comic books to craft a story of two young men trying to rise up out of the Bronx and to leave a mark on the world around them. If you're familiar with the biographies of Siegel and Shuster, Simon and Kirby, Will Eisner, or Stan Lee, a lot of the events of this book will feel familiar, but Chabon mixes them with enough artistry and flourish that they take on a life of their own, and the ways in which the creators' lives are reflected in the heroes they create give a gravitas to their four-colour creations that wouldn't be seen in actual comic heroes for decades after the time this is set.

Such a wonderful engaging plot and setting. The Golden Age of comics, New York, the plight of Jews during World War 2. Two young protagonists, dreamers who have energy and faith in their shared dream. Stage magic, smoke and mirrors sparking imagination that leads to “The” comic strip, fortune, and the possibility of rescue from tyranny. The pogroms and the Final Solution are a major plot element but barely referenced. Fascism fought through superhero comics and in a nice touch in a couple of places that fantasy world merges for Kavalier with his world as if Kavalier is inhabiting his creation the Escapist. The culture of New York in the years pre-entry to WW2 and the actual history of the rise of the comic book are featured strongly. Who actually made any money out of the industry is often questioned, many writers and artists and their creations name-dropped but every time it is raised it's soon smoothed over. That issue is still alive for comic artists from the new age 1960s onwards. As I write, writers are taking issue with Disney corporation over Copywrite payments owed.
It's mostly a breezy read in its opening chapters as befits a standard adventure novel but what is happening off stage cannot fail to cast a pail over the heroes of the title.
Pulitzer Prize-winner 2001

I listened to the unabridged audio version of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay—mostly in the car but sometimes at the gym. I haven't been going to the gym much lately, so it took a really long time to get through the book, which is 500 pages but feels longer. I liked it very much. I knew before I started it that it was about comic book creators, but I didn't realize what its underlying themes were. The largest of those themes is escape—Joseph Kavalier's escape from the Nazis, his escape from the gloom of the war and his family's death, his escape from Antarctica, and Sammy's escape from the lie he lives. And of course there is the comic book character they create: The Escapist, a figure inspired by Joe's training as a magician and escape artist in his native Prague.

See my full review: Review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Finishing this book was a real achievement for
me! I started it three times before I got
hooked on the characters of Joe and Sammy.
The ending was flat and a lot of the story
felt forced, but, on the whole, it held
together.

From the jacket copy: “It is New York City in 1939. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat to date: smuggling himself out of Nazi-occupied Prague. He is looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a collaborator to create the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book. Out of their fantasies, fears, and dreams, Joe and Sammy weave the legend of that unforgettable champion the Escapist. And inspired by the beautiful and elusive Rosa Saks, a woman who will be linked to both men by powerful ties of desire, love, and shame, they create the otherworldly mistress of the night, Luna Moth. As the shadow of Hitler falls across Europe and the world, the Golden Age of comic books has begun.”

This is a fantastic book. I was immediately pulled in after reading only a few pages. The fluid, dream-like writing gives the story and characters a vivid quality — I could picture the story like a movie in my mind. This book is rich in detail and tells an epic story. Brilliant writing. I've also read The Wonder Boys by this author which was also very good but this book is a big wow. I enjoyed it very much.

This novel was released in 2001, then subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize. I admired Chabon's previous books and I began to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay a few years ago after reading Wonder Boys (I absolutely LOVED Wonder Boys). But I had to put Kavalier & Clay down at the time because, mostly, I didn't have the necessary attention span for it. There is a density and intricacy to Chabon's sentences that require a certain amount of reader fortitude; a distracted mind will not find comfort in his prose. This time around, I found this novel to be a very enjoyable read and a marvelous book. It certainly deserves the praise and accolades it has received.

Here's this novel's brief description: 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 and Clay create the Escapist and Luna Moth, inspired by the beautiful Rosa Saks, who will become linked by powerful ties to both men.

If you are familiar with this era of the Comic Book Golden Age (1930s – 50s), then some of this story will seem a little familiar. Kavalier and Clay serendipitously propose and create a comic book hero called The Escapist for a disinterested businessman. He agrees to publish their comic book after learning of the popularity of Superman and the like and has them sign a boilerplate contract where their creation belongs to his company. This was commonplace at the time as a business practice. But when their creation becomes immensely popular, the creators are left out of the bulk of the wealth, having signed the ownership over to the company; many comic book creators during that time suffered the same fate, like Superman's creators Siegel and Shuster. Kavalier and Clay did make some nice dough as paid employees, but the owner received most of the fortune (millions of dollars). This part of the novel was meticulously told and Chabon's discussions with comic book legends Will Eisner, Stan Lee, and Gil Kane (as revealed in the novel's Author's Notes) bore great literary fruit.

After finishing this book, one of the more interesting aspects of the novel to me was Kavalier's background as an illusionist's understudy and the different levels this played out in the narrative. Obviously, his background in magic and escapism was an inspiration to the character of the Escapist. Chabon also reveals his great love for magic and sleight-of-hand, not only with enhancing Kavalier's personality and mode of operation, but with writing this novel. A good third of the novel reveals Kavalier's adeptness at vanishing, whether for self-preservation or to get what he wants. But ultimately, it's Chabon's sleight-of-hand that propels the narrative. Many, many times, there were moments where I couldn't believe that something was going to happen to Kavalier or Clay, then find out in subsequent chapters that what I feared was going to happen actually didn't happen. But Chabon's coup de grâce, his grand finale—literally in the last sentence of the book—is the revelation that the title of the novel may not be about who you thought it was. It was an amazing feat of literary perfection.

I only had a couple of issues with this novel. 1) Chabon can sometimes be a bit... long-winded. He has a peculiar habit of traipsing down asides like he has other stories he really wants to tell but shouldn't. And, as I said earlier, there is a density and intricacy to his prose that requires a certain amount of reader stamina and attention. 2) The content of the entirety of Part V of the novel is superfluous. If the almost 50 pages had been summarized in 5 pages, then the other 45 pages wouldn't have been missed—at all. After finishing the novel, I realized that this section of the novel (as unnecessary as it seemed content-wise at the time) was another bit of sleight-at-hand from Chabon, enhancing the powerful revelation in the last chapter. These two issues are quibbles, though.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a fantastic novel and well-worth the read. Funny, endearing, magical, and exquisitely written, I highly recommend it.

YES to this book. Chabon very effectively created a sense of time and place, as well as interesting and compelling characters.

Perhaps also my interest in comics made this book more interesting to me? I thought the interspersed history of the comic book industry was fascinating, but perhaps non-nerds might not be as enthralled.

Well, this book is so deserving of 5 stars, BUT it's just a little too long. I wanted it to end before it did, unfortunately. The story is wonderful, and what a great idea to tell the story of comics in such a way that keeps a non-comic reading reader interested. I think this book is better than [b:The Yiddish Policemen's Union 16703 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178032098s/16703.jpg 95855], and that one is the one that won all the awards.

Whew, it only took me a month to finish this behemoth! Yeah, it probably could have been shorter, but every time I picked it up, I was completely immersed in the lives of Joe and Sammy and Rosa, and attempts to get Joe's family out of Nazi-occupied Prague, and Joe's escapist tendencies and thirst for revenge, and the comics industry that served as a backdrop for it all. And sure, Chabon occasionally irritated me with his vocabulary, but I mostly got over that within a few pages of getting suckered back into the story. 4.5 stars.