The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
No doubt an epic work, Michael Chabon's 2000 novel is written with a sharp eye for historical detail and such vivid characters that it's impossible not to be enveloped in their world. The backdrop of the Holocaust and World War II add an urgency to events at the individual level and the themes of love and loss, revenge and redemption, are ideally suited to a book of this scope. Ultimately, however, it is the concept of escape--from lives lived in shadows and in opposition to one's true essence--that makes this work most satisfying.

At a sentence and paragraph level, Kavalier & Clay stands up to just about any fiction--the author's rich tapestry of vocabulary is breathtaking. Perhaps the only caveat that would give a potential reader pause is the book's length. At over 600 pages, there are moments that drag, provoking a desire for return to the plot's driving forces.


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