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jacksontibet's review
5.0
I don't really feel as if it's possible to do much justice with a review. Anything written will feel shallow, empty, worthless against the immense weight and genius of The Instructions. I read lots of books. Most of them are somewhere between ok and pretty good. Some of them are terrible. A handful are game changers, life affirmers, works of more than literary esteem. I don't know why a book falls in the latter category, but I know some of it's qualifiers. In all of its immensity (and none of the pretension that could come along with 1,030 pages) there is no filler. It is not hard to read. It will not make you feel better about yourself. You will not find a need to brag about reading it. It is not Ulysses. It is not Gravity's Rainbow. It is human nature. It is a middle school love story. It is cliques and bullies. It is the messiah and scripture. It is the delusional rantings of a Zion terrorist.
It is a beautiful thing.
It is a beautiful thing.
thebobsphere's review against another edition
5.0
Followers of this blog know I like a good challenge (no whether I see them through is different but my intentions are always the best!) I have decided to read all my chunky books (to date I have 14) I decided to start with the thickest book and one I had for a long time: The Instructions : 1030 pages and has been on the TBR pile since it’s publication date in 2010.
Meet Ben Gurion Maccabee. He is ten years old, likes to fight, has been expelled from 3 different schools for violent acts , although he justifies each act, is an Israelite, has his own way of speaking and is the son of a lawyer and therapist.
Oh and he thinks he may be the messiah.
This is the crux of the book. The novel starts with Gurion fighting with another pupil in the changing rooms and once in detention he falls in love with Eliza June Watermark. At the same time he is slowly building up an army in order to protect all Israelites, this is done by sending religious missives detailing solidarity and with instructions on how to build homemade weapons. He has his own gang in the special classroom – one for children who are troubled or have special needs and throughout the book he gathers more followers who they brand The Side of Damage.
The Side of Damage’s moment arrives when one of the school bullies, also a jock is going to perform a pop song in the gymnasium, which is also going to be filmed as a music video and broadcast on TV. Chaos reigns and a price is paid.
On the surface you could say it’s a tale about intellectuals vs jocks but the instruction is much more than this. It’s an exploration on the concept of a Messiah, what makes one? how do we know if there is one in our midst? Whether thinking that being one is egotistic? The book also discusses Jewish identity , Who has a right to convert a gentile? The self-hating Jew and whether Israelites need protecting. Oh and love plays a part as well.
Adam Levin has an eye for detail, in fact this book is filled with details, lots of them. The most simple actions go on and that’s not mentioning the big set pieces of the novel, namely the war which takes up the last third of book. This is not a criticism, the detail is brilliant and I can guarantee that it’s easy to be caught up in all the madness that’s going on in the book.
I also liked the use of language, Gurion speaks in a dialect that’s part Yiddish, part kid slang and part made up language based on his observations – teachers are robots , putz and schvontz are used, hyperscoot is scooting on one’s chair etc.
One aspect of Wes Anderson’s films that I like is when in Moonrise Kingdom and Rushmore, he makes kids create organised committees and elaborate plans, like what adults do. Gurion is a master at this, with his armies, plans for taking over, the myriad of ideas that go through his head. The Instructions itself are the missives he sends to his followers. Gurion is a master at delegating, creating and influencing – this makes The Instructions fun to read.
Combining the philosophical dressing of peanuts, the rudeness of South Park , The Jewish sentiments as expressed by Philip Roth (who has a part to play in the novel) and the anarchy of Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 school satire If… The Instructions is a debut that has definitely made it’s mark on experimental literature. I had to end with this quote:
He’s not the Messiah but a very naughty boy
Meet Ben Gurion Maccabee. He is ten years old, likes to fight, has been expelled from 3 different schools for violent acts , although he justifies each act, is an Israelite, has his own way of speaking and is the son of a lawyer and therapist.
Oh and he thinks he may be the messiah.
This is the crux of the book. The novel starts with Gurion fighting with another pupil in the changing rooms and once in detention he falls in love with Eliza June Watermark. At the same time he is slowly building up an army in order to protect all Israelites, this is done by sending religious missives detailing solidarity and with instructions on how to build homemade weapons. He has his own gang in the special classroom – one for children who are troubled or have special needs and throughout the book he gathers more followers who they brand The Side of Damage.
The Side of Damage’s moment arrives when one of the school bullies, also a jock is going to perform a pop song in the gymnasium, which is also going to be filmed as a music video and broadcast on TV. Chaos reigns and a price is paid.
On the surface you could say it’s a tale about intellectuals vs jocks but the instruction is much more than this. It’s an exploration on the concept of a Messiah, what makes one? how do we know if there is one in our midst? Whether thinking that being one is egotistic? The book also discusses Jewish identity , Who has a right to convert a gentile? The self-hating Jew and whether Israelites need protecting. Oh and love plays a part as well.
Adam Levin has an eye for detail, in fact this book is filled with details, lots of them. The most simple actions go on and that’s not mentioning the big set pieces of the novel, namely the war which takes up the last third of book. This is not a criticism, the detail is brilliant and I can guarantee that it’s easy to be caught up in all the madness that’s going on in the book.
I also liked the use of language, Gurion speaks in a dialect that’s part Yiddish, part kid slang and part made up language based on his observations – teachers are robots , putz and schvontz are used, hyperscoot is scooting on one’s chair etc.
One aspect of Wes Anderson’s films that I like is when in Moonrise Kingdom and Rushmore, he makes kids create organised committees and elaborate plans, like what adults do. Gurion is a master at this, with his armies, plans for taking over, the myriad of ideas that go through his head. The Instructions itself are the missives he sends to his followers. Gurion is a master at delegating, creating and influencing – this makes The Instructions fun to read.
Combining the philosophical dressing of peanuts, the rudeness of South Park , The Jewish sentiments as expressed by Philip Roth (who has a part to play in the novel) and the anarchy of Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 school satire If… The Instructions is a debut that has definitely made it’s mark on experimental literature. I had to end with this quote:
He’s not the Messiah but a very naughty boy
tonioberto's review
3.0
This book has a really, really, really strong start. I was so invested but the resolution didn't deliver. I felt like Levin maybe got distracted toward the end. I went to a reading and when I hopefully questioned what I thought were some well-crafted post-9/11 themes, I was disappointed to discover the thematics were almost all incidental.
al07734's review against another edition
3.75
This is really good, or maybe I'm saying that because the last couple pages are really good. This is a long book but it doesn't particularly feel like it. It was actually pretty easy to read, simple and engaging. Of course I disliked some of the Zionism present but I'm not sure I quite understand the comparisons to Infinite Jest other than the length and the attempts at absurdity. But I think this book was too coherent to be compared, thank goodness.
terrypaulpearce's review
3.0
This book had a lot of potential. The man can clearly write, and he has some great insights and snappy prose. But this really needed an editor, and I didn't like the final third that much. Without revealing too much about the plot, all the interesting stuff peels away and we're left with a chaotic action climax that didn't resonate for me like some of the subtler stuff earlier on. Also, I think the book tries to hard to be offbeat in places, throwing new perspectives and POVs in a little jarringly. There's clearly a lot of respect for David Foster Wallace in this, but Foster Wallace is, well, Foster Wallace. This doesn't quite pull it off. If this all sounds negative it's because I was loving the potential early on, and feel a little disappointed now. Overall, though, it's a good read, with some cracking observations and some original ideas, if a little long at 1,000 pages.
caitpoytress's review
5.0
A song so appropriate it was referenced in the book: You And Whose Army
I don't think that I will ever be able to properly review this book. I'm definitely unable to muster up enough energy to try doing so now. I'm a strange mix of exhausted and exhilarated - maybe exhausted because of my exhilaration? 200+ pages of Damage Proper will do that to you. All I know is that I'm exhausted and exhilarated and bleary eyed and heartbroken. And I love this book. No it is not a perfect book, not by a long shot, but I love it despite its imperfections. Everything good here is so damn good that it made any and all flaws trivial in comparison, even the abruptness of the ending, which would probably be my biggest complaint if I felt inclined to complain about the book. But I don't, so I won't. The characters though? They were the best freaking part. See, my chest got all tight just thinking about them again...
ETA: I should also add that the first 300 or so pages took me a month to read due to very limited reading time. The next 700+ pages took me about 4 days. Once I was able to settle in to the story, I found it read insanely fast. I would blink my eyes and somehow another 100 pages had flown by. If anything is going to deter you from reading this, don't let it be its size.
I don't think that I will ever be able to properly review this book. I'm definitely unable to muster up enough energy to try doing so now. I'm a strange mix of exhausted and exhilarated - maybe exhausted because of my exhilaration? 200+ pages of Damage Proper will do that to you. All I know is that I'm exhausted and exhilarated and bleary eyed and heartbroken. And I love this book. No it is not a perfect book, not by a long shot, but I love it despite its imperfections. Everything good here is so damn good that it made any and all flaws trivial in comparison, even the abruptness of the ending, which would probably be my biggest complaint if I felt inclined to complain about the book. But I don't, so I won't. The characters though? They were the best freaking part. See, my chest got all tight just thinking about them again...
ETA: I should also add that the first 300 or so pages took me a month to read due to very limited reading time. The next 700+ pages took me about 4 days. Once I was able to settle in to the story, I found it read insanely fast. I would blink my eyes and somehow another 100 pages had flown by. If anything is going to deter you from reading this, don't let it be its size.
kathrinpassig's review against another edition
5.0
Ein Buch aus einem der widerlichsten aller Genres: Autor über 30 verkleidet sich als zehnjähriger Ich-Erzähler und malt detailliert aus, wie heroisch die eigene Schulzeit hätte verlaufen können, wenn man damals schon alles gewusst hätte, was man heute weiß. Bullys demütigen! Von noch größeren Bullys respektiert werden! Die Schulpsychologin analysieren, bis sie weint! Über Lehrer triumphieren! Scharfsinnige Entgegnungen in jeder Situation! Im Kopf des Zehnjährigen geht alles spontan vor sich, was im Kopf des Autors vorgeht, nachdem er jahrzehntelang Nerdkenntnisse angehäuft und dann das Kapitel noch 100x umgeschrieben hat. Und nicht nur der Erzähler, alle seine zehn- und zwölfjährigen Freunde reden genauso. Noch schlimmer, alle diese Freunde sind ungefähr 1995 geboren, ergehen sich aber in Anspielungen auf Natalie Portman, Fight Club, The Godfather, Philip Roth, Punkrock, Spinal Fucking Tap, ich meine, das ist doch einfach nur Recherchefaulheit des Autors (Jahrgang 1976). Frauen kommen als Love Interest vor, sind meistens verrückt und zählen eigentlich überhaupt nur als Lebewesen, wenn sie Krieg führen können.
Es war leider trotzdem ein großartiges Buch.
Es war leider trotzdem ein großartiges Buch.
aleffert's review
4.0
When you're in middle school, the most important thing in the world is middle school. What your friends think about you, what the teachers are doing, who likes who. Imagine taking that biblically seriously. Imagine taking that biblically seriously over the course of a thousand page scripture you wrote because you're a former Jewish day school kid who got in too much trouble and ended up at a school program for troubled kids and now you are writing your story for your disciples because you think you are possibly the messiah, which is the premise of this novel. And with a name like Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee is that really so implausible?
But what does that mean as a novel in practice? Way too much middle school. A lot of fighting and having really bad ideas and parents trying their best and petty vandalism and conflicts with teachers some of whom are just doing their best in a hard situation. And mixed with all that across the thousand pages of this book is genuine gold. It gets what kids that age really care about and the weightiness with which they take it. (Though most of the characters talk like the hyperverbal and precocious Gurion, which is even awkwardly lampshaded in the book). One place it really succeeds is the genuine empathy it displays for all these kids with problems and the way they're mostly just normal kids who occasionally bite someone or whatever.
But the truth is middle school isn't the most important thing in the world and it mixes awkwardly with the more weighty things it wants you to care about. It can never articulate what its running idea about "damage" is really about because it's an adult idea that Gurion doesn't know how to talk about.
The ending is a bravura action sequence and good and bad this was an incredible achievement, but I think it would have been more incredible edited down and with an awareness of its strengths and weaknesses.
But what does that mean as a novel in practice? Way too much middle school. A lot of fighting and having really bad ideas and parents trying their best and petty vandalism and conflicts with teachers some of whom are just doing their best in a hard situation. And mixed with all that across the thousand pages of this book is genuine gold. It gets what kids that age really care about and the weightiness with which they take it. (Though most of the characters talk like the hyperverbal and precocious Gurion, which is even awkwardly lampshaded in the book). One place it really succeeds is the genuine empathy it displays for all these kids with problems and the way they're mostly just normal kids who occasionally bite someone or whatever.
But the truth is middle school isn't the most important thing in the world and it mixes awkwardly with the more weighty things it wants you to care about. It can never articulate what its running idea about "damage" is really about because it's an adult idea that Gurion doesn't know how to talk about.
The ending is a bravura action sequence and good and bad this was an incredible achievement, but I think it would have been more incredible edited down and with an awareness of its strengths and weaknesses.
joelkarpowitz's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not entirely sure whether The Instructions is one of the best novels of the 21st century, or the most self-indulgent, or the least edited, or all three. I am sure that it's a fascinating, at times infuriating, at times disheartening, often hilarious, and ultimately ambiguous novel that I will continue to think about for days, if not weeks.
Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee is ten years old, a child prodigy, a disturbed boy, and just might be the Messiah. The Instructions, his book of scripture, spans four days (and a thousand pages), but it also spans years, and centuries, and millennia. In multi-page digressions he expounds on his own history, his family's history, Philip Roth, the Torah, Judaism, love, the nature of God, and more. The degree to which those digressions are enjoyable varies, but it is clear that author Adam Levin wants Gurion's ramblings to mimic (and at times mock) the minutia-loving exactitude of Talmudic scholarship. After all, Gurion thinks he is writing scripture in narrating this explanation of a junior high uprising, so every detail matters to him. At times it works well, and at times I really wish his editor had reined him in a little bit.
Gurion himself is both a fascinating and an exasperating character. The novel--as all works that ask you to take faith seriously do--requires the suspension of disbelief, both for a few seemingly supernatural occurrences and for Gurion's ability to contemplate, analyze, and dissect everything going on around him in incredible detail and in exhausting length. And if one honest-to-God prodigy isn't enough, as the novel goes on more and more of the characters seem to exercise these same tendencies, which is explained through Gurion's impact on those around him, but at times simply becomes an excuse not to filter, cut, or edit anything anyone is thinking. Multiple characters speak in multi-page soliloquies and monologues, and while often these are illuminating and entertaining, just as often they are overly long and weigh down the text. In mixing the junior high mindset of 10 and 12 year olds with the scholarly detail of yeshiva studies, Levin occasionally finds great success and comedy. But he also occasionally allows his characters and their speeches to wear out their welcome.
Ultimately--as Levin himself points out late in the novel--it is the ambiguity of the work which makes it most memorable: Is Gurion a heroic prophet--even the Messiah--or is he a disturbed young man whose violence, magnetic personalty, and ego all make for a lethal combination? Is he both? Is he more? Is he less? Does it even matter? At what cost salvation? Is (as he asks so often) someone like Gurion "bad for the Jews" or is he fulfilling his potential as a Messiah (or as a potential Messiah) or both? Is the casualness with which Gurion approaches death and violence a metaphor for Israelite strength or of Gurion's lack of affect and psychological damage? Is the control he exudes over those around him a sign of a great man who arises once a generation or is it the makings of a cult leader. Does the Gurionic war mean anything? Is Gurion's scripture accurate? Or is this all a world out of control?
The whimper of the novel's final few pages disheartened me after the bang leading up to it, and in the end I'm not positive how effective the novel is in the end, but the fascinating process of reading the book was one I quite enjoyed (even if it seemed to take forever at times). I would suggest that one's pleasure in this book would in part come from how interested one is in Judaism and how familiar one is with the tropes of Jewish fiction, and I have no doubt that were I more familiar with those tropes I would find much more to comment on here. For now, my casual reading of Roth and Potok and a few other writers will have to stand in for greater knowledge. But after all, I knew far less of whaling when I undertook Moby Dick than I did Judaism, so perhaps that criticism isn't really a criticism at all.
Ultimately, this is a really good 1000 page novel that I think could have been a great 600 page novel. Either way, I'm interested to see what else Levin will produce.
Grade: A-
Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee is ten years old, a child prodigy, a disturbed boy, and just might be the Messiah. The Instructions, his book of scripture, spans four days (and a thousand pages), but it also spans years, and centuries, and millennia. In multi-page digressions he expounds on his own history, his family's history, Philip Roth, the Torah, Judaism, love, the nature of God, and more. The degree to which those digressions are enjoyable varies, but it is clear that author Adam Levin wants Gurion's ramblings to mimic (and at times mock) the minutia-loving exactitude of Talmudic scholarship. After all, Gurion thinks he is writing scripture in narrating this explanation of a junior high uprising, so every detail matters to him. At times it works well, and at times I really wish his editor had reined him in a little bit.
Gurion himself is both a fascinating and an exasperating character. The novel--as all works that ask you to take faith seriously do--requires the suspension of disbelief, both for a few seemingly supernatural occurrences and for Gurion's ability to contemplate, analyze, and dissect everything going on around him in incredible detail and in exhausting length. And if one honest-to-God prodigy isn't enough, as the novel goes on more and more of the characters seem to exercise these same tendencies, which is explained through Gurion's impact on those around him, but at times simply becomes an excuse not to filter, cut, or edit anything anyone is thinking. Multiple characters speak in multi-page soliloquies and monologues, and while often these are illuminating and entertaining, just as often they are overly long and weigh down the text. In mixing the junior high mindset of 10 and 12 year olds with the scholarly detail of yeshiva studies, Levin occasionally finds great success and comedy. But he also occasionally allows his characters and their speeches to wear out their welcome.
Ultimately--as Levin himself points out late in the novel--it is the ambiguity of the work which makes it most memorable: Is Gurion a heroic prophet--even the Messiah--or is he a disturbed young man whose violence, magnetic personalty, and ego all make for a lethal combination? Is he both? Is he more? Is he less? Does it even matter? At what cost salvation? Is (as he asks so often) someone like Gurion "bad for the Jews" or is he fulfilling his potential as a Messiah (or as a potential Messiah) or both? Is the casualness with which Gurion approaches death and violence a metaphor for Israelite strength or of Gurion's lack of affect and psychological damage? Is the control he exudes over those around him a sign of a great man who arises once a generation or is it the makings of a cult leader. Does the Gurionic war mean anything? Is Gurion's scripture accurate? Or is this all a world out of control?
The whimper of the novel's final few pages disheartened me after the bang leading up to it, and in the end I'm not positive how effective the novel is in the end, but the fascinating process of reading the book was one I quite enjoyed (even if it seemed to take forever at times). I would suggest that one's pleasure in this book would in part come from how interested one is in Judaism and how familiar one is with the tropes of Jewish fiction, and I have no doubt that were I more familiar with those tropes I would find much more to comment on here. For now, my casual reading of Roth and Potok and a few other writers will have to stand in for greater knowledge. But after all, I knew far less of whaling when I undertook Moby Dick than I did Judaism, so perhaps that criticism isn't really a criticism at all.
Ultimately, this is a really good 1000 page novel that I think could have been a great 600 page novel. Either way, I'm interested to see what else Levin will produce.
Grade: A-
nikki_rgs's review against another edition
5.0
Engrossing
Gurgaon ben-Judah Macabee = Walter White + Holden Caulfield + Ender Wiggen.
It took me a minute to understand the lingo, but once I did I was hooked. I haven't felt this conflicted about a character since the end of Breaking Bad. I want to read all of Adam Levin's work and sign up for his writing classes. I live in the right place and share the last name of a respected writer, so maybe it'll work out.
Gurgaon ben-Judah Macabee = Walter White + Holden Caulfield + Ender Wiggen.
It took me a minute to understand the lingo, but once I did I was hooked. I haven't felt this conflicted about a character since the end of Breaking Bad. I want to read all of Adam Levin's work and sign up for his writing classes. I live in the right place and share the last name of a respected writer, so maybe it'll work out.