Book 15. It's Superman by Tom De Haven

Title: It’s Superman
Author: Tom De Haven

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 425

Read before?  No
Rating:  6.0 out of 10

Next book: The Gates by John Connelly

Summary:  Coming of age in rural 1930s America with X-ray vision, the power to stop bullets and the ability to fly isn’t exactly every boy’s story. So just how did Clark Kent, a shy farmer’s son, grow up to be the Man of Steel? Follow young Clark’s whirlwind journey from Kansas to New York City’s Daily Planet–by way Hollywood. This ace reporter is not the only person leading a double life in a teeming metropolis, just the only one able to leap tall buildings in a single bound–a skill that comes in handy when battling powerful criminal masterminds like scheming Lex Luthor and fascist robots. But can Clark’s Midwestern charm save the day and win the heart of stunning, seen-it-all newspaperwoman Lois Lane? Or is it a job for Superman?

Why I am reading this.   A different take on Superman sounded interesting.

My thoughts.  I am not a huge superman fan, I have always liked the marvel comics more, but this seemed like an interesting take on it.  Saying that, it probably did not help that I don’t know the world of Superman as well as I could.

It was really interesting to see where Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, and Lois Lane came from.  It wasn’t always exciting, but most of it felt real.  Clark Kent was the hayseed from Kansas coming to the big city.  Lex Luthor was someone who craved power and would step on anyone that did it.  Lois Lane was someone that was highly motivated to be a journalist.  Just how many boyfriends did she have anyways?  Willi Berg was interesting sometimes, but was also a bit of a whiner. 

One of the problems was the other characters.  De Haven would bring people in and out of the story and it never really helped it that much.  I love characterization, but when you keep having people in the story that do not move the story at a good pace, it just slows everything down. 

Also, this book was so slow to read.  I would have liked it more if I could have ever sat down and read a large chunk at a time.  The writing style is not what I enjoy and I felt a disconnect way too often and had to try to get back into the story each time. 

I guess the best part was seeing how characters interacted with each other and knowing how the future of it eventually starts.  Seeing Lois think that Clark is nothing but a stupid hick that is trying to take her job, was actually kind of funny.  In addition, I enjoyed the ties to New York City that I appreciated since I live there. 

It was also a gritty book, with a lot of death.  I didn’t have a problem with that, but I can see how when you are thinking of comics how the transition to that could be hard for some people. 

There was some nice subtle humor like trying on the suit for the first time and talking about how snug it was, or trying to learn how to fly and crashing a little. 

Best thing about book.  The exchange between Superman and Lex Luthor at the end of the book was really good. 

Worst thing about book.  Wondered if I would ever finish it cuz it was that slow.