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A review by msjoanna
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander
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].