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bryce_is_a_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
"Every book is a sequel, influence is bliss."
A passionate collection of work "In defense of entertainment." (mostly). That incisively examines pop culture and the inbred desire to put it down as something to be moved passed. When people complain about Chabon it's often his tendency to bite off a shitload more then he can chew that gets their knives out. Part of the charm of maps and legends is just how slight the essays are. They're not about charting America, mapping the psyche, or symbolism behind Little Lulu. They're content to be good solid pieces of intelligent criticism on everything from the pleasures of Sherlock Holmes and Cormac McCarthy, to the comic's industries abandonment of children and the sad sure decline in quality of Philip Pullman.
Unfortunately Chabon does end the book with some essays about his Jewish heritage and history. This is of course not to suggest that Chabon doesn't have the right to do so. Indeed the strong Jewish identity is what makes much of Chabon's work so unique. It's just that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the essays. Imagine you're reading a cook book, and find that the final third of it is excerpts from Tolstoy. That's very nice and pleasant. But it just doesn't fit. It's like Chabon wanted to give the book an extra seventy five pages and just figured, why the hell not.
Still a this is a very minor quibble, and I have a feeling when I visit those essays separately they'll work much better.
A passionate collection of work "In defense of entertainment." (mostly). That incisively examines pop culture and the inbred desire to put it down as something to be moved passed. When people complain about Chabon it's often his tendency to bite off a shitload more then he can chew that gets their knives out. Part of the charm of maps and legends is just how slight the essays are. They're not about charting America, mapping the psyche, or symbolism behind Little Lulu. They're content to be good solid pieces of intelligent criticism on everything from the pleasures of Sherlock Holmes and Cormac McCarthy, to the comic's industries abandonment of children and the sad sure decline in quality of Philip Pullman.
Unfortunately Chabon does end the book with some essays about his Jewish heritage and history. This is of course not to suggest that Chabon doesn't have the right to do so. Indeed the strong Jewish identity is what makes much of Chabon's work so unique. It's just that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the essays. Imagine you're reading a cook book, and find that the final third of it is excerpts from Tolstoy. That's very nice and pleasant. But it just doesn't fit. It's like Chabon wanted to give the book an extra seventy five pages and just figured, why the hell not.
Still a this is a very minor quibble, and I have a feeling when I visit those essays separately they'll work much better.
dogtrax's review against another edition
4.0
I'm already a few essays in. While I think he pushes his points a bit too far at times, I love that he tackles comics, The Golden Compass/Philip Pulman, and his own growing up through the metaphor of the mapping of literature and the imagination.
margeryb's review against another edition
4.0
As a reader and writer, there were many moments in this book of essays about reading and writing that were very poignant to me, that mapped similar journeys and thoughts on the process of creating and interpreting stories, as well as ideas that pushed me into new areas of exploration. Admitingly, I have actually never read any of Mr. Chabon's novels, although his name has been on the periphery of my to-read list for a few years now (my to-read list is always overgrowing and overflowing). I imagine a person who is a fan of this author would appreciate reading about his influences and experiences. However, I can also recommend this to those would like to think deeply about the processes of reading and writing (like I do), and I will definitely be bumping up a Chabon novel to a higher priority spot in my to-read list.
gimchi's review against another edition
1.0
yea. sorry. not in the mood for this. feels self-indulgent.
it is, however, an amazingly excellent cover design.
it is, however, an amazingly excellent cover design.
palomapepper's review against another edition
5.0
I especially enjoyed:
Trickster in a Suit of Lights: Thoughts on the Modern Short Story - In defense of “genre” fiction, and not keeping it so wholly separate from “literary”, intellectual fiction
Ragnarok Boy - An ode to the wildness of Norse mythology and of trickster gods, who rule the “borderlands” where the most interesting stories are born
Fan Fictions: On Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock Holmes as metafiction and adventure fiction, situated within and transgressing Victorian taxonomies of order
On Daemons and Dust - An in-depth look into Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, which Chabon suggests is centered fundamentally on the “ways in which adults betray children"
The Recipe for Life - How writing fiction is like creating a golem: gathering raw materials from the “rich material” of life, assembling your work, and then waiting for your creation to break free, “grow to unmanageable size and power, refuse to be controlled"
Imaginary Homelands - a series of thoughts about being a Jewish American: a sensation of living in exile; of not experiencing a visit to Israel as a homecoming; of giddy disbelief at finding an impractical Yiddish phrase book, suited to visiting no place at all.
I skimmed or skipped:
- Most discussions of comic books (despite having read and enjoyed a few comics recently, I don’t share his childhood nostalgia for the comics of old).
- The final autobiographical essays, which I found less interesting.
Trickster in a Suit of Lights: Thoughts on the Modern Short Story - In defense of “genre” fiction, and not keeping it so wholly separate from “literary”, intellectual fiction
Ragnarok Boy - An ode to the wildness of Norse mythology and of trickster gods, who rule the “borderlands” where the most interesting stories are born
Fan Fictions: On Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock Holmes as metafiction and adventure fiction, situated within and transgressing Victorian taxonomies of order
On Daemons and Dust - An in-depth look into Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, which Chabon suggests is centered fundamentally on the “ways in which adults betray children"
The Recipe for Life - How writing fiction is like creating a golem: gathering raw materials from the “rich material” of life, assembling your work, and then waiting for your creation to break free, “grow to unmanageable size and power, refuse to be controlled"
Imaginary Homelands - a series of thoughts about being a Jewish American: a sensation of living in exile; of not experiencing a visit to Israel as a homecoming; of giddy disbelief at finding an impractical Yiddish phrase book, suited to visiting no place at all.
I skimmed or skipped:
- Most discussions of comic books (despite having read and enjoyed a few comics recently, I don’t share his childhood nostalgia for the comics of old).
- The final autobiographical essays, which I found less interesting.
mschlat's review against another edition
4.0
One: everytime I read Chabon, I feel like I need a dictionary nearby. (Arrant? Lambency?)
Two: the borderlands in the subtitle refer often to writing between and along the dividing line of literary fiction and genre fiction. There's discussion of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Ben Katchor's comics, and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials books. I liked, but wasn't overwhelmed by, Chabon's takes on the dangers of becoming a genre writer and the need to reclaim the idea of literary entertainment.
Three: the essay that connects the rise of Sherlockania with the current prevalence of fan fiction is top notch and gave me more insights into both than I've had in a long time. (The essay on Norse mythology is also quite good.)
Four: the essays at the end are more about Chabon's history as a writer and the influences on some of his novels. These I loved sheerly for the "behind the scenes" feel. The last essay (taken from an performance he repeated several times) speaks directly to the themes of Moonglow (although at the time the essay was written, I'm not even sure he had started that novel).
An uneven but fruitful read and probably of most interest to those who are Chabon fans already.
Two: the borderlands in the subtitle refer often to writing between and along the dividing line of literary fiction and genre fiction. There's discussion of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Ben Katchor's comics, and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials books. I liked, but wasn't overwhelmed by, Chabon's takes on the dangers of becoming a genre writer and the need to reclaim the idea of literary entertainment.
Three: the essay that connects the rise of Sherlockania with the current prevalence of fan fiction is top notch and gave me more insights into both than I've had in a long time. (The essay on Norse mythology is also quite good.)
Four: the essays at the end are more about Chabon's history as a writer and the influences on some of his novels. These I loved sheerly for the "behind the scenes" feel. The last essay (taken from an performance he repeated several times) speaks directly to the themes of Moonglow (although at the time the essay was written, I'm not even sure he had started that novel).
An uneven but fruitful read and probably of most interest to those who are Chabon fans already.
clarkness's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection of essays from Chabon. I especially enjoyed his essay about giving up on his massive, unpublished second novel. The essay "My Back Pages" about writing his first novel helped give me some perspective on the writing process of a young author.
lookhome's review against another edition
4.0
Comparable to Jeanette Winterson's Art Objects and a step above Franzen's How to Be Alone.