Valguarnera | Mon 11-Dec-06 11:23 AM |
Member since 04th Mar 2003
6904 posts
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#814, "Any Michael Chabon fans in the house?"
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I don't read a ton of fiction, but I took The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay on vacation a while ago. It's about a pair of cousins trying to market a superhero comic in New York City during and after World War II, and there's all these great passages about how they kept having to change the protagonist's powers up and down to make the stories work. After the main character has punched out Hitler... well, they still need to sell the line (and the radio show, and...), so they start inventing bigger and more ridiculous Nazi villains for their hero, who starts out as a magician/escape artist with a James Bond kind of flair.... and eventually is picking up tanks and throwing them at Nazi robots.... and then his powers come back down when the authors want to tell a different kind of story (which would be over in 2 pages if the hero could just crush everything in his path), etc. All sorts of discussion about what makes a "good" hero, what your hero can and can't do, etc.
I don't know much about the history of comic books in general, but Chabon makes it work for non-fans. Quick pace, lots of great local detail, and a great job of capturing the feel of old-timey radio shows, etc. Fun read.
valguarnera@carrionfields.com
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A recent debate I was in. Your thoughts if you please.
[View all] , Igsoeh, Sun 10-Dec-06 04:41 PM
The outcome,
DurNominator,
13-Dec-06 02:23 AM, #18
Thanos would trounce them both. Question answered. NT,
TheLastMohican,
12-Dec-06 12:39 AM, #13
RE: A recent debate I was in. Your thoughts if you plea...,
Isildur,
11-Dec-06 11:01 AM, #4
RE: A recent debate I was in. Your thoughts if you plea...,
Wilhath,
10-Dec-06 05:10 PM, #1
Seriously,
Tac,
10-Dec-06 08:15 PM, #2
RE: Seriously,
Igsoeh,
11-Dec-06 12:56 AM, #3
RE: Seriously,
Isildur,
11-Dec-06 11:03 AM, #5
RE: Seriously,
Igsoeh,
11-Dec-06 08:46 PM, #9
Superman is more powerful than God.,
Tac,
11-Dec-06 11:25 PM, #10
Superman has another major weakness...,
Elerosse,
12-Dec-06 12:19 AM, #11
What about...,
Daevryn,
12-Dec-06 12:37 AM, #12
RE: What about...,
Isildur,
12-Dec-06 01:28 AM, #14
RE: What about...,
Igsoeh,
13-Dec-06 02:45 AM, #19
He does *seem* to be dumb...,
Tac,
12-Dec-06 09:48 AM, #15
Heres a better one yet in Luke's favor..,
Elerosse,
13-Dec-06 01:31 AM, #17
Our solar system doesn't have a monoply on yellow stars,
Tac,
13-Dec-06 09:17 AM, #21
Have you even watched star wars??,
Elerosse,
13-Dec-06 01:34 PM, #22
Yes, but the new ones sucked the joy out nt,
Tac,
13-Dec-06 02:45 PM, #23
The spectrum is clearly different then,
DurNominator,
14-Dec-06 04:33 AM, #25
Yup. A star's colour depends on it's temperature.,
DurNominator,
14-Dec-06 04:23 AM, #24
RE: Superman is more powerful than God.,
Igsoeh,
13-Dec-06 03:02 AM, #20
RE: Seriously,
(NOT Graatch),
11-Dec-06 11:06 AM, #6
Any Michael Chabon fans in the house?,
Valguarnera,
11-Dec-06 11:23 AM #7
Yes, me.,
(NOT Graatch),
11-Dec-06 03:30 PM, #8
Great book. A recommended read for all. (nt),
TheProphet,
12-Dec-06 11:25 AM, #16
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