| In Association With... |  |
|
|
|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Chabon
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $22.50
You Save: $17.45 (44%)
New (13) from $22.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  137 reviews
Sales Rank: 732399
Format: Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 12
Pages: 15
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 1565117212
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781565117211
ASIN: 1565117212
Publication Date: September 16, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new. In original shrinkwrapping. Remainder mark. Next day shipping with tracking for US buyers.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A shocking fairy tale adventure June 20, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
A mystical book, from the beginning to the end. To me it felt a bit like a fairy tale with giants, ferishers, and sasquatches. But it is not just fairy tales - it's also has Native American tales and legends. For example, coyote was a creture in Native American legends. But then there are things in modern day history like baseball. All of these 3 things are mix together in one awesome story.
This story shows how Ethan, Jennifer T., and Thor change and find out things they never knew before. I mean, just think about Ethan, a boy who hated baseball, ending up using it to help him and the world - now thats a big change! I think every one should read this book especially someoneone who likes either baseball, Native American legends, fairy tales or adventure. ...And if you like all four mixed together then you've really got yourself a book to read!
by Elayna B.
 Swing and a miss! June 19, 2005
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have been a fan of Chabon since Mysteries of Pittsburgh. And where does a writer whose debut is compared to the likes of Salinger and Fitzgerald go from there? Amazingly, up. Wonder Boys was even bettern than Mysteries, then Chabon shocks me again with his best work to date, Kavlier and Clay. Then (and I hope you'll pardon the baseball puns) he steps up to the plate to write his first youth-oriented book. Strike one! Goblins and magic and baseball? Oh my. As with all his work, the book is beautifully written. But the story unfolds far too slowly, and even as a relatively sophisticated reader (and a fan of the author, at that) I found it difficult to want to keep reading at times. I don't believe that any but the most precocious (and perhaps the Ridlin-addicted) of children and pre-teens would have the wherewithal to fight through this text. I would best describe it as a book lost between its child-targeted plot lines and themes, and its adult (read: dull) pace. Chabon would be best to stick to what he does best, and leave the "books for children" writing to his wife.
Chabon hits a grand slam with new book June 14, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ethan Feld is a young man who is finding himself disgusted with the game of baseball. His mother is dead, and his relationship with his father is anything but normal. In the book Summerland by Michael Chabon, Ethan's faith and relationship are put to the ultimate test when his father is kidnapped by an evil villain who wants the world to come to an end. Now with the biggest odds against him, Ethan must find the strength to save his father and the entire world. He enters strange new worlds where he finds creatures small and tall who love baseball and finally he finds the strength to love baseball again. But is it too late to save the world?
Will Ethan ever be re-united with his father? As soon as I opened this book, immediately I loved it. Anyone who likes baseball will enjoy this book, but it doesn't take a baseball fan to fall in love with this well-written masterpiece.
A little too wild for my own tastes, not serious enough May 30, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I received Summerland as a gift, and quickly read it in only a few sittings. It's hard to describe. The four stars are for the fact that it was interesting and could hold anyone's attention.
To try and describe it is foolish. It's really just a mumbo-jumbo of odd things that spring out from the author's imagination. It's one of those stories that anything can happen in. Rain pie, chocolate springs, you get the idea. It's actually rather confusing, especially if you are not a head-over-heels baseball fan.
It's also frustrating. The plot kind of weaves in and out and backwards. The summary on the book jacket doesn't even really fit the content of the book. The ending was rushed and cheezy.
So far, though, that's not great stuff, more like two or three stars. So here are the good things. It is unique. The imagination at it's peak. The map is awesome. Still, it seems like a three or two star book? The author's style is new and fun. Everything's direct and to the point. The descriptions are awesome.
The characters are lovable. They too are unique. Ethan isn't your typical hero in a story. The charcaters deal with real-life situations, too, which makes the book, despite all the weird creatures, realistic.
So, I did manage to describe it, but in the world' smalest nutshell, Summerland is American.
Gives new meaning to "fantasy league baseball"! May 19, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
You know, now I can't remember what prompted me to purchase this book, but I'm glad I did. It isn't perfect, but it was quite enjoyable. I doubt, however, that someone who doesn't like or doesn't know anything about baseball, would enjoy it much. I grew up in New York, and then lived in Boston for 10 years, and lived for a time two blocks from Fenway Park; we'd go up to the roof with a cooler and lawn chairs, and be able to see a lot of the game. So, while I'm not a baseball fanatic, yes, I like baseball. As I read this, I kept thinking that my late mother, who was far more of a baseball fan, would have enjoyed it even more.
I have picky tastes about fantasy, too, juvenile or adult. A story has to have some subtlety to it, and some rules. And I like a touch of humor. This novel has all three, to a degree adequate for an adult novel, not just a Young Adult. It's also got vocabulary that will certainly send Young Adults, and possibly some older ones, to their dictionaries. One reviewer compared the book to Narnia with a list of similarities; I would say that the differences are that this book has a sense of humor, and it's subtle enough not to hit you over the head with a sledgehammer about its point. Frankly, I never found the Narnia books worth rereading; I've found them simplistic, and the Christian allegory a little too over-riding for my tastes, though I enjoyed them when I was 10. Summerland is not a Christian allegory at all; it combines some aspects of many religions, and some of no religion at all. So those hoping to find "another Narnia" because they want a good "Christian story" will be disappointed. The rest of us, however, appreciate the work that went into picking ideas out of many traditions - Norse, Native American, Celtic, and secular legends.
In particular, the Tall Men seem to represent legendary large figures from every area - there's a recognizable John Bunyan equivalent, but others are clearly from non-Anglo-Western traditions.
Some of my favorite things about the book:
*The Saab named Skidbladnir, Skid for short, and all its dials in Swedish. Hey, now I know the Swedish for gasoline and volume!
*Grim the Giant, who is not quite 5 feet tall.
*The size changes required for Fair Folk to play baseball with Tall Men or even humans, and the comments on how the perception of size affects one's play.
*The wererat; the only other wererat I've read in fantasy is in Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series, and it's interesting to compare the ideas of what a human-rat were would turn out like. (Note: the Hamilton series is emphatically NOT young adult!!)
Stuff I didn't like: the ending, unlike the rest of the book, was a little too simple. I think I would have liked the victory to be a teensy bit less obvious, and our heroes' trip back home to be more difficult, as, for example, in The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings, where going home again takes some effort, and the characters' experiences have changed them enough that home is no longer as comfortable as it once was. In Summerland, the characters have grown up some, but they slide right back into the limited society of Clam Island as if nobody else noticed anything different.
All in all, worth the read, and then pass it along to someone else who loves both books and baseball!
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
