Tuesday, August 31, 2004

More books

I just borrowed this book from the library yesterday. I think I'll give it a go. Its not a political book, per se. By that I mean its not, at least it doesn't so right now, a book that is "partisan," if you will. Its a book that seems to trace the conservative movement on side of a coin and on the other how the rest of the world views our country and the way we do things. It should be an interesting read. I hope it is because I am planning to buy it sometime soon.

I'm also planning to buy this book soon, too. I started reading it a few months ago, but was side tracked by other books and other life stuff. You know how that goes. I suppose, to be fair, I'll have to buy and read this book. It will probably teach me something and, believe it or not, I'm not afraid to learn.

. Now, this book... this book sounds fantastic! I've heard it described as "Harry Potter for adults" (who says the Harry Potter books aren't for adults? I've read the series twice and can't wait for the sixth book to come out!) and I've also heard it described as "JK Rowling on steroids." Perhaps its best for you to go and dig it yourself you'll get the feel for it. Its a friggin huge book. It comes in two different covers: black and white. I'm all about the black cover mainly because the white one gets dirty quicker.

I just finished reading this book yesterday. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that great either. I tried to read it four years ago when it first came out and didn't have any luck. I didn't get much further then the first 70 pages or so. If there are any comic book fans out there that read this little blog you may dig this. I'm not the biggest comic book fan, I did collect for a short while in college, but I didn't get all that involved.

My biggest problem with the book was this: I felt it was over written. Michael Chabon used too many words or at least awfully poetic ones that sometimes got in the way of the story (sometimes I just skipped over them... he used words I've seen before).

Here's the basic story: Pre World War II. European Jew escapes Prague by way of Japan (Joe Kavalier). He is spirited away in a large box containing a Golem (a Jewish totem/mythical creature/saviour). Kavalier is a trained escape artist. When he gets out of Prague he gets out of the box with the golem and finds his way to New York City. There he is united with his cousin (Sam Clay). Clay is an aspiring comic book artist-- he has the ideas just not the talent for it. Believe it or not Kavalier is a hell of an artist. They hook up and become partners and come up with a comic book character called "The Escapist" who fights the Nazi's and all naught totalitarian governments. Joe tries to get his kid brother out of Europe something bad happens. Clay finds out discovers he's gay. Kavalier has a girlfriend, she's pregnant, but guess what... japenese attack Pearl Harbor. Kavalier runs off to join the navy (he doesn't know that his girlfriend is preggers). Clay steps in and marries Kavalier's girlfriend. Blah... blah... blah... blah. I can't go any further. Read the book if you want to find out more.

I'm just a reading fool I guess. Oh well, it could be worse.

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