Pen to Paper

Not award-winning, but actually pretty fun.

….I want to watch Jersey Girl again.

I’ve come across a few articles recently that reminded me of a book I read last year – Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.  Last winter it was part of the GeekNights book club, and I’d just moved to a state where I didn’t know anyone so I had plenty of time on my hands.

The title characters – Joe and Sam – start as kids and grow into major figures during the birth of the comics industry.  If I remember right, they’re cousins – but don’t hold me to that.  So far as I know, the characters are imagined.  The settings, however, are exceptionally real.

I’m trying to think what a list of keywords would include, and it’s pretty eclectic – comics, Jewish Americans, World War II, escape artist, golem, homosexuality (and, incidentally, this book is a better treatment on “homosexuality in an intolerant culture” than the movie Brokeback Mountain).

I enjoyed reading Kavalier & Clay, and the fact that it keeps coming back to me speaks well for it.  If you’re interested in the creative process or comics, or just good literature, you might want to check it out.

Trope of the Day: Iron Woobie – you know the guy you feel sorry for because life keeps dumping on them, but they nobly press on?  This is that guy.

Leo’s the protagonist, but Gordon-Levitt’s the awesome.

Heat meets Memento meets Ocean’s 11, kinda?