***Discussion of the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Amazing)***


Last Tuesday, GAC, CS, and I discussed Chabon's award-winning book. We all liked the style though CS and I sometimes felt annoyed at the transitions. GAC had probs with the way the beginning of the novel dropped the flashback.

I liked the feel of setting; Amazing made me feel what it must have been like at that time. (I've never fully realized how casual and assumed anti-Semitism and homophobia was in the U.S. Thankfully the country's grown past that.) I was more familiar with the history of the comic book industry so it was interesting to see a fictionalized interpretation of its rise and fall.

We were not too sure about Sammy's subplot. Thematically, we agreed with Greg that there's this sense of escape throughout the story with Sam's ultimate action at the end of the book reflecting that point. But was it really necessary? Same could be said about Joe's massive storyline while he's in the Artic. I sometimes felt that could have been a separate story in and of itself. (By the way, what happened to the dogs...brrr.)

Overall, a wonderful read. I'll have to find and check out some of Chabon's other published works.
- posted by Unknown @ Friday, November 12, 2004