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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
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Archive > IBR -The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

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message 1: by Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger (new) - added it

Ashley Basile (smashreads) | 5818 comments Mod


Members Starting the BR: Jenny and Sammy
Challenge: Book Quest Adventures
Book: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Anyone is free to join in this Buddy Read! Happy Reading!


Jenny | 2260 comments I am a couple hundred pages in now, and I am loving this book so far.
I can see why it has been so positively reviewed.
Sam and Joe are great characters. So far, we have learned much more about Joe, and I assume that we will learn more about Sam later in the book.
What Joe did to get to NY is something I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Benn able to do. I am not a fan of small spaces.

I was a comic book reader when I was a kid, but I never got into the superhero ones. I think read my first Superman comic in the late 80's when Superman died, and there were a bunch of "maybe it is Superman" comics that came out. I worked in a book store at the time, and I was curious. I still am not a big fan of the medium. I prefer print over pictures in my storytelling, so I tend to avoid graphic novels and comics. But, I love how these two are coming up with the stories, and how Joe can use the medium as a bit of catharsis.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I'll be starting this one in a couple of hours. hubby is out tonight, so hoping to finish up my kindle book first.
I know I really enjoyed this one last time.

I used to collect (early) Superman, Wolverine and Colossus comics. I definitely found the X-men stuff a lot more interesting than the majority of Justice league/Avengers characters (honestly, they're more fun in the movies!).

I used to also read 2000AD a lot in the 90s. don't know if that one made its way over to the States, but it was hugely popular here.


message 4: by Sammy (last edited Jul 03, 2025 11:07AM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments These days I only read Firefly comics.

And get annoyed at the fact that it seems Adam Baldwin is undrawable 😆


Jenny | 2260 comments I have never seen a Firefly comic! Now I kind of need to.

As far as 2000AD, I have no idea. When I realized that I don't like the format, I stopped looking at that section in the bookstore.


message 6: by Sammy (last edited Jul 03, 2025 11:07AM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I started on them because I just had to read The Shepherd's Tale to find out Book's story.

After that I just grabbed any and all of them, because Firefly is a lot like sex. Even when it's decidedly average, it's good 😆

2000AD was the home of Dredd, amongst other things. I always enjoyed that one.


Jenny | 2260 comments Do you know if anyone wrote Shepherd's story in book form? I mean in prose? That I would grab in a heartbeat. I think I have a handle on Book's back story in my imagination, but I would love to read about it.


message 8: by Sammy (last edited Jul 03, 2025 11:44AM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments Nope, all we have is the comic, which is why I got it in the first place.

The story is by Joss Whedon's brother, who got the info from Joss and created the comic with it, so at least it's canon 😆


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments having said that, firefly books are being written, so you never know... maybe one day.


Jenny | 2260 comments Rosa's dream journals sound amazing.
Now I have the problem of wanting to keep on with this and read Ulysses at the same time. I have to choose what I am going to read tomorrow. Maybe a bit of both.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I'm doing both. Mostly because I want to take Ulysses slowly. I think last time I read it in the hardback version I took 3 weeks over it.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I am definitely enjoying my second read as much as the first time (I rated 4.5 stars then).

It is funny though, how entertainment on a topic you care nothing about can be so enjoyable. I feel the same about The Devil Wears Prada (The movie, at least. The book is awful). I care less than nothing about fashion, but I LOVE that movie (Meryl Street and Stanley Tucci. Of course I do!).


Jenny | 2260 comments If the skill of the author overcomes my indifference to a plot point or a profession or a location or whatever, then I am almost always amazed. That sentence didn't make a lot of sense. But, if I am to grab a cozy mystery or a romance for a task, it will take place in a bakery or a bookshop or something I enjoy in real life, and not at a brokerage firm or a cattle ranch.
Which is my way of saying that I am glad I didn't read The Devil Wears Prada. teehee

I think I have to dive into Kavalier today after errands and house chores, as I need to know if Joe gets his remaining family to the US, or at least if he reunites with them somewhere.

I never get taken to parties with a bunch of famous artists and the like, in order to save them from a weird underwater contraption! Dali sounds like a handful. Entertaining, but an insurance nightmare.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I can count the amount of parties I needed to dress fancy to go to (as an adult) on the fingers of one hand.

I probably shouldn't have married an engineer if I wanted champagne and canapes 😆


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I have this compulsion that makes me pick up every single bookshop/library/etc. book that comes my way. I don't know why I bother, because most of them weren't very good, but I can't help myself!


Jenny | 2260 comments Have you read How Can I Help You yet? Add it to your list.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments I haven't. it's added.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments As an aside, my favourite book featuring a golem: Feet of Clay (Discworld, #19) by Terry Pratchett

It just so happens to be next up in my Discworld re-read. The plan is to make it the first book to read after we move 😁


Jenny | 2260 comments Nice. I think I am going to do a complete Discworld read next year. I have been slowly amassing used hardcovers since Pratchett died. I prefer live authors get the money for their books, but once they are gone, I can buy them used.
I still haven't read the whole series.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments Aaaaand I'm done!

I'd forgotten how hard Chabon nailed the ending!

I checked to see if there was a movie version of this, but no joy. Probably because no-one has thought to put Wes Anderson on it. His style would really suit the narrative voice of this, I think. (even if the subject matter is a bit darker than his usual stuff. I think he could pull it off!)


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
I'll join you for this one - but not sure when I will start it.


Jenny | 2260 comments I keep putting off finishing this one as I am enjoying it so much.
At this point, I just want to find Joe and give him a hug. I am going to finish tonight, if I can stay up, or in the morning.
I had no idea really, what this book was going to be about, and how much I was going to care about Joe and Sammy.


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
I think I will start this one tomorrow. I need a change of reading pace...(not so heavy or tragic!)


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
And I read the summary....please tell me that it isn't a tragically sad story....


Jenny | 2260 comments Not gonna lie, there is some tragedy. But it is also very funny, and once it grabs you, it doesn't let go.


Jenny | 2260 comments Finished last night, and boy did I love this book.
This easily could have been called the Amazing Adventures of Job and Job. I mean, could there have been more crap that was thrown at them? Joe especially. Ok, now that Job came to mind, it might be time to reread the Heinlein book Job: A Comedy of Justice. Not that Heinlein has anything to do with this book. Just my brain making random connections.

Sammy, I agree, the ending is perfect.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments Teehee! We used to use that Heinlein book as our emergency banknote hiding place (back when an emergency note to pay a taxi fare or something like that was still a thing, lol).
Our son chose it because job = money.

He makes random connections too 😆


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
I thought I might switch between this one a couple of others, but I won't start until after work, probably.


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
This one did not grab me! I wonder if I've read too many tragic books lately or if my mind wasn't in the right place. I usually like the books that you two like!

I'm disappointed that I didn't really like it and will probably read it again at some point in the future. Maybe my narrator just wasn't working for me. I did notice that there were at least 2 different narrations.


Jenny | 2260 comments That's too bad. I read the print version. I do wonder sometimes if the audio is not the right format for some books.
I have definitely had the same reaction to recommended books when I listen to the audio instead of read it.

Then there are of course, the ones for which the audio is just the perfect thing.


Angie ☯ | 3813 comments Mod
I will read the print version when I re-read it.


Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 4006 comments Awww, sorry to hear it Angie. But I guess we can't win 'em all...


message 33: by Benedicte, Bookmark First, Ask Later (new)

Benedicte | 582 comments Mod
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