That's helpful to know, really, going into this book, as Telegraph Avenue functions as much as a character as it does a setting. And I love that in a book. Authors that can make places as important as people are awesome.
And yet this book and I have had some fits and starts. I read the first two pages (the dedication and the epigraph) and was all I LOVE YOU MICHAEL CHABON. If you're curious, this is the dedication:
To Ayelet, from the drop of the needle to the innermost groove.
And this is the epigraph:
Call me Ishmael. --Ishmael Reed, probably.
Then I read the next 20-or-so pages (ok, maybe more like 60) and was all I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING OR WHO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE.
And then I stopped thinking in all caps and thought, ok, you're a smart person, you can figure this out. And I did. And once I started reading in longer chunks (this is not a book to be read in 10-page incremements), it started coming together a bit more for me.
At this point, I'm at the end of Part I (right on time for the readalong, too, go me!), and I think I like it. I think. I'm not wildly in love with all of the characters, but I feel that that statement desperately requires a "...yet." at the end of it, and therefore am not too worried. I do love Gwen Shanks, the rockin' midwife with a fierce attitude, and Julie Jaffe, son of the white owner of the record shop. I'm still not sure I know who everyone is, or how all of the characters/names/nicknames fit together. For a book about race, I'm pretty consistently confused as to who is black and who is white--but maybe that's intentional. I'm definitely not sure I know what is taking place in 2004 and what is a flashback to the 70s--but again, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
Like so many other parts of this book (the characters, the time period, the setting, the plot), my own reaction to the book so far confuses me. Part I of Telegraph Avenue netted out to a bit of a flop; at 124 pages long, it felt like a whole lotta set-up and very little payoff. But by the end of Part I, I was ready to dive right in to Part II... so that must be a good thing, in some way. I'll be posting about Part II next week, so we shall see.
If I've piqued your interest with my scatter-brained reaction to the first part of this book and you'd like to preorder a copy for yourself, you can do so at The Odyssey Bookshop or find it at an independent bookstore near you. If I've piqued your interest and you'd like some further opinions of this book, you can find other readalonger's reactions at As the Crow Flies.
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Further reading for Part I:
5 Questions for Michael Chabon (via Audra at Unabridged Chick)
Telegraph Avenue on Wikipedia
Michael Chabon on his "hometown" in The Atlantic
It was definitely a whole lot of set up with not a lot of pay off. But we've (sort of) got that all down now, and I'm optimistic for Part II. At least, I can't wait to read more about Titus...
ReplyDeleteI honestly had to go back up and look up who Titus was. I think I need a chart.
DeleteYes, I loved the epitaph, too. Cracked me up and made me notice lots of other humorous instances that I wouldn't have otherwise looked for.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen as much humor as I had expected, but maybe I need to be more on the lookout for it!
DeleteAlso a huge fan of Gwen Shanks. I'm hoping we get a lot more of her and Aviva in the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteI actually went back and re-read the first record shop scene just a few minutes ago and it's *amazing* what I missed the first time through. I was so concerned with figuring out all of the characters that I missed quite a bit of great character details. I have the feeling that Telegraph Avenue is one of those books that's even better in the re-read.
ReplyDeleteThe race thing is interesting because I feel like Archy Stallings is a white name while Nat Jaffey is feels more like a black name. I think I kind of like that Chabon is playing around with the names like that.
That's a really good point about the re-read -- I put the majority of my reading effort into keeping track of everyone in the first part, so I'm sure I missed a lot. Maybe I'll re-read the first few pages before I dive in to Part II just to see.
DeleteI too was captivated by the dedication! And then I made the mistake of reading in small chunks AND researching too much -- I think I need to do a quick reread of Part I and then move into Part II -- let myself sink into the story more.
ReplyDeleteI ended up doing a quick skim of Part I and writing down all the characters before moving on to Part II, and I enjoyed Part II MUCH more!
DeleteAs I'm working through Part II, I've started taking notes (which I don't usually do while reading). It's helpful for me to keep track of everyone's race and relationships to each other. I think I'm going to try to read Part II in two or three long spurts because it is a hard book to read bit by bit.
ReplyDeleteI read Part II in two long sittings, and found it went much more smoothly for me.
DeleteThe characters are confusing, though I think I got that all straightened out. It's not nearly as bad as a Russian novel though!
ReplyDeleteI made a glossary of them all to keep them straight: http://www.entomologyofabookworm.com/2012/07/telegraph-avenue-cast.html
DeleteI agree with your take on the first chapter, and so far the second is much more engaging for me. Julie and Gwen seemed to be the most sympathetic characters in "Dream of Cream", I agree.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that your experience of "The Church of Vinyl" will draw you into the novel, too.
"this is not a book to be read in 10-page increments"
ReplyDeleteThat's it right there.
Definitely. I read Part II in two sittings and it was a drastic improvement.
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