Maps and Legends

Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon writes about genres, comics, fan fiction, tricksters, writing, maps, and golems in this engaging collection of essays.

I'm a sucker for books about books, books about reading, books about writing. So it's no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of Chabon's accessible nonfiction essays. Along the way he stops to argue with the scorn heaped on genre fiction, read some comic books, discuss ghost stories and Sherlock Holmes, and talk about a controversial article on Yiddish that was the germ of his magical realist novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union (see the NYT article for more details).

I especially liked "On Daemons & Dust", where Chabon discusses Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy with great insight (it's a trilogy I have mixed feelings about and was happy to read a thoughtful analysis of - I acknowledge the greatness of its inventions, particularly daemons and the alethiometer, but the third book was venomously anti-Christian and spoiled my enjoyment of the series). I was also drawn in by the final essay "Golems I Have Known, or, Why My Elder Son's Middle Name is Napoleon" where Chabon mixes truth and fiction and ties the themes of the book together.

One tiny quibble: this is the librarian in me speaking, but I am a little sad there's no index to help me re-find some of the many authors and books he mentions in passing.

Chabon's love of literature shines through clearly, and those who want a good introduction to his work should check out his 2001 Pulitzer novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay or his most recent book, Telegraph Avenue. For more great essays on reading and literature, I highly recommend Francis Spufford's The Child That Books Built.

Quotable:

"A mind is not blown, in spite of whatever Hollywood seems to teach, merely by action sequences, things exploding, thrilling planetscapes, wild bursts of speed. Those are all good things; but a mind is blown when something that you always feared but knew to be impossible turns out to be true; when the world turns out to be far vaster, far more marvelous or malevolent than you ever dreamed; when you get proof that everything in connected to everything else, that everything you know is wrong, that you are both the center of the universe and a tiny speck sailing of its nethermost edge." - 94

"The mass synthesis, marketing, and distribution of versions and simulacra of an artificial past, perfected over the last thirty years or so, has ruined the reputation and driven a fatal stake through the heart of nostalgia. Those of us who cannot make it from one end of the street to another without being momentarily upended by some fragment of outmoded typography, curve of chrome fender, or whiff of lavender oil from the pate of a semi-retired neighbor are compelled by the disrepute into which nostalgia has fallen to mourn secretly the passing of a million marvelous quotidian things." - 135

The Golem's Eye

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rebel Kitty Jones and her group threaten young magician Nathaniel's rise to power, so he summons the quick-witted djinni Bartimaeus to take care of them - and defeat the unstoppable creature threatening London's magical treasures.

There are now three point-of view characters: we have the always-delightful demon Bartimaeus, the overly ambitious but clever Nathaniel (now known as John Mandrake), and the energetic hero, Kitty Jones. Stroud brings back all the magic mayhem of The Amulet of Samarkand and gives me exactly what I hoped for: a look into the alternate world he's created, where England's empire stretches across the world well into the modern era thanks to their greedy but powerful magicians.

Poor Nathaniel. I can't help but like him, though he does absolutely nothing right. Getting into the government (as John Mandrake) has worsened his character. His hunger for power and vengeful tendencies are only exacerbated once he enters the insular, back-stabbing society of high-level magicians. He continues to treat Bartimaeus badly, calling him "slave" and generally being a brat. His cleverness is his one redeeming quality - and even that only makes him worse as a person.

Bartimaeus is his usual snarky, shape-shifting self, outraged at being summoned from his comfy Other Place to serve as Nathaniel's gofer. Understandably, he's irritated by being forced to take orders from someone 4,986 years younger than himself and our favorite demon is still quicker to hide than risk harming his essence in a fight.

Kitty is the real hero of this book. I think Stroud realized he needed a wholly likable character for balance, since Bartimaeus and Nathaniel spend every scene with each other as antagonists. (And Nathaniel is such a toad in this book.*) Kitty is a commoner (non-magician) with an unusual gift who recognizes the injustice of the magical oligarchy and wants to gain rights for her fellow British citizens. She's great, and she's the perfect antidote to Nathaniel.

It's an increasingly dark world, full of casual violence and blatant injustice where might makes right. I loved it, and I can't wait to see what happens to these characters in Ptolemy's Gate, the final book in the series. For older readers who love His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman or Garth Nix's The Keys to the Kingdom series.

*Not literally. That wasn't a spoiler. Bartimaeus is more likely to be a literal toad in these books.