The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

rating: 5 of 5 stars

After a slow start (which was down to me rather than the book), I fell into this world of comic-book writers, New York and beyond with such fervour, I was quite deflated when I finished the book. It helps that the subject matter appeals to my recent interest in comics but this by no means is a necessity to enjoy Chabon’s truly masterful prose. His writing is evocative, clear and engaging. I absolutely adored this book.

The story starts in Prague with a young Josef Kavalier who is completely absorbed by learning escapology. He performs his greatest feat in evading the Nazi invaders and in doing so, travels to New York to meet his cousin with whom he starts a long career. Although he got to safety, he has to deal with leaving behind his family and his comic book art unsurprisingly reveals his hatred of the Nazi Germans and his desire to set free all those people around the world who are in chains.

The magic of the era and the power of their stories shine through. I will definitely want to read this book again. Here is the first line to whet your appetite:

IN LATER YEARS, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier’s greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini.

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I have been trying to get into Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for what seems like ages and at last, I have cracked it. The secret is some uninterrupted time to read thanks to two trips in the space of two weeks. I knew that as soon as I could get hooked, I would love it – I could already tell that from what little I had read – and now that I have read three quarters of this superb novel, I cannot wait to get to the end. I will give a full low-down when I get there but in the meantime, I urge you to grab a copy if you can!

Picture courtesy of Steve Rhodes

I have finally finished Lionel Shriver’s superb book The Post-Birthday World which I started a long time ago, it seems. Let me first say that I loved it. Shriver’s writing is so special that it constantly makes me sit up and take notice. I could read her words forever.

That said, there were some aspects of the novel which grated:

• I mentioned this before: the supposedly sexy snooker player Ramsey, who was the alternative to the supposedly stuffy Lawrence, just did not do it for me. I could not see the appeal. Maybe it is my own hang-ups with the ‘cheeky-chappie Cockney’ persona – when you have met as many as I have, they are not that endearing. They are usually ignorant and boorish. His dialect didn’t ring true for me either. I am no Cockney (I speak the Queen’s Estuary English), but I can spot a fake a mile off. Ramsey’s accent made my toes curl. For all Shriver’s impressive knowledge of British idiom, there are some phrases which would never be used in the context they are given. For any non-Brit, this would not be evident, I am sure but as a Brit, it started to rankle. Rather than be authentic, it was affected.
• The protagonist, Irina, was difficult ro warm to. Whilst I like the unpredictability of having a less-than perfect heroine, it started to grate when her decision-making in both universes beggared belief. I wanted to shake her. Again, though, I have to admire Shriver for writing a character who evoked such strong feelings. But if I was meant to like Irina, or sympathise with her, then I guess Shriver failed here.

Having said all this, the overall theme of fateful choices and decisions was fascinating. I have often thought how life changes so dramatically because of one action or inaction. I was ultimately frustrated by the lack of neat, happy ending but this is my failing since I know I am romantic at heart. As a creative–writing student, it is important to explore less-conventional endings. I am definitely eager to seek out more of Shriver’s work, although my current ‘to-read’ list is overwhelming without being added to.

So what to read next? I am dying to see what all the Twilight fuss is about and this might be suitably light reading before I launch into the more challenging The Fountainhead or the more emotional Atonement or The Kite Runner.