Tom De HavenBesprekingen

This book looked appealing, because it promised a literary and intelligent look at a cultural icon, and that sort of thing has always appealed to me. It was literary, and literate. It's a well-written book. And it was intelligent. And it didn't insult the intelligence of the reader.

What it wasn't was very interesting. I feel like this was a huge opportunity for something as dynamic as the title character, yet De Haven seemed intent on avoiding the big scenes and the big themes that could well have suited this subject. Everything he writes is interesting and very well researched, insofar as authenticity to its time, it seems to me. But if you're going to write a book about Superman and how he got to be who he is, I would hope you wouldn't save all your extraordinary action and conflict until the final quarter. I enjoyed reading along, but kept thinking, "When's it going to start?" Right after it finally did start, it stopped.

A serious novel on Superman, as well-written as this one is, should leave the reader deeply moved, intensely affected in some way. This one left me remembering how I'd cried over the death of Superman story back in one of the 1960s comic books, and wondering why I felt so much more moved then.

Extremely well written and fascinating "what if" look at the origins of Superman. Very reminiscent of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, while still keeping its uniqueness. The strength of the book were not the characters you already knew -- Clark, Lois, or Lex -- but the cast of original characters that fleshed out not only the story but the entire universe. This is the Silver Age Superman re-conceptualized for the real world (killer robots notwithstanding).

Sometimes, when I'm writing these 'reviews', I feel like I shd just give up & embrace my lack of memory of them & have a special column somewhere called "Korsakoff's Amnesiacs Corner" or some-such. Almost all novels for me have become just alternate worlds that I enter into b/c my own life is so lacking in adventure these days. But what about when my life was full of adventure? I read novels galore then too & I don't remember them either. I suppose the point is that I get engrossed in the plots & 'escape' for awhile but I don't retain anything b/c none of it really ties that much into my 'real' life.

Anyway, "Freaks' Amour". Does the title remind you of anything? "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn? Well, lest you think that De Haven was inspired by Dunn, let it be known that Dunn's bk came out in 1989 & De Haven's in 1979. I haven't read "Geek Love" but it's been enthusiastically recommended to me by many a friend. I don't know if the similarities between the titles is where such similarities stops but looking at the Wikipedia plot synopsis for Dunn's bk the similarites seem to run deeper. I'm not saying that Dunn plagiarized De Haven, the sensationalist taste for 'freaks' will always be there in the zeitgeist.

Otherwise, HEY!, I remember nothing about this bk. I've just read the back cover description & skimmed thru it to remind me. It was probably funny, etc; I probably enjoyed it, etc.

Perhaps now is the time to insert a bit of personal philosophizing to explain my indifference to getting into this bk (& many others) in detail. My interest is in living a fantastic 'REAL' life. I've spent my life trying to be here now. & that's not influenced by the bk by the same name (wch I haven't read - but might someday). So why do I read so many damn novels & watch so many fictional movies? I know, I 'know', it's contradictory.

BUT, if you read my more autobiographical bks, like "How to Write a Resumé" & "footnotes", you'll realize that my main interest has been to lead an assertive life that manifests my imagination, to not just stand by & watch my life trickle away - wasted on vicarious living. Even writing these sometimes shallow 'reviews' is an attempt to get a grip on my life by using reading these 'escapist' bks as an excuse to write shit like I'm writing now, to be less passive, more ENGAGED.

I've always tried to create an ACTUAL LIFE that's special - that's why I don't write (much) fiction. I like fiction but I feel like trying to provide texts that're as interesting as fiction but about my own personal 'REAL' experience is more important. As such, I run the risk of being written off as an egomaniac. But my egomania is beside the point, my life-as-example it to the point. I think most people PREFER fiction, though. Maybe even I do - after all, I've read a zillion novels & very few biographies.

But wch ones stick w/ me more? Crowley's "autohagiography"? Or "Freaks' Amour"? Definitely the former. I read "Freaks' Amour" w/in the last 5 yrs & the Crowley bk 20 yrs ago. One cd attribute my more recent lack of memory to age deterioration but I don't think that's actually the case here. Anyway, I'm not saying "Freaks' Amour" is a bad bk, I'm just saying that novels, & living in fantasy worlds, are less important than trying to live yr own life to the fullest. I love bks & bookworms (like myself) usually have pretty active brains, but if you don't APPLY THAT ACTIVE BRAIN you might just be missing out, eh?!

The Smallville years of Superman, told in a period style that evokes the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. An excellent read, all around. Kind of makes me wish this author would write a continuing series of period Superman novels, but I suppose the conceit works best if it ends with the full emergence of Superman, as it does here.

I enjoyed Tom De Haven's writing style and the story was good. But there were too many liberties taken with the idea of Superman for me to really enjoy it. De Haven puts a heavy gloss of reality on the story of Superman and sets the origin story in the 30s.

Originally published as a limited edition hardcover, the beautiful Yesterday's Tomorrows features the clean stylings of acclaimed graphic illustrator Rian Hughes. With five comic book stories -- two by [a:Grant Morrison|12732|Grant Morrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262720277p2/12732.jpg] including the controversial post-modern interruption of the iconic Dan Dare, an adaptation of [a:Raymond Chandler|1377|Raymond Chandler|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206535318p2/1377.jpg]'s "Goldfish," and two over-the-top 50s-infused science fiction stories -- and a sketchbook of designs, trading cards, covers, and pin ups, Hughes demonstrates his mastery over different genres and techniques. While the writing quality of the various tales wavers, the uniqueness of Hughes' gorgeous vision remains impressive. At the affordable price of $24.99 for 264 full color pages, Yesterday's Tomorrows is a welcome addition to any graphic novel or science fiction collection.

I re-read this for review purposes because, let's face it, my memory sucks and there's no way I can remember enough details to review it years later. It's also just a good book and worth that re-read.

What Works -

Clark - I have a soft spot for stories that focus on the Clark Kent persona over the Superman one. Of course without the alien part we'd never look twice, but I dig the confused double-identity awkwardness.

Clark shows up for the book after taking a girl out on an unsuccessful date, discovering some of his powers during a botched rescue that ends with a guy dead. Ricochet isn't something to mess around with. He likes to write stories that are all rejected - pulpy sci-fi stuff - and instead of crying over his father's death, he's despaired at his mother's demise from cancer.

We don't get the fortress of solitude yet, but we do get a small-town farmboy who is unsure of the world and himself. The book takes a long time to get him out of Smallville - there's his father, a great man who refuses to attend church because of hypocrisy of the local Methodist congregation and who turns some of the town against him because of taking in a black man as an assistant. Their bond is close but realistic. He does some small time reporting in that town and finally meets up with an escapee from Metropolis, Willie.

Clark/Lex enemies - When he finally gets into the Superman role, he's great as a bumbling hero. His meeting with Lex is priceless as Lex is quick to point out the lack of brains apparent. The meeting isn't a hatred for the villain, but rather an excitement Lex was craving. I loved the showdown and their relationship in this book, although sadly they're scenes aren't until the end. Lex even is responsible for a certain costume...

Lex - Lex is perfect in this book for this alternate reality type. I loved his character. He's a mob boss who acts as the cities alderman (not sure what that is, neither are some of the characters...) while blackmailing scientists to help him make robots and busily coming up with other schemes. There's of course the serious darkness and villainry from him, but there's also that quirky humor that makes the book work. He's obviously the brightest man in book and he knows it. He's sleek, powerful, suave, sarcastic, his character was one of the best things the book offered, if not the top thing.

The ending - I fangirl how the ending ties together the story - not so far fetched that it's an alternate universe, but a different telling on the detailed start, something other books haven't done to my satisfaction before. There's so many made up details but most of them are interesting and it plays like a noirish 30's story. But in the end it wraps it up by then saying, let's allow the general fandom and canon to take over now..."And here, at last, is the point where our version of the story merges with all the others, the point at which Lois Lane (with one shoe on and one shoe off) peers up at Clark Kent (whose glasses are once again back on his face) with a dawning but already deep suspicion that feels strangely gleeful, almost like affection."

Not shying away from realism - The story has accidental deaths on the part of Clark, swearing from other characters, funny bumbling - bravo.

Lois - Lois works pretty well, even if I got bored sometimes with her POV. She's written with strong backbone and backstory, showing her go from one man to another, putting aside conscience for story.

What Doesn't Work -

Povs for people we don't care about - There's several side stories thrown in that grew stale and drug the book down. The plot was detailed (win), imaginative (bigger win), but it veered off too often into made-up character's heads for the invented story. An example is Willie; he works for meeting Clark and getting stuff rolling but he was another I grew bored with eventually. If the writer had reduced some of his viewpoint a bit, it would have helped

Clark/Willie journey - Sure, the journey helps show them explore the world before deciding what to do eventually, but it drags on much too long and, while having some fascinating adventures, holds boring ones as well.

Overall it's a great book for fans, it's different and fresh, and the major characters shine as stars. On the negative side sometimes the book just gets dull in between the worthy stuff. Because of some dullish sections I couldn't give this book a five star, but I loved it enough for it too stay a favorite.

Tom De Haven had a unique version of Superman - and as much as I like the general story we're all used to, I totally dug this alternate version.

I wouldn't recommend this to my friends. I wasn't necessarily disappointed, but if you don't like super heroes or especially superman, you won't like this. 3Q3P The cover art is okay and I'd recommend this to high school students and adults. I chose to read this book because it had superman on the front. AdisonS

I love mysteries. I love noir. I'm just not a short story fan. Despite that, I gave this a good try, ultimately skipping through to read the ones GoryDetails highlighted. The Red Rose Vial and Midnight at the Oasis were ultimately my favorites (and yes, I am a Poe fan and belly-dance). Still, I think this series is an interesting project, and I suspect each volume holds great delight for people more familiar with the cities involved than I am with Richmond (which I know mainly through reading or driving through on I-95). Off to the bookshelf today!

Georgie Wreckage is a sketchman on a newspaper, illustrating the news. He sees, draws and is haunted by gang wars, ferry disasters and dismembered corpses. But Georgie’s world is under threat. Colour printing is coming, photography is breathing down his neck. There are inventors everywhere and everything is changing.

The future is in the funny papers but Georgie can’t be funny. He can’t make things up. Then a chance encounter leads him to draw a young street vendor named Pinfold and he is cursed with sudden success. Meanwhile, Pinfold’s life is never quite the same again.

Funny Papers is full of energy and exuberance. Even at its darkest, when Georgie moves among the criminal, the dispossessed and the poor, it fizzes with life. It captures a period of dramatic social and technological change, where nothing is certain and everything is in motion. There are plenty of resonances with today, not least Pinfold’s struggle to maintain his identity in the face of his more vivid and ‘real’ cartoon counterpart.

You don’t need to be a fan of comics (I’ve never really got them) to enjoy this book. I raced through it and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Tom De Haven begins with "Our version of the story opens..." and tells a new origin story for Superman. This story has no mention of where Clark Kent came from. No one knows the answer and whatever it was he rode in on was completely destroyed. This leaves Clark with a sense of isolation and confusion about who he is that lasts throughout the entire story. There are not a lot of "super" feats through the book, as it is mostly about Clark Kent learning what he is capable of and trying to find a place in the world where he can feel significant.

And that is why this is another Superman book that leaves me disappointed. Tom De Haven has written this superhero book from the point of view that heroes just don't exist. Everyone is hopelessly flawed and the only reason anyone is worthy of respect is because they've hidden faults better than other people.

Clark's part in the story is all about his selfish desires to be significant in his own eyes. I don't mind leaving knowledge about Krypton out of the story. That's a valid take. I do mind making both Clark and Superman unintelligent hicks that have no idea what to do... ever. This Superman is one full of self-pity and self-doubt that leaves him paralyzed and unable to find meaning in anything that he does. He has no real desire to help people, he just doesn't want to feel like he should be doing something when he's not. Throw in a pervasive agnosticism that is displayed as every character's main attribute, Lois lane who seems to always be in her underwear and jumps into bed with three different guys, and no one is likeable. None of them have superior morals to Lex Luthor, they just don't break the law as much. Of course, that's what you'd expect in a fictional world where agnosticism is the best version of truth you can find.

This is a good fiction novel. It's just not a good Superman novel.

This is a retelling, or re-imagining, of the Superman story. The novel has the thematic elements of the Superman legend, only set in the '30s of the "real world." Smallville remains a town in Kansas, but Clark ends up in New York City, rather than Metropolis. There are several references to Metropolis, however.

The story was written in the style of the books I remember swiping from my father's book collection in the attic as a child; chapter plot points at the start of each chapter, lots of side story detail that would be missing from current stories.

Even Lex Luthor has a new origin of sorts, and is a believable and worthy foe, even though his first comeuppance is less about a rivalry , and more about a complex chain of events that lead to Superman facing Luthor only after the house of cards have come crashing down. Luthor escapes, of course, using Superman to do so. This sets up their feud which must continue after the period covered by the book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.

A kind of extended love letter to one of popular culture's finest creations; lovely!

The character of Superman deserved a great novel, and this is it. So much more than a generic superhero slugfest, this is the young Clark Kent growing up in Depression era America, and just starting to figure it out. Marvellous!

Collection of mystery short stories taking place in Richmond, VA. It's suppose to be noir, but some of it really isn't. One or two stories are very good with a well developed plot and characters, but most fall short. I do like the area mentioned though, I'm a current Virginian.½

A fair adaption. Nothing remarkable, but good for the Gibson or Neuromancer completist.
Amusing that they spell the lead character's name wrong on the first page.

This is a full-length novel, not a graphic novel, about Clark Kent becoming Superman. It's very well-written and researched, and is probably one of the best contemporary novels on the 1930s I've read. The voice, the racism, the pop culture references, all of it felt real and genuine. The story has heart. That said, I was surprised by the twists and turns this tale took. I expected Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, but not tangents such as riding along with hobos or going to Los Angeles. But then, I'm a casual Superman fan, and all this could be canon as far as I know. Another peculiar thing is that the story is in present tense, making it read like a comic without the illustrations. My main gripe is that all the main characters don't come together until the very end, which is a shame because they have such wonderful chemistry.

Good book if you like Superman and literature based in the 1930s, but I don't think I'll be keeping it.

Set in the world of 1930’s newspaper comics publishing, Dugan chronicles three or more affairs of various sorts: platonic/romantic, as hack writer Al Bready worries about his friendship with a married woman; platonic/creative, as Bready pairs with disagreeable, lecherous comic strip artist Walter Geebus to produce a work (the “Derby Dugan” of the book’s title) greater than either man could have accomplished on their own; and the very real love affair that America once had with newspaper comic strips.
The relationships that he writes about are difficult ones, all bound up in a four-colored thread of endurance, faith, love and aspiration. Like the relationships between characters in the best comic strips — the Kats and Mice, the orphans and billionaires, the sailors and old maids — they mean something that is not easily defined. This is not a novel about the funnies, but a novel about the people who made them, the contradictory nature of the human heart, and “the better angels of our nature” that sometimes find fruition in populist art.

You may have read one of the classical myths published by Random House. They invite contemporary writers such Ali Smith or Margaret Atwood to rewrite classical myths with modern concerns and twists. Superman by Tom De Haven is a rewrite of the comic magazine myth of Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Superman. On the face of it, two different projects but dig deeper and they are not. The energy that enables Superman last 70 years and expand into TV, films etc is Myth. The baby that appears in a rocket (Miraculous Birth) who as he grow older discovers his powers (Initiation) which leads to loss of family and community(Withdrawal) as he try and find himself(Trail and Quest) and so on.

To read more go to http://tinyurl.com/4gpsqb

I'm so surprised at how few members have this wonderful novel in their libraries! (As of January 2008, only 6 of us.) It tells the story of a world after a nuclear accident, in which some of humanity has mutated physically, and the rest have remained unchanged. Society has divided between the Freaks and the Normalso, and it isn't pretty. Some Freaks are proud of their new status and some desperately try to save money for an operation to regain their normal appearance. Complicating this is a strange drug, from mutated goldfish eggs....½

[fr] http://moonmotel.fr/?2006/11/13/13-it-s-supermannbsp

Originally, I thought a book about how Clark Kent became Superman would be interesting. Instead, I ended up with historical fiction including details about the thirties I've never been interested enough to look up. The most creative thing about the series is the insecurities Clark has about his abilities, stemming mostly from his perceived lack of intelligence. If I wasn't so surprised by the lack of action, I'd say this was probably a good historical account of the Superman myth.

excerpt from my blog:

Ok, so the book starts with a prologue that it is possible to skip. And I tell you this because WARNING: the book starts with the death of an animal. A lot of people are sensitive about that sort of thing and the book should have a warning label. So there. One from me. The prologue is set in the "other" world and gives just a bit of flavor and background, but it's not necessary to understanding the story so if you still want to read the book, you can safely do it without reading that part.

The book then goes on to introduce us to a homeless guy name Geebo who cleans windshields in the city. From this point, the book is really good for quite a while. The voice is very good and I enjoyed the descriptions of places and the characters of the street people. Geebo has some kind of amnesia, and that provides a bit of mystery. He meets the King's Tramp, Jack, and starts to get pulled into Jack's mission- whatever that is. Another set of characters is introduced, Money, her rich lover, Eugene Bowman, and his driver, Herb. So there's a whole other plot there running along.

When the various plots start to come together is where the book lost me. Not because it got hard to follow, but because it was like- shrug- yeah, whatever. I didn't feel any sense of momentum. Most of the explanation of Jack's mission is saved for too long, I think, so that by the time that part of the story gets related I'm like- oh. So? The bad guys didn't interact very much with the good guys, except when they were trying to kill each other, so I didn't get much of a handle on them and they weren't very scary to me.

There is a human bad guy who seems to be taken directly from real headlines with his name changed, and then this diabolical post-headline history made up for him and worked into the story. At first it seemed that the character was loosely based on the real person which was like, oh, interesting idea. Then as the story started to move it was like there was this big sign that said: Hey, this guy is really Blank Blank. Get it? Guh. Whatever. It was annoying. And lot of readers younger than I probably won't even get it.

By the last third of the book, I really had to push to finish. Nothing was happening that I cared about, and I didn't expect anything to change my mind, and nothing did. There were things that happened and I was just thinking- oh, setup for sequel, set-up for sequel. Like I'm going to read the sequel. The end sort of just happened all off camera. After all that lead-up. What was the point?

A fine retelling of the Superman story, set in the mid-1930's. Basically, the events follow Clark from his late teens, when he first begins to realize his burgeoning powers, to his eventual move to the Big Apple, where he becomes enmeshed with the victims of a world-domination scheme by alderman Lex Luthor of New York City. There is much to like here; DeHaven has a sure touch for dialogue, and the emotional impact of Clark's powers and abilities, which set him apart from humanity as surely as his impulse to help unites him with them. I wish DeHaven had given Clark's parents a stronger role in his upbringing and "coming out", but their influence is at least hinted at. I'm of mixed feelings about how Clark's costume came into being, especially the final product near the end. I liked DeHaven's portrayal of Lois Lane (Lana only has a passing mention), and Clark's interactions with her in the latter part of the book. I prefer the structure that Elliott Maggin gave to the Superman legend in "Last Son of Krypton", but DeHaven has written a longer and more ambitious book here, and I think he is a better pure writer than Maggin. In a perfect world, these two could have collaborated on a Superman novel. But this was a satisfying read, although I think only a Superman fan like myself would have appreciated it to its fullest.½