Summerland: A Novel

I am a big fan of Michael Chabon’s writing and this novel is no exception. The author explains at the beginning that he believed in fairies when he was young and had a deep and abiding love of baseball. He wanted to read a book about baseball to his children but could not find one that was suitable. So he wrote one that combined baseball and fairies in a way that both children and adults would enjoy. This book is a result. Ethan Feld, the main character, lives on an island off the coast of Washington state called Clam Island where baseball is the main pastime. He is a terrible player. So when a hundred-year-old recruiter from the negro leagues named Ring Finger Brown recruits him to save the Summerlands on Clam Island, along with his friend Jennifer T. Rideout, by playing a succession of games against giants and other formidable opponents, Ethan screws up his courage and accepts the challenge.

Likable characters, fascinating concepts, compelling motivation--on the surface this book has everything it takes to make a great story, but for some reason it fell pretty flat for me. I like long books--nothing delights me more than knowing I'll have at least a few days to spend in a new world--but I think this story could have been about half the length and still included everything necessary, and as a result of some slash and burn editing, would have been a tighter story. We read this in my book club and while there was one who absolutely loved the book, most of the others felt as I did. That it went on longer than necessary and as a result got a little boring. However, it was a cute story with some genuinely funny moments and I completely identified with Ethan's baseball woes at the beginning since that was me exactly in my high school gym class where all we did every spring was play softball. I have detested baseball & softball ever since so the copious baseball scenes once they're in the Fae dimension got incredibly tedious for me. I did, however, LOVE the "scampering" concept and all the world-tree mythology. I won't read it again, but it was worth reading once just for that.

I love Michael Chabon's books - but I could not get into this one. It might've been easier if I hadn't read the introduction about why he wrote the book. After reading about his struggles during the time of writing I just could not divorce his pain from the story and so I eventually abandoned the book.

I don't know anything about baseball. I know a lot more now thanks to Micheal Chabon's imaginative and inventive storytelling. The cover grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. The characters kept me coming back again and again to find out what happened next in this story about hope and renewal in spite of evil and imperfect circumstances. I think the book is worth reading for the lengthy prologue and the last paragraph alone, which I am tempted to memorize. Chabon built himself a new fan with this book. Possibly more. About half way through I liked the story so much I bought copies for my 12 year old son and my 12 year old nephew - who's main focus in life is baseball. Finding a story that weaves in so many diverse elements is rare - and in this case - fun and instructive. The character of Coyote was expertly drawn and a good reminder of the true nature of Satan. I thought the last hit in the last inning breaking the windows of Heaven was awesome. Loved the time I spent in this story.

Michael Chabon's first attempt at a novel for children (actually, for adolescents above age 12 or so) is a qualified success. "Summerland" has several things going for it: an imaginative plot, a magical setting, clever plays on words, Native American mythology, and lots of baseball metaphors. Yet--and this is a surprise for the author of "Kavalier and Clay"--the characters never really emerge from the dugout.First, the highlights. Chabon's marvelous fantasy world is a multiverse: four different universes (the "human" world, Summerland, Winterland, and an inaccessible branch), connected by several hidden pathways that can be crossed with the help of "Shadowtails"--creatures who can instantly "scamper" within a world or can "leap" between universes. The inhabitants of these worlds include Sasquatches (don't call them "Bigfoot"!), wererats, goblins, giants, ferishers, pixies, and innumerable other species, all of whom share a passion for playing baseball, especially to settle their many otherworldly bets, arguments, and conflicts. The four worlds are intertwined branches of the Lodgepole (alias "The Tree"), which the evil Coyote and his followers (the "Rade") plan to poison and thus end the world as we know it (or thought we knew it, until a werefox shows up in a corner of Washington State). The hero, Ethan, and his friends from Clam Island are chosen (naturally) to save the universe.The author does an admirable job of depicting both his mystical creation and Ethan's adventures, and he does so with a good deal of wit and humor. Ultimately, however, the novel's main characters are drawn with indistinct strokes, and the supporting cast is barely drawn at all. The book's premise demands a team of nine (in order to play ball, of course), plus a variety of fiends and lingering oddballs, but Chabon doesn't really flesh out the almost twenty characters who have major screen time. The protagonists are one-note characters: Ethan (insecure and unathletic), Jennifer T (tomboyish), Thor (an outsider, but for a reason), and Mr. Feld (bumbling). The rest of the crew, unfortunately, is somewhat indistinguishable. Even after 500 pages, I couldn't tell you who was Cutbelly, who was Cinquefoil, and who was Pettipaw, and whether they were werefoxes, wererats, werewolves, or what have you. And, desperately in need of a ninth player 360 pages into the story, our heroes abduct an aging major-league Anaheim Angel, who then pretty much serves as a needless benchwarmer for the remainder of the plot.Kids might be enthralled enough by the fantasy elements to enjoy "Summerland," but, as an adult who reads both fantasies and children's literature, I found the lack of characterization a serious disappointment. All the same, I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy the likes of Philip Pullman, C. S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, and Tolkien, and who are counting the hours until the sixth Harry Potter book comes out.

Wie alle Bücher von Michael Chabon läßt sich auch dieses verschlingen. In gewohnt schöner Sprache hat er einen Roman für Jugendliche und jung gebliebene Erwachsene geschrieben. Was im Reich der Märchen und Sagen angesiedelt ist, kann problemlos auf diese Welt übertragen werden: Völkerverständigung durch ein Ein-Welt-Spiel. Hierbei handelt es sich im Buch um Baseball. Mir sind davon die gröbsten Grundbegriffe (Brennball...) halbwegs geläufig. Vielleicht ist das Buch für Menschen, die Baseball verstehen, noch viel genußvoller zu lesen. Auch ohne Vorkenntnisse kann ein Laie aber anhand der Art, wie die Geschichte geschrieben ist, unschwer erkennen, was passiert und ob ein Spielzug erfolgreich war oder nicht. Es sollte sich also niemand von der "Baseball-Drohung" abschrecken lassen. Wer die Spielregeln genauer kennenlernen möchte, kann sich problemlos im Internet schlau machen. Fünf Sterne für die Geschichte, den Schreibstil und den Ausgang des Buches. Noch ein kleiner Hinweis: Ganz zufällig habe ich direkt vorher "The Book Of Lost Things" von John Connolly gelesen. Es ist etwa fünf Jahre jünger und das negative Gegenstück zu "Summerland". Sehr gut lesbar, sehr schön geschrieben, nette Ideen zu deutschen Märchen, aber bis einschließlich zum letzten Satz so düster, daß man es nur als seelisch gefestigter Mensch lesen sollte, weil es einem sonst den Spaß am Leben rauben kann. Wer es denn lesen möchte, sollte "Summerland" griffbereit halten. Als Erste Hilfe und um das eigene Seelenheil zu bewahren!

Enjoyable