Rating: 
Summary: I kept waiting for the good parts...
Review: It's possible that I went into this book with inaccurate expectations, but I was dissappointed with it.
I think the one big hindrance I had was that I am not an immigrant, I am not gay, and I don't hate German people.
These three topics seemed to be the driving motivations for the characters in the book. While the story appears to be floating around a fictitious comic book publishing company, the personal lives of the artist and writer are where we spend most of our time.
This author may not appreciate that a heterosexual man may not want to read about a character's homosexual attraction to another man. Or that descendants of German immigrants may not want to read about Germans being so hated and reviled during this period .
I'm sure that jewish, gay men living in New York find this book to be wonderful, the author does write very well.
But I and most people I know here in the south are probably not part of the target audience.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a comic book but a great work that peters out
Review: Chabon starts out his novel strongly, writing about escapism, the Golem, and creativity. The story and characters are strong, until the final part. I could really appreciate the work and creative process for the creation of the comic books, and felt what was driving these characters. And I loved how Chabon arcs pieces in different parts together - how represed homosexual desires led to expression in other forms. But with the infal return of Josef, things start to get hazy. I'm not sure if it was "the character wouldn't act that way" or we had no real ide what the character would do, but things started to ring false. To give Chabon credit, I believe that he was trying to arc in larger themes on Jewishness and heritage with World War II as a background, but I don't believe he ever tied them up properly, or at least not so that I could follow. It's too bad, because I relly wanted to see where the characters moved, but once he gets to the 50's, they don't grow or develop any more. There was such promise, and it's held through most of the book, but the falling of the last part keeps it only in 4 stars. 3 1/2 more like it. (I was that disappointed). ...
Rating: 
Summary: Comic Books 101
Review: Brought back vivid memories of childhood revolving around comic books and the sense of wonder and adventure of those times. The stories are preposterous, and yet somehow real and terribly heartwarming.
Rating: 
Summary: Pulitzer?
Review: It's not surprising that a book such as "Amazing Adventures" has garnered such a massive following among the American book reading public. It's the Pulitzer, I think, that is a bit more difficult to swallow. In essence, I think I...that Chabon hasn't risked enough by the novel's end. The pay off comes [bad] and with the distinct feeling that Chabon has relied excessively on plot at the expense of his characters and themes. Like "Wonder Boys" (which was worse in my mind), "Adventures" is immensely readable and unchallenging, which I suppose explains the book's popularity. Nevertheless, this is also the book's critical failing; it's all simply too effortless and cinematic. For example, the novel's most poorly written character is Tommy, who is that typically hollywood sort of child who is sweet, guiless, utterly innocent and for these reasons totally nauseating. But the book still has much to recommend it...The first two-thirds of the book is in fact thrilling, and Chabon has a gift for comedy and light satire throughout (the party in which Salvador Dali nearly suffocates inside of his diving suit was hysterical). I also felt that Chabon treats the issue of Sammy's sexuality deftly and with touching delicacy. However, things take a long, meandering turn for the worse when stoic, manly and heroic Joe gets sent on a gimicky trip to Antartica (!) where Chabon seems to be hiding him out so that he can buy some time to figure out a way to bring the novel to a satisfying close. Joe's return is treated with bizarre disinterest and near (and unexplained) silence by the other characters (except, of course, for perfect little Tommy, the quasi-orphan who happily is able to "bring everyone together again" in the novel's easily digestable, Hollywood-appropriate end....or, rather, a loopy, cursive "The End" which will no doubt be how it's written when Ron Howard or Rob Reiner gets finished "directing" the movie version.)
Rating:
Summary: Facts and descriptions
Review: I have to admit I found myself for at least one half of this book wondering why it won the pulitzer prize. I was enoying the book but did not get that GOSH WOW feeling the Washington Post did. By the end of the book I was however, won over. Micheal Chabon strengths are in his descriptions, he paints amazing pictures with his words. It can also be his downfall, he will spend a full page describing an emotion or object, only to spend 2 paragraphs on an action sequence. Granted action is not what this book is about, but I found myself thinking 'Thats it?' I also did not find the story as a whole the most compelling. It was very good, but I expected a little more. The characters were good, but I lacked the level of interest in them I was hoping I'd find. With the bad stuff out of the way, I'll mention where this book is amazing. Micheal's research into the history of comic book's and the surrounding time period is amazing. He is so convincing with his stories I found myself wondering if there ever was an Empire Comics. I am ashamed to say I even tried looking things up on Yahoo. The way he was able to manipulate me, I found fascinating. You will certainly enjoy this book, I just expected a little more from the characters.
Rating:
Summary: The Mysteries of Comic Art
Review: It's a stupendous feat of imagination, tremendously intriguing, a fascinating tale of two young, fearless enterpreneurs of the colourful, flamboyant and very crowded world of Super Heroes'Comics! Sometimes funny, sometimes very moving, set in a most dramatic historical contest, this book has earned Michael Chabon a very deserved Pulitzer.
Rating:
Summary: More than a Comic Book Novel
Review: An amazing novel. A very simple statement, and obvious since this won the Pulitzer. This novel, on the surface, seems to be about the golden age of U.S. Comic Book publishing, but is really about two cousins, trying to escape their lives, and also includes some very well researched pop culture references to the era it is set in.
The novel is a joy to read. The words just flow through you and create the images, smells, and sounds of the story. I normally read at a very brisk pace but as I read this book I slowed down so that I could savor this novel and extend my enjoyment of it. If you enjoy reading, you will love this novel.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: This is the type of book that stays with you long after you've finished reading it. Chabon takes his readers on a can't wait to turn the page adventure into the world of comics, magic and escapism as he expertly develops the main characters Sammy Clay, Joe Kavalier and Rosa. As they interact with each other and with a wealth of other interesting and unusual characters in the book the reader shares each character's dreams and visions and adventures through Chabon's exceptional style and mastery of the written word. You will yearn for more and as you reach the final pages. Read this book slowly and be mesmerized. Truly deservant of the Pulitzer Prize.
Rating:
Summary: A monumental work of modern fiction
Review: I am not sure I can adequately describe the depth and breath of this work. Indeed, when I recommend it to friends I find myself stammering. Trying to answer the inevitable question "what is it about?" looses the beauty of what I consider one of the great works of modern fiction. Chabon paints an extraordinary picture with words. His mastery of the English language is so intense that I often found myself reading the same sentence over and over again, not because I couldn't understand him, but just to savor his prose. Chabon's characters compliment his superb style. Their complex personalities and idiosyncrasies grip the reader pulling him or her onward to the next page. All the while, the author asks us deep philosophical questions wrapped in beautiful imagery. From the two main characters, one an escape artist struggling to break free, while his friend desperately tries to stay bound, to the lonely man stuck in a desolate waste, all the images bring the authors message about identity and self definition home for the reader. I love to read and I must say, if you are going to read one work of fiction, read this one.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very disappointed...
Review: I was eagerly awaiting to read Chabon's latest novel. I am a fan of his work, but once it won the Pulitzer Prize, I was more anxious than ever. So the moment it came out in softcover, I snatched it up. The premise, of which I had already been aware, is simply brilliant: the story of two Jewish young men living in New York City during the time of the Holocaust who create a comic book superhero whose purpose is to liberate the oppressed people of the world. Every week, they symbolically beat up the Nazis, as they long to be able to do in real life. I have this to say about the book: the characters were beautifully and lovingly created. They are three-dimensional human beings and I fell in love with them. The plot is also very good, and for most of the book, I was completely captivated.
Why, then, do I give it such a poor rating? Because, after being completely in love with this book for over 600 pages, the ending let me down. Not only did it completely betray the characters and the story, but it took what is a very original story and put it into the realm of cliche. Literally, with one paragraph (the last), my love for this book was gone. I feel deeply disappointed in Mr. Chabon for his ending, which, for lack of a better word, really was a sell-out. I cared about these characters and loved these characters enough to read an almost 700-page book on them, so when I reach an ending that I find to be such a compromise and such a travesty, it ruins the entire reading experience for me. I will not spoil the ending for those who have not yet read it, but suffice it to say, that it fit more into the mold of a B-movie melodrama (i.e. Stella Dallas comes to mind) than the awe-inspiring book I had read up to that point. I am convinced that Mr. Chabon could not figure out the proper way to end his book, and so took the easy way out. In so doing, I believe, he did a grave injustice both to the character of Sam Clay and to his adopted son, Tommy. Before I read the last chapter, I was ready to begin this book all over again. After reading it, I would return my copy if I could. I gave it two stars because of the brilliant writing up to the ending. Sure, it had a few flaws: Sam and Joseph, the main characters, about whose friendship the book was purportedly about, were actually in very few scenes together. For long stretches at a time, I felt Sam's character was neglected. Also, after the two do not see each other for a few years, I found their reunion scene to be surprisingly unemotional. If you hadn't seen your best friend for 12 years, wouldn't you at least give him or her a hug? I overlooked these flaws while reading the book, though, because there was so much else about it I loved so much, especially the creation of the comic book heroes, and the tale of how Joe fled from Prague, with a Golem. I also loved the way superheroes were described as golems for America.
The last chapter left me very cold, however, and made me question a great deal that I had earlier liked about the book. After reading Sam's final actions, I would question whether the two ever were such good friends in the first place. I also question the structure and plotting of the book. Is this what Mr. Chabon was leading up to all along, or is it, as I figured, a tacked-on ending from a writer desperate to finish his story? I'm sorry if this review rambles on or repeats itself, but I am just trying to verbalize just how deeply disappointed I am in this book. It will make me think long and hard about ever reading another one of Mr. Chabon's works again. I feel that he really betrayed his characters and his readers. Then again, maybe I'm wrong. He did win the Pulitzer Prize, after all. But then again, maybe that's what I dislike so much about the book. He made an ending that I'm sure the judges would have found deep, profound, and moving. I call it a compromise, and a fatal one at that.
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