Reviews

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

deanna_rigney's review against another edition

5.0

This was so incredibly good...and the Coen brothers are set to make the movie version so it will probably be incredibly good too, and this just makes me so happy and elated I almost feel bad for the books I'm reading next because they'll have to stand next to this fictional giant and not seem sad and small. This is the first Michael Chabon book I've read, but it won't be the last. Very strong characters (Meyer Landsman seemed plucked from a Dashiell Hammett book,) a noir-esque murder mystery, an alternate history, awesome dialogue, and comic edge all conspire to make this one great read.

applegnreads's review against another edition

4.0

Yes, this was good, but oh so very dark. Since I was going through the funeral of my grandfather at the time, it was really depressing.

erintowner's review against another edition

4.0

Definitely worth the read. Creative story with good writing and believable characters. Something different.

jonahbf's review against another edition

3.0

An fantastic and well thought out setting for a detective novel. But undermined by plotting, characters, and prose that are equal parts pretentious, contemptible, and boring

prufrockian22's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The cart came before the horse - the plot necessities pulled the main detective from one situation to the next. I would have preferred more world building (really no plan to deal with a return of Alaska to the United States in terms of Sitkas citizens? See re Hong Kong on why that doesn’t make any sense). I found the plot rather uninteresting. My favorite part was when the detective learns of mendels past - his wedding scene and the part surrounding it. Real human pathos there. But most of it? Eh. Also the conclusion doesn’t really seem to speak well as to human nature. 

Anyway, this was my first Chabon book - I probably still should try kavalier and klay- but much less excited now to do so. 

cherylcroshere's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

scavengercat's review against another edition

1.0

Read as much as I could. Got exactly halfway through before I gave up. Oh, how I wanted to like it. Maybe I will torture myself by reading the last half someday...

maximusrex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

tintagel's review against another edition

5.0

Michael Chabon's one of the only authors whose entire body of work I feel genuinely compelled to read. This one is great. A book about the state of a perpetually displaced culture set in an alternate history in the guise of a hard-boiled detective mystery.

It's refreshing to see an author of such immense talent embrace genre-writing.

sunrays118's review against another edition

1.0

The book is overwritten. The author is so caught up in his own love for himself and his style that he neglects the story. The prose is so overdone, overstated that it is impossible to read this book like a novel. The reader instead is forced to concentrate on the syntax, the word choice, the prolonged and tortured similies. There is no room left for character development or plot. This book was a huge miss for me. I found myself not following the story, not caring about the characters, and being bored silly by the author's writing.

Disappointing.