the problem with getting to see yourself as being a ‘book person’ lies in the accompanying pressure you put on your reading record. along with the pride i take in being at least reasonably well-read comes the responsibility to have read popular works of fiction, and to continue to read more books at a mildly impressive pace. so when i take more than a month to finish a book that’s not even a thousand pages, when i can’t even maintain a pace of a hundred pages a week when i could easily read at least fifty in a single casual night were i just to keep my head in it, i get this unfortunate readers’ guilt.

it made more sense when i was in school and i had deadlines to make; then at least it was an outside pressure. now i’m the only one looking down on myself for taking 7 weeks to finish a book that i absolutely loved. why didn’t i zip through it if it was so good? i could lay down the excuse that i’ve been going out so much more than i usually do in the past few weeks — which i have. or i could give the excuse that it was so good i was savoring it, you know? reading it slowly to soak it in, not reading too much at once to draw out the pleasure longer, which i’ve done before with other books. i think in all honesty though i just slacked off on this one. perhaps i will blame the internet, the ultimate distraction. that seems a popular scapegoat these days.

the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay – michael chabon – 5 stars

aside from how long it may have taken me to read this book though, it was a delight more or less start to finish. chabon had an excellent command of clever wordings, and a real storyteller’s structure. sure it helped that the thread through the whole book was comics, another of my weaknesses, but this had more to offer than the tale of two funnybook creators. the more i read, the more i wanted to know and befriend these characters. i wanted to spend time with the protagonists. i wanted to work with them and enjoy the 40’s new york nightlife with them. and i wanted to fall in love with joe’s wonderful girlfriend (are there any single rosas out there right now who need a gentleman caller? please oh please don’t hesitate to write).

all in all the book had me from the first page to the last, with the exception of a somewhat confusing side trip i didn’t see coming and may not support, even if i can’t see the better solution he could have went with. but a few odd chapters can’t tear down the pleasure of reading the rest, and i think i have a new favorite to add to my list of recommends.