I Can Read!

So I actually did some reading while I was on vacation. I finished two books, one of which I'd been reading for an embarrassingly long time. Here's the rundown...

Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
So this was the book that took me way too long to read, but in my defense, I was reading other things on the side. Like, umm, comic books, which is kind of ironic since this book tells the story of two cousins who write and draw comics together. Chabon is a member of the McSweeney's group of writers, headed up by David Eggers, who are essentially writing modern classics. At least, they're the ones winning the awards (TAAoK&C won a Pulitzer) and garnering critical praise. This was my first Chabon novel, and though I obviously didn't find it a real page-turner, I did enjoy it for the most part. Set immediately before, during, and after WWII, the prose is rich and meaty and the characters are fleshed out well without spoon feeding too much to the reader about their thoughts and motivation. Ultimately, much as I enjoyed Moby Dick for its description of the whaling industry, I enjoyed this book for its description of the Golden Age of comics. Many of the events and characters Chabon describes in relation to the comics industry were real, and it was pretty cool to compare that time period with today's comics comeback. Though I found the characters and their various story arcs interesting, I didn't find that I had to know what was going to happen to them next, especially as the book progressed and nothing good happened to anyone anymore. I'm glad I read it, but I longed for a book that could be thought provoking and a fun read. Which is why the next book I read was...
Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
I firmly believe that everyone should read at least one of Moore's novels in their life, and of the four I've read so far, Lamb is my favorite. The premise is simple: the angel Raziel is sent down to resurrect Levi (known as Biff), Christ's best friend during those 30 years of Jesus's life that the Bible conveniently skips, and force him to right a new gospel. Biff is kind of a jerk, but he's loyal to his best friend and they go on some amazing adventures, during which JC learns to become the Messiah. Moore concedes in his afterword that based on his research of the time period (and it's obvious he did do some research), Jesus's early life was probably not nearly as fun as this depiction. It's an interesting balancing act, making the life of Christ funny, but not sacreligous. I think Moore pulls it off--he definitely pulls of the funny part anyway. I'm probably not the best judge of what might be considered sacreligous, but I'd like to think my Christian friends could read this and not be offended. Nor is the book particularly preachy, so my atheist friends should get a kick out of it, too.
Moore is no Vonnegut, who could be funny and thought provoking, but knew that brevity is the sould of wit. Sometimes the book drags on in parts that could have been more succinct--descriptions of the Jewish hierarchy 2000 years ago might prove that Moore did some research, but they do little to move the story along. The final section of the book also drops the funny altogether, but then, I have to imagine that it's really, really hard to make crucifixion funny. Monty Python pulled it off at the end of The Life of Brian, but really, I think they're the exception that proves the rule. And though the end of Biff's gospel takes a decidedly dark turn, it stays true to the character as we've come to know him.
All of Moore's books are pretty amusing, and they're certainly quick reads. The humor is often sophomoric, but I'm always up for a good fart joke. If it happens to be Jesus farting, all the better.