Post 6

Alas, I have the finally finished the behemoth Pulitzer-prize winning novel that is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I did enjoy the book, although some parts of it were insanely boring and droll, most of it kept me interested and further allowed me to develop my thesis on character identity. As the book came to a close, more and more evidence siding with my thesis presented itself. This was nice, because it gave me the feeling that I will be able to write a well supported argument in my AA paper.

As I stated in my previous blog, Chabon gives characters in the book alter-egos in the form of comic book superheroes. As the story progresses, whatever a character experiences, his or her superhero-ego experiences the same things, just in a different way. Near the end of the book, one of the main character's super-egos is destroyed, so he is forced to come to terms with himself.

The ending of the book was what I expected. Joe came back home from Alaska and reconnected with his family and friends, and also with Rosa. He also discovered that Rosa had given birth to his son, while Sammy had been acting as the boy's father figure for all these years. His son was named 'Tommy' after Joe's late brother, Thomas.

I have now started my second book, Wonder Boys, which looks like it will also tie into the theme of character identity.

Post 5

Since my last thesis blog, a lot has developed in the book of Kavalier & Clay. As the years pass and the story progresses, we are learning a lot about the characters personalities.

The overlying theme in the book is comic books, this provides for a very interesting make-up of character identities. Most characters slip in and out of alternate identities, but not in the sense you might be thinking of. Superheroes. Protectors of the people against villainy, treachery, and tyranny. Characters in the book pour their dreams, hopes, and fears into these alter-egos. I will further develop this thesis until I finish the book, but I think that my thesis for my final AA paper will involve character identity.

A lot has changed in the plot since the last post. A main character, Sam, reveled to himself and his friends that he is homosexual, while his cousin, Joe, on the other hand, has fallen in love with the lovely Rosa Saks. And, after finding about the sudden and mysterious death of his brother Thomas, Joe joins the navy and is stationed in Alaska, where he spends twelve years of the books plot. Meanwhile, Sammy and Rosa marry and move to a suburb of Brooklyn.

Post 4

Michael Chabon's work in Kavalier & Clay is in my opinion, very good and well thought out. As I briefly stated in my last post, one very stylish writing technique Chabon uses is that he writes about new comic book heroes as if they were actual characters in the book, but when really they are just the thought process that a character has. Since my last post, several events have taken place. Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, partners, are making it into the big time in New York City. 'The Escapist' is becoming a radio show, and a new hero, the half-bug half-woman "Luna Moth" was introduced (p. 267 - 274). I am still pondering the possible idea of the theme of identity within the two main characters. There are subtle hints here and there, but none are for sure just yet.

Post 3

I am getting deeper into Kavalier & Clay. The book is getting more interesting; more characters are being introduced and the story of both Kavalier and Clay keeps developing as they turn from boys into men. In this reading, 'The Escapist,' the latest comic book hero was introduced. But one thing that the author, Michael Chabon, did that I enjoyed was that he devoted an entire chapter to the background story of The Escapist, rather than just a little paragraph (p. 123-134). Then, after the chapter was done, it was revealed that the entire chapter was actually a thought process by Sammy Clay, the story writer of the duo. I am beginning to see some themes within the book. Joe Kavalier, the artist of the duo, is the only one of his family who escaped from Nazi-invaded Prague to New York. His family still resides there. He is having a difficult time trying to bring them over, and it shows through his work, through The Escapist primarily. This could be a theme involving Jewish identity. I will keep developing this possible thesis as the book continues.

Post 2

This week, I began reading Kavalier and Clay. So far, I am enjoying this book to the fullest. I read up to page 68. Within these pages, Josef Kavalier and Sammy Clay meet for the first time in Brooklyn, NY. After that scene, it flashes back and focuses on Joesef' escape out of Nazi-Occupied Prague. He was all set to leave by train, but certain complications stopped him from doing so. He then turned to his former escape-artist teacher, a man named Kornblum, to help assist him in his efforts to leave the country. While reading, I noticed that the author, Michael Chabon, has an extensive vocabulary, and likes to insert sudden bursts of humor within conversations between characters. Also, when Chabon introduces a new character, he likes to use multiple paragraphs to describe every aspect of their character. To me, this is something that is good and bad at the same time. And as of right now, I havent noticed any particular themes in the book to develop a thesis on.

Post 1 - Proposal

The author I am interested in for this project is a man named Michael Chabon. He is an American author born in Washington D.C. in 1963. He has written such books as Wonder Boys (1995), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000), and Summerland (2002) among many other books.

I am drawn to this author simply because of the plot lines in his books. In one of his recent works, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the plot is around the creation of many classic comic books heroes in the 1930’s. I am a picky reader, so when I find something that strikes my interest at first glance I want to pursue the book and possibly other books that the author has written. I feel that Chabon can easily qualify as a classic American author because of many reasons. For one, The Virginia Quarterly Review praised him as “one of the most celebrated writers of his generation.” I would easily agree with this statement. In total, Chabon has written six books, two short story collections, and has one essay collection due out next month.

One of Chabon’s more popular books, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize award. This award alone makes Chabon an extraordinary author. With the first book he wrote in 1988, Mysteries of Pittsburg, he was instantly boosted to the celebrity level of society. Since then, he has written many books; all of them thrusting him more and more into stardom.

Most of Chabon’s books are fiction and all have similar themes in them, including divorce, abandonment, and fatherhood. This will make is easy to write a ten page essay on one of these themes. Since Chabon presents multiple themes in his books, I can easily pick one out and focus on it to make a clear and precise argument.

Since I have to read multiple books for this essay and project, I decided to choose books that I was very interested in. The two books that stood out to me were The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and Wonder Boys. I know that the project requires me to read three books, but seeing as Kavalier and Clay is upwards of 600 pages, I thought it would be appropriate to just choose two books. As of right now, I am still reading my assigned book for my Physics class. After this, I plan on reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and then Wonder Boys. I want to read them in this order for two reasons: one, because the plot line of Kavalier and Clay interests me more than WonderBoys, and two: since Kavalier and Clay is a much larger book, it will most likely present more themes. Therefore, reading a smaller book next will enable me to easily recognize similar themes from the previous book.

Both of these books sound very interesting to me. I am thankful that I found an author that both interests me and that can present themes to write and essay on. I look forward to reading these books and I am confident that they will expand my mind not only as a reader, but as a writer as well.