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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to my friend Mo for the recommendation and the loan!
This is an alternative-history detective story set in a Jewish city created in Alaska after the collapse of the State of Israel.
The setting is just impeccable. The alternate history aspects of the novel are almost perfectly done. The autonomous Jewish city of Sitka is believable and alive on the pages, and the issues of the alternate history are well-fleshed out. Conflicts between Jewish residents and Native Americans, political wrangling as regards Sitka's status in the USA and its consequences for the residents are explored, extrapolated, treated seriously and believably. An absolute alternative history masterclass.
The detective story is also very well done - I was on the edge of my seat for lots of the book. The clues and leads allow the reader to work on the case with the main character. I did, unfortunately, find the introduction of themessianic aspect to be a bit shoehorned in, especially in the preposterous dialogue with Cashdollar , in which he all but announces that he and the entire US government are violent Christian nationalists who believes in the exact same sort of dispensational premillenialism that the writer happens to hate. He practically stares into the camera and declares himself evil. The entire inclusion of this aspect, along with the jewish supremacist terrorism at the book's climax, strikes me as a little heavy-handed, considering the book's 2007 publishing date and Chabon's clear rhetorical goals against Bush and Zionism. With how well-done and subtle the rest of the setting was, I was a little shocked to be slapped in the face by that.
I only knocked off another quarter-star because I found Chabon's writing - replete with similies and metaphors in the way good writers insinctively make their default writing - a little distracting at times. Long and inventive similies describing expressions or patterns of speech have their place but sometimes distract from Chabon's action.
I recommend the book heavily for the setting alone, and the story besides. Anyone who wants to create a rich, believable alternate history should read this as a case study.
This is an alternative-history detective story set in a Jewish city created in Alaska after the collapse of the State of Israel.
The setting is just impeccable. The alternate history aspects of the novel are almost perfectly done. The autonomous Jewish city of Sitka is believable and alive on the pages, and the issues of the alternate history are well-fleshed out. Conflicts between Jewish residents and Native Americans, political wrangling as regards Sitka's status in the USA and its consequences for the residents are explored, extrapolated, treated seriously and believably. An absolute alternative history masterclass.
The detective story is also very well done - I was on the edge of my seat for lots of the book. The clues and leads allow the reader to work on the case with the main character. I did, unfortunately, find the introduction of the
I only knocked off another quarter-star because I found Chabon's writing - replete with similies and metaphors in the way good writers insinctively make their default writing - a little distracting at times. Long and inventive similies describing expressions or patterns of speech have their place but sometimes distract from Chabon's action.
I recommend the book heavily for the setting alone, and the story besides. Anyone who wants to create a rich, believable alternate history should read this as a case study.
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
slow-paced
5 stars for an interesting premise. I enjoyed the setting/alternate history a lot - it was well thought out and believable.
3 stars for the pace of the novel. For me, it really dragged, and I started skimming.
3 stars for the pace of the novel. For me, it really dragged, and I started skimming.
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked Chabon's writing in terms of descriptions and metaphor, but I didn't enjoy all the Yiddish terminology. There is a glossary at the back but I didn't realize this until I was almost at the end.
The pace is very slow at the start but picks up in the middle. However, I felt the big reveal was underwhelming. I read that this was Chabon's first time writing in this genre so I'd still be interested to check out his other work
The pace is very slow at the start but picks up in the middle. However, I felt the big reveal was underwhelming. I read that this was Chabon's first time writing in this genre so I'd still be interested to check out his other work
A hard boiled noir fever dream about Jewish identity set in an alternate timeline.
I wanted to like it, but just couldn't get into it. This was my second try with the audio book.