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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me nine days to read the first 100 pages of this book, then 24 hours to read the rest 🤣 So I would say it has a definite pacing problem, but the language and sheer vibrancy of the setting made up for it, in the end. And Berko.
It took a while to really get into this story, but once I did, I liked it a lot. The best description would be noir detective fiction... but set in a Jewish community in Alaska. I absolutely loved The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and while this doesn't quite live up to that standard, I would still recommend it.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
It's not hard to see why this book won so many awards upon its publication a few years back now. Chabon is in customary form - strong, believable characterization, a plot that moves deliberately along and a setting that is entirely captivating. His alternate history setting of the history of the Jewish people from World War II to the present posits a number of critical differences that sum in a wholly believable way...and it's good, tight alternative history. And it helps that it's written with Chabon's customary command of language, be it his evocative Sitka-slang (like sholem, meaning a "piece" or a gun, a double language pun) or his English. One line to leave you with:
"Like a salmon - that aquatic Zionist, forever dreaming of its fatal home -..." (238)
"Like a salmon - that aquatic Zionist, forever dreaming of its fatal home -..." (238)
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
C'est pas tout à fait Kavalier & Clay, mais j'ai beaucoup aimé cette uchronie dans le style noir. Le langage, qui emprunte d'une manière super convaincante aux histoires de détectives hardboiled est un gros highlight. Michael Chabon, à travers les pensées de Meyer Landsman, le personnage principal et narrateur du roman, finit rarement ses phrases là où elles semblaient mener, et si il le fait, c'est en les faisant passer par des comparaisons et des métaphores aussi sensées qu'inattendues. Ça glisse pas si aisément sous les yeux, mais je le répète, c'est vraiment le fun à lire, comme prose. L'univers permis par l'uchronie, celle d'un monde où Israël a perdu la guerre de 1948 et où les populations juives exilées ont plutôt convergées vers Sitka, en Alaska, est vraiment intéressante aussi.
Au moment où j'ai commencé ma lecture, à la fin septembre, j'aurais trouvée too much l'idée de sionistes en Amérique du Nord faisant la fête en regardant des vidéos d'une Palestine soumise à des explosions auxquelles les États-Unis sont complices, mais what a difference three months can make, hein...
Au moment où j'ai commencé ma lecture, à la fin septembre, j'aurais trouvée too much l'idée de sionistes en Amérique du Nord faisant la fête en regardant des vidéos d'une Palestine soumise à des explosions auxquelles les États-Unis sont complices, mais what a difference three months can make, hein...
I never read crime fiction before and since it's one of the classic genres, I decided to change this. Although I do not remember how I first heard of "The Yiddish Policemen's Union", I remember that after reading the blurb I was thrilled by it's premise. A detective-noir story in an alaskan Israel. That sounded like such an absurd mix, that it had to be good.
So I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I had never read a whodunit, a detective-noire story nor anything else by Chabon.
Now, english is not my native language, it's german and I'm not entirely sure if this helped me with coping with the language in this book. The characters use a sort of yiddish slang, that needs some getting used to, but you can guess the meaning of many of the yiddish words if you know german. While some people may find that this makes the text hard to read, I think it adds another layer to the alaskan Israel that Chabon has imagined. Also, knowing a little bit about chess might have helped.
Still, the Book has some problems. The first 150-200 pages simply didn't hook me. Meyer Landsmann, the protagonist meanders through Sitka, the main city of the book, meeting people, talks about this, about that. While I see the need for world-building in an alternate history book and the need to introduce characters, you simply get the feeling that nothing happens.
After 200 pages, I was confused and had almost forgotten that the plot was supposed to be about that corpe, found on the first page. So, I grabbed a piece of paper and started to write down the persons that were introduced and how they relate to each other. Once I had that knot untangled the plot seemed to move forward aswell and from this moment on I was sold.
Chabon's prose might be a littlebit overdone but I found it enjoyable to read and passages like Landsmann descibing a cartoon dog as reminiscent of “the obscure unease that Pluto has always inspired, a dog owned by a mouse, daily confronted with the mutational horror of Goofy." made my day.
So I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I had never read a whodunit, a detective-noire story nor anything else by Chabon.
Now, english is not my native language, it's german and I'm not entirely sure if this helped me with coping with the language in this book. The characters use a sort of yiddish slang, that needs some getting used to, but you can guess the meaning of many of the yiddish words if you know german. While some people may find that this makes the text hard to read, I think it adds another layer to the alaskan Israel that Chabon has imagined. Also, knowing a little bit about chess might have helped.
Still, the Book has some problems. The first 150-200 pages simply didn't hook me. Meyer Landsmann, the protagonist meanders through Sitka, the main city of the book, meeting people, talks about this, about that. While I see the need for world-building in an alternate history book and the need to introduce characters, you simply get the feeling that nothing happens.
After 200 pages, I was confused and had almost forgotten that the plot was supposed to be about that corpe, found on the first page. So, I grabbed a piece of paper and started to write down the persons that were introduced and how they relate to each other. Once I had that knot untangled the plot seemed to move forward aswell and from this moment on I was sold.
Chabon's prose might be a littlebit overdone but I found it enjoyable to read and passages like Landsmann descibing a cartoon dog as reminiscent of “the obscure unease that Pluto has always inspired, a dog owned by a mouse, daily confronted with the mutational horror of Goofy." made my day.
This was an enjoyable book. My Yiddish wasn't up to snuff though, and this made it feel like a bit of a struggle. And when I did know a word, like latke, I couldn't understand how a potato pancake was wielding a truncheon. It was a fun book with a lot to offer. The next time I read it I need to remember that noz and shemmes mean cop. This was a very very funny book in a lot of places and I really enjoyed it.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn’t exactly sure what this book was going to be, but I gave it a chance based on the author. Glad I did. It’s a unique blend on noir, alternate history, and Jewish introspection. The characters are complex and flawed in deeply human ways that make you love and pity them at the same time. Definitely worth the read.