by Cathryn_Conroy: Comic books. That is the topic of this 700-page 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon. I don’t recall ever reading a comic book in my life…and yet, I thought this book was incredible!
Why did I read it? I was not enticed by reading the cover synopsis, but I’m on a small quest to read as many Pulitzer Prize-winning books as I can. And this was still on the TBR list. So I did.
Yes, this book is odd. Very odd. (Does Michael Chabon write any other kind of book?) But it’s strangely engrossing with a long, convoluted, and heart wrenching story about two cousins: Josef Kavalier and Sammy Klayman. The multilayered plot zig-zags from time period to character, spanning a 15-year period from 1939 to 1954.
Josef Kavalier is a young Jew living with his family in Prague when Adolf Hitler’s troops occupy the city. Through some legal, not-so-legal, and highly imaginative ways, he is smuggled out of Czechoslovakia to New York City—and the story of how this happens is worth the price of the book alone. When Joe lands in New York, he lives with his aunt Ethel Klayman, whose son, Sammy, is close in age to Joe. The two immediately hit it off when they quickly discover a mutual passion and forte: Sammy is a genius at writing comic books, while Joe is an equally brilliant and talented illustrator. Together they create what was then a new kind of art: comic books. Over one weekend—under the sizzling pressure of a deadline—they conceive a superhero character and the first few episodes. The Escapist and his magical Golden Key are born.
The novel is the story not only about their foray into what would later be called the Golden Age of comics, but also their deeply touching personal lives. Joe worries about his family in Czechoslovakia, knowing Hitler’s cruel claws will grab them soon, while Sammy is trying to escape the clutches of his widowed mother. When the United States enters World War II, Joe enlists, and the story of his time in the Navy is nothing like what you would expect. But it is what happens when the war is finally over that is most surprising and heartbreaking.
This is a remarkable novel about the power of identity and escape and the rebirth of transformation. The ingenious plot and bold characters power a profound and moving story that is seductive, wise, and touched with a glitter of magic. At times it is funny. And at other times it is incredibly sad. It is about life reimagined during a long-lost time, place, and society.
Bonus: Be sure to read the “Odds and Ends” at the end of the novel that contain deleted chapters and several other goodies. One of these chapters Chabon says should have been deleted, but one of them he wishes had been retained. He leaves it up to the reader to determine which one is which.
