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nlbullock1's review against another edition
2.0
The writing was very good, and the story is poignant, but I couldn't get past the language. So I didn't finish it. I would have given if a much higher rating but for that issue.
pearloz's review against another edition
4.0
Jews in South America? Excellent. Political crisis? Further excellent. Microcosmic effects of fascism on the individual and the family unit? Even furtherer excellent. Really good storytelling.
debr's review against another edition
5.0
This book is hands-down brilliant. This is Kafka meets Joseph Geller meets Vargas Llosa kind of brilliant. The deeply cynical satire, the brilliance of how he articulates the senseless power of dictatorship, the depth and complexity of the relationship between the husband and wife- I am just amazed by how much incredibly rich material is contained within this book. Bravo, Englander!
appletonkelli's review against another edition
5.0
This book is set in Argentina in 1976. While the United States was celebrating our bicentennial with children in costumes from 200 years prior learning dance steps for school performances, kids and young adults in Argentina were being snatched from their homes, schools, streets, to be tortured and killed.
When I think of Argentina I think of the musical Evita. And that is where it has always stopped. This novel was eye-opening and sent me scurrying to research the time period so I'd have a better understanding of the characters' situations.
I'm not going to give anymore than that away, but I recommend this book.
When I think of Argentina I think of the musical Evita. And that is where it has always stopped. This novel was eye-opening and sent me scurrying to research the time period so I'd have a better understanding of the characters' situations.
I'm not going to give anymore than that away, but I recommend this book.
wendyclinch's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book more. Really. The setting of the book -- the "dirty war" in Argentina, when so many young people disappeared, seemed particularly interesting. But I found it a bit too heavy handed for me. The main character is engaged, for example, of erasing the sordid past of the Jewish communty (though it's a past that he, alone, seeks to remember). Plus his name, Kaddish, is the Jewish prayer for remembering the dead. Then his son is "disappeared" by the government, effectively erasing HIS past, which he runs around trying to regain. And he gets a nose job, even more reinforcing the idea that his past is gone.
I did find his son's disappearance troubling, and he and his wife's efforts to get him back heart-rending. The writing is good, too,
I did find his son's disappearance troubling, and he and his wife's efforts to get him back heart-rending. The writing is good, too,
alexgeorge's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
evannhannon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
cheryl6of8's review against another edition
3.0
I have a hard time summing this one up. Heavy topic --the disappearances that occurred under the different military regimes that governed Argentina in the 50s and 60s. Add to that father-son conflict based on intellectual vs blue collar views of life, and a man who lives on the fringes of the fringe of society. Plus the silent undercurrent of the Holocaust. Not a happy book - although that is made obvious at the beginning when the protagonist is named Kaddish (the Jewish prayer of mourning).
The story was both compelling and off-putting, and the characters were ones you are both attracted to and repulsed by. And you are able to understand perfectly why the characters take up the stubborn positions they do even while wanting to smack them for holding on to them. Those conflicting thoughts are appropriate since the book is about the fog of paradox that the characters (including Argentina itself) live in.
The story was both compelling and off-putting, and the characters were ones you are both attracted to and repulsed by. And you are able to understand perfectly why the characters take up the stubborn positions they do even while wanting to smack them for holding on to them. Those conflicting thoughts are appropriate since the book is about the fog of paradox that the characters (including Argentina itself) live in.
schadenfreudes's review against another edition
4.0
This book is very heartbreaking. It means so much to me, as Indonesian, we do have a similar tragedy that happened back in 1965. It was a genocide of our own because of junta military.
msjoanna's review against another edition
2.0
Another reviewer said that this book is less than the sum of its parts, and that's about the best description I can come up with for this jumbled novel. I've enjoyed the short stories by this author and I think this is the author's strength--cool ideas, quirky scenes, humor tinged with seriousness. In this novel, select scenes would have been great short stories, but they didn't string together into a satisfying whole.
The book tells the story of a Jewish family in Argentina during the "dirty war" where there's a change in government. During the first half of the book, this read as a light, sort of crazy book with scenes like a debt being repaid through a dubious rhinoplasty. But then, the book takes a dark turn when the family's son is taken by government police and disappears. Circulating through various police stations and government offices (including the titular Ministry of Special Cases), the parents search for their son, search for answers, and question everything. The seriousness and gut-wrenching reality of this never penetrated though because of the continuing unreality of the characters and the slightly jokey tone of the beginning of the book.
The narrator for the audiobook was fine, but not memorable. I think the format of this book probably works better as text than audiobook, but maybe my dissatisfaction is just that I didn't like the book much.
I think I'll wait for this author to write more short stories. I highly recommend his collections--[b:What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank|12233866|What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank|Nathan Englander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333577294l/12233866._SY75_.jpg|17207709] and [b:For the Relief of Unbearable Urges|29788|For the Relief of Unbearable Urges|Nathan Englander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388236876l/29788._SY75_.jpg|80586].
The book tells the story of a Jewish family in Argentina during the "dirty war" where there's a change in government. During the first half of the book, this read as a light, sort of crazy book with scenes like a debt being repaid through a dubious rhinoplasty. But then, the book takes a dark turn when the family's son is taken by government police and disappears. Circulating through various police stations and government offices (including the titular Ministry of Special Cases), the parents search for their son, search for answers, and question everything. The seriousness and gut-wrenching reality of this never penetrated though because of the continuing unreality of the characters and the slightly jokey tone of the beginning of the book.
The narrator for the audiobook was fine, but not memorable. I think the format of this book probably works better as text than audiobook, but maybe my dissatisfaction is just that I didn't like the book much.
I think I'll wait for this author to write more short stories. I highly recommend his collections--[b:What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank|12233866|What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank|Nathan Englander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333577294l/12233866._SY75_.jpg|17207709] and [b:For the Relief of Unbearable Urges|29788|For the Relief of Unbearable Urges|Nathan Englander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388236876l/29788._SY75_.jpg|80586].