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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Chabon's writing is a work of art. Like Kavalier and Clay, this book is like looking at a painting. You get the feeling it portray, even if you can't see every brush stroke or understand the fundamentals used to construct it. The words are magic. The descriptions are standing on the page, like a pop-up book. The story, as his others are, is very, very Jewish. I'm sure there's a lot of nuance and reference here that I don't recognize or cannot fully grasp. But that doesn't stop me from taking what I can and getting swept up in the narrative.
adventurous
slow-paced
This started off decently strong but was not a storytelling that I could get behind. Maybe Chabon’s style will only work for me in Kavalier and Clay. But, on reflection, that also has the same flaws and maybe just worked better with the genre for me.
I wanted to make this much better than I did. The mix of humor, alternative history, eccentric chararacters, and thriller-type plot was very seductive. However, the book read much more slowly than it should have, mired in perhaps too much Yiddish and too much chess. Indeed, at times, the book was like a chess match against a very thoughtful (as in plotting every scenario) and thoughtless (c'mon and move already) opponent. Perhaps this says more about my patience than the book itself, but I really wanted to like it better. (Of course, that's pretty much true about everything in life).
Took me a bit of time to get into the style, and the plot got overly complicated at times. But I loved the interpersonal relationships, especially between Meyer and Bina, and the sense of love of place.
Definitely not as good as Kavalier and Clay, but it kept me interested enough to finish it. I think one of the hardest parts to getting through this was all the Yiddish. Not being Jewish, it took me quite a while to get the hang of and be able to follow all the language.
I'm currently reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which I'm liking a lot more than this book. The balance in this book seemed a bit skewed with respect to solving the mystery (which is done very quickly at the end) vs. establishing the world. I wanted more mystery, I got more world building. That said, I did think it was an intriguing world and an intriguing book.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book demonstrates (and appreciates) the truths about humanity that can be explained only in Yiddish.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes