May '10 Reading: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

[The Comedian]

Perhaps the Golem coming back to Joe in nothing more than a pile of dust is what allows Joe to finally let go of the past, and realize that life is behind him now, and is what enables him to move forward and to take the money he saved for his family and finally be able to put it to use to by Empire for Sammy, and their return to the Golem in the comics, and being able to do things their own way now without needing Anapol, will mark a new adventure for them a new life in which they are all freed from the chains of their past.

Good stuff here. One of the best developments at the end of the novel, I felt, was the Golem returning to Joe in his casket only turned to dust. It was as though the old magic had dried out: the Kavalier & Clay team, the role of comics in the Golden Age, their own youthful exuberance in life and art. You also have in the image, the finalization of Joe's immigrant story: the Golem being clearly associated with Prague now turned to dust (as Europe was after the war) and Joe, having lost all connections to his European past is now fully American. Ashes to ashes and all that.

[JuniperWoolf]

At first I thought that it really was Joe's family (the whole ashes thing... I had images of furnaces) because he found that business card.

I loved how Sam finally went to California. Even though Bacon was dead and he was about thirteen years too late, he still made it over to where he should have been.

The golem - Joe said that all men make golems. Think of superman. Kind of an impervious strongman that everyone can rely on (think of Sammy's dad). They're supposed to be invincible. But of course, nothing is invincible (Sammy's dad died, and the golem turned to dust). I think that the golem was meant to represent that, the whole idea of father/costumed hero/ultimate protector being just a fantasy. If we could read Joe's big epic comic, I think the golem would have died in the end. Also, Joe had the notion that he himself would be a kind of perfect hero to his own family. After escaping from Nazi's, he's then supposed to go on to save his entire Jewish family and aid them in their escape as well? Oh, and he's also going to end the war. Of course he failed. He also joined the army so that he could take on the whole Nazi army. He failed at that as well, and when he killed that German scientist it was the worst moment in his life because real killing isn't like the glory that you see in comic books. Like he said, the whole idea of the comic book hero is just a wish. I think that was the golem.

I also agree that the golem represented the European Jewish population (again, the fact that it turned to what appeared to be ashes). It does have strong cultural connnontations. It also failed to protect the Jews who were massacared, which is supposed to be it's purpose: to protect Jews. It was made to be a superhero, just like in the comics.

As for what I thought about this novel, I liked it a lot. I devoured it, it was a page turner for me. I loved the characters. I was dissapointed when things didn't go well for them. I liked how it was written too, that bit about the blue in the sky being like the blue of a prize lamb's ribbon, haha that stuck out as a really good line for me. After I read it, I was like "well, that was pretty good," and I wrote it down in my notebook (I always write things down in my notebook if I like them).

[Scheherazade]

Starting this book for the third time. I could not get into it earlier (probably I had too much on my plate) but this time I am enjoying it.

EDIT: I did note that the early narrative of Josef's flight from Prague parallels the story of Superman/Moses: favored son of a dying land sent to find a rebirth in American/new land.

This is an interesting point and, as much as I adore Superman, I did not think of his story in line of Moses'.

I will post more as I read along

Also, I did not know the idiom "to talk through one's hat". Fun!

[Scheherazade]

I was reminded of the movie "The Prestige" (we watched it in the Viewing Room last month) as I was reading through the chapter about Josef's training.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I know I'm reviving a really old thread here, but I just finished reading this, and I loved it. After this and The Yiddish Policemen's Union Chabon is becoming a favorite of mine. I love his use of straightforward, yet vivid prose. I didn't feel it was over-written as Comedian said, but I got pretty immersed in it, and when that happens I usually browse right over any faults.

I doubt I'll read it again, though, as I don't think a reread would add much--it's a pretty straightforward story, imo, even with the golem symbolism, which I found spot-on. I think it can be looked at positively and negatively. On the one hand, it could symbolize Joe finally letting go of his dark past (his guilt over his dead brother, his desire for revenge against the German, his guilt for leaving his son and his mother), but you could also see at as the end of his idealism when it came to comics, though even his comic writing/drawing wasn't really a "positive" outlet for Joe; it was all about revenge.

Anyways, I loved the book. I agree that pictures would have been nice, but I don't think they were really necessary, as Chabon did an excellent job of describing everything.