tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post6674778906167128271..comments2023-12-24T10:14:39.424-05:00Comments on Cole Slaw Blog: Michael Chabon's unwieldy new bookFlophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04677185628909814152noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-74854318166470205102007-06-11T17:19:00.000-04:002007-06-11T17:19:00.000-04:00I don't know, I think once a novelist sells rights...I don't know, I think once a novelist sells rights to the movies, the final product is out of his hands and it needs to be regarded separately. The movie has a life of its own independent of the book, and sometimes what works in print doesn't work in film. Tom Wolfe bitched up a storm about "The Right Stuff," but that may be another rare instance where the movie is better than the book. The adaptation of "The Human Stain" might have been wobbly (I never saw it) but that in no way diminishes what I thought of the novel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-92125077415419828452007-06-08T11:20:00.000-04:002007-06-08T11:20:00.000-04:00I thought that the Yiddish was interesting too, an...I thought that the Yiddish was interesting too, and I also liked the premise. For maybe a 40 or 50 page stretch in the middle, I thought that it was starting to come together and that my initial reaction had been tough -- and then, nothing.<BR/><BR/>I'm glad that you like it, though. I think he has a lot of talent and I want him to do well, but I also feel like he still hasn't found a project that lets his talent fly, like Jonathan Letham had with "Fortress of Solitude." My favorite thing he's written is still the title story to "Werewolves in Their Youth." Come back and comment when you're done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-48617808198936773682007-06-08T10:37:00.000-04:002007-06-08T10:37:00.000-04:00I'm halfway through, and I don't hate it. It's not...I'm halfway through, and I don't hate it. It's not his best, but the premise is interesting enough to sustain me. Plus, I find the liberal use of Yiddish slang entertaining.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-68193926282913408502007-06-08T09:35:00.000-04:002007-06-08T09:35:00.000-04:00I wonder if Chabon made the mistake of sacrificing...I wonder if Chabon made the mistake of sacrificing character for plot and setting. Good novels seem to start with a good character and place the in an appropriate setting, not vice versa. Chabon's characters were flat. This can happen in noir fiction, but in most cases noir characters have a more convincing internal conflict.<BR/><BR/>I'd have to go back, but I also recall that Chabon was pretty hamfisted in revealing plot devices (a friend once called this "maid and butler dialog"). Stuff like, "And then he realized ..." It was like reading a screenplay for an episode of "Family Guy."<BR/><BR/>It reminded me of that one time I read a bad book by a really great author ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-65850117403308206812007-06-07T14:01:00.000-04:002007-06-07T14:01:00.000-04:00I just wonder how something could misfire so badly...I just wonder how something could misfire so badly on so many levels. Take Ian McEwan's <I>Saturday</I> -- the only other novel that I've really savaged on this site. There, the underlying idea of the novel was lousy, and McEwan's seemed to end up over his head. He made a series of terrible decisions, and overall, it felt like it was written by an entity who literally had never interacted with a human being.<BR/><BR/>This book had the ingredients to be something special. The idea was clever and original, and Chabon has a good touch when it comes to blending serious and lighthearted. So what went wrong? The whole book felt confused and lost. Was it his editor's fault? Did he just get too immersed in a genre? What's the explanation for the dreary, meandering writing? Unlike <I>Saturday</I>, this book didn't seem beyond repair. What gives?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11661639.post-2372467011842813322007-06-07T11:08:00.000-04:002007-06-07T11:08:00.000-04:00Agreed on all counts. I didn't even finish the boo...Agreed on all counts. I didn't even finish the book, it was that bad. That hasn't happened to me since Pynchon's "Against the Day" ("Heyday," incidentally, reads like an edited version of that book).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com