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There
is no way you can read THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY
in one sitting. You are going to savor this thing like it's the
best cheesecake you've ever had in your life, and perhaps the last
--- thus, you will take small bites, really digest every piece,
enjoy it, love it and never forget it. Michael Chabon, a rock star
among American authors, takes every ample ounce of his head and
heart to infuse this story with amplified life, making THE AMAZING
ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY one of the richest and most satisfying
books you will ever read. (Well, at least since his last masterpiece,
WONDER BOYS, recently made into a very funny film starring that
old filthbag-who-still-has-talent Michael Douglas.) The story is,
well, not simple, but not as complicated as the endless twists and
turns of the book might lead you to believe.
In 1939, Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained
in the art of Houdini-esque escape, comes to New York after smuggling
himself out of Nazi-occupied Prague. Looking for big cashola in
order to fund the release of his family from Prague before they
are persecuted, Joe teams up with his cousin, the competitively
noncommittal Sammy Clay, in order to create a great American literary
product --- the comic book. In the rough-and-tumble semi-Superman
character they name the "Escapist," they allow their fears
and dreams and horrible hopes to take physical shape. And, since
they're guys, they give the "Escapist" a little nookie
prize, an avatar of the great comic book mistresses of the dark,
one LunaMoth --- Luna is inspired by the beautiful, mysterious Rosa,
their real-life prewar love object. As the shadow of Hitler casts
a darkness over Europe and ultimately the world, the boys end up
immersed in the Golden Age of Comic Books, finding greater fame
and trouble than they could have possibly imagined at the start.
The chewy, eggy-rich endeavor with which you eat the world's greatest
cheesecakes (a big shout out to my mother here) is a perfect way
to describe how you will literally sink your teeth into this massive
tome. THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY really makes me
think of a great movie, like The Godfather, an epic which
uses everybody's favorite war, W.W.II, as a metaphor for something
much bigger than the war itself --- the goals of the characters
replete with larger-than-life meaning, the comic book fantasies
richly textured, layered elements transposing real events into mystical
quests. It's Harry Potter for intelligent adults.
Neurotic boys don't usually do it for me, in real life or as characters
in a book, and often they send me into such a state that the annoying
Amaya's stupidity on "The Real World Hawaii" suddenly
seems so much more worth my attention. But Joe and Sammy aren't
your normal kvetchers, and THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND
CLAY is not your average novel. It reaches for and successfully
achieves a transcendent bridge that joins intellect and adventure
in original and compelling ways.
Chabon is a genius --- there is no other way to describe his ability
to blend Hitler, comic books, brotherhood, first love, fame and
the pitfalls of celebrity, Brooklyn Jewish home life, the European
struggle against the Third Reich, America's growing prosperity,
and good-looking women who use their smarts and their curves
to get ahead in the world together in such a cohesive, complete
story. In the hands of a lesser artist, something this complex would
have been lousy, like your run-of-the-mill, when-does-this-thing-end,
foreign-intrigue, bestseller list swill; but instead THE AMAZING
ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY looks like a title you will be seeing
on many a serious literary book awards' shortlist in the coming
year (except for the National Book Award --- did you people read
this one?).
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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