It's Superman!: A Novel
by Tom De Haven
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tom De HavenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-08-29
ISBN: 0345493923
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of It's Superman!: A Novel
Book Review: "...he will go on out and do the best that he can, like everybody else. Just like everybody else."
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a huge Superman fan, and I loved everything about this novel. I also enjoy the 1930-40s as a historical setting, so it's like this book was tailored for me. I cannot recommend this novel enough. While it was admittedly very important to me that De Haven get the iconic core of the character "Superman" right, I also think this book could be enjoyable to someone unfamiliar with all the Superman lore. There's a lot of American history intermingled with the story of Clark Kent growing into Superman. This works no two levels: illustrating why two boys during this real-life era felt the need to invent a character like this, and what about Superman makes him, to this day, a sort of American institution.
In this novel, Clark Kent is only one of several characters who grows into themselves. Characters like Lois Lane and Lex Luthor parallel original characters like Willi Berg, who becomes a unifying element for the individual threads to the story. One of the things I really loved about the book was that every single character, from major to minor, seems to work extremely hard to "become" who they are by the end of the novel. While their upbringing contributes, and so too do their circumstances, somewhere in their life-journey is the definitive choice or choices that sets them on the path they lead. If you believe in an old-fashioned American ideology that reinforces ideals like the fundamental power of choice, the possibility of struggling toward a better future, the self-made man, and the capacity of each of us to be extraordinary in our own ways, I recommend this novel. It's both a richly layered and an entertaining read.
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