Reviews

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

yaniji's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

thepaperbackplanner's review against another edition

5.0

It has taken me maybe 10 years to finally finish Kavalier & Clay. Shoutouts to #BigBooktober for the accountability and group reading chats! I'm so glad to have finally read it, because it is truly beautiful, and sad, and gay, and even hopeful. It's a chunker, but it's worth it. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook — the narrator did an incredible job bringing each character to life. Heed the content warnings, but I truly recommend this novel!

Read if you like...
-WWII fiction
-Comic books and comics history
-Magic and escapism
-Captain America (+Bucky forever❤️)
-Jewish culture and traditions
-Complicated, multifaceted love stories

jfos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

cararenee55's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ka_krista's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

When I decided in December that I wanted to read all of the books on my shelves before buying any new ones, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was my starting point. It was the book I had bought myself for my birthday and my reward for completing my degree. When I picked it up at Barnes and Noble I knew nothing about it but the cover caught my eye. I read the back, set it down, picked it back up, and took it to the register. But when I decided in January that I was going to write a nice review for every book I read in the new year, this book became my opening statement and I was intimidated by the prospect of putting how I felt about it into words.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is an American dream story, an immigrant story, a love story, and a New York story, about two boys with motivation and the race towards a new Superman. Sammy and Joe create “The Escapist” as Michael Chabon takes the reader through an intimate character study, building an image of New York so vivid I can still imagine an early scene of Sammy and Joe walking down the street. It felt like the most intimate of passion projects and paid homage to those who created superheroes as we know them. Sammy and Joe’s struggles are unbearably human as Chabon crafts descriptions of characters that paint them as if you're hearing the latest escapades of an old friend.

Even though I can admit to how much I loved reading this novel – and how wonderful I think it is hence being why I'm giving it 5 stars despite what I'm about to say – at times it felt very dense. I found myself skimming over passages detailing characters that would never be brought up again or if they were, I knew their name was vaguely familiar but I couldn’t remember any details of their story. In these moments, wading through the story was a struggle but it was never long before it dragged me back in.

I think honestly what compelled me the most by this piece of Chabon’s work was the love you could feel bleeding from the pages. The histories of comic books and New York were tied together with a tender love and admiration by a man who was easy to imagine as a boy riding a train through the city, watching Spider-Man swing between the buildings.

It’s June now as I’m writing this and the sharp irony in this book still haunts me frequently. It is such a deeply human story following characters so fleshed out they could be your lover and the circumstances of their lives when it doesn’t work out feel so heavy that as I was reading, and now when I think back to it, I watch it play out with an ache in my chest. All thanks to Chabon and his care.

While at times a little dense for my personal attention span, The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay will remain one of the best and most masterfully crafted pieces of literature out there long into the future. A comic epic that earns its stripes, Michael Chabon’s love letter more than earned its place in the canon of the comic book world and its acclaim in the literary one.

vicky523's review against another edition

SOFT DNF

ziggymusic's review against another edition

4.0

It took about 100 pages for me to really get into the story but once I did, I was IN. While it is a 600+ page story that spans a few decades (and continents), Chabon writes so goddamn well that it reads really smoothly once you get absorbed. It never felt laborious. I loved the story - but even more than that, I loved the storytelling.

tomoka's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

alitasharing's review against another edition

5.0

Stunning, hilarious and poignant. Loved it all the way through!

cogee87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not my style!