No Review Today But I Have A Good Excuse...

I seem to have slowed down a bit in my reading lately and for that I apologize. Here's what happened: I had been dipping in and out of THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon, juggling some books around, reading this, reading that, reviewing what I liked, as I usually do. But Chabon's book kept calling me back and I'd read a few pages and have to spend time thinking about what I'd just read, adjusting to the fact that a magnificent book had begun to unveil itself to me. Yeah, that happens with certain books. But, here's the rub: I should have been reading it sooner since now the library was wanting it back.

I had gotten halfway through KAVALIER AND CLAY hooked to the point that every other book I picked up was suffering by comparison. I either had to read more quickly or I'd miss my own self-imposed review deadline.

But KAVALIER AND CLAY is not something you read quickly. It is a book to savor, to think about, to unreel in your imagination scene by scene. It is the story of Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay, Jewish immigrant boys who, as Hitler rises to power in Europe, transform their own lives through artistry, imagination and hard work. Together they create a best selling comic book world filled with super heroes and raging villains, many suspiciously Nazi-like. A wonderful story that will stay alive in my own imagination, I hope, for years to come. So what is a reader to do when faced with a book that astonishes her senses?

With fines adding up at the library (And why or why did I wait so long to begin reading it??? Did I think this Pulitzer Prize winning book would just not live up to the hype? Why was I so leery?), I had no choice but to return it (after several renewals while it sat there waiting patiently for me to make up my mind). Okay, so here's the plan: I wait a week or so, then I request the book again. Hopefully it will be available to me. But I know that at some point I'm going to have to own a copy.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you foolishly dithered over a book only to find that it was even better than you'd dared hope? I'm late to the party I know, but jeez, I'm thrilled to have finally arrived.