[***] ISBN: 9780061537936
This wasn't really the piece of light reading I thought it would be. There are certainly some fun parts--mostly where Enzo, the narrator, gets to be more of a dog and his owner gets to be more of a race car driver. But to get to these, the reader is forced to endure personal hardships for the humans as well as the dog. I think I get it; I get what the author was striving for-contrast between the good parts of life and the bad. The problem is that the bad parts, and the dog's intellectual ruminations about them, felt forced. They didn't work for me. The dog was thinking, excuse the pun, way over his head. I could have bought the dog narrator much more if he was ever more doggish, intelligent, but doggish-running on instinct, less obsessed with opposable thumbs, more confused about human motives and time, and through these confused observations providing the same commentary that this author makes explicit. I was glad I made it all of the way through this, but I'm not sure I recommend it, even for a dog lover.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (Michael Chabon)
[****] ISBN: 0007149824
What would it be like if most of the world's Jews were evacuated to Sitka, Alaska during WWII? This mystery novel set in that world paints a vivid picture of the possibilities. But the picture is personal and claustrophobic, centered on the life in that city of one rundown Yiddish police detective and a murder case that imposes itself on his life. In that regard, it is a successful homage to the noir detective novels of the 40s and 50s, such as those of Raymond Chandler.
The prose is rich and laced with Yiddish, most of which a non-Yiddish speaker will have to learn by context. The characters and settings are dynamic and richly described. I can understand how the author managed to win a Pulitzer (for another title). The story itself is somewhat lightweight and laughable, also in the vein of Chandler. It's just something to hang the character and settings on.
I liked the book, but would have liked a bit more story.
What would it be like if most of the world's Jews were evacuated to Sitka, Alaska during WWII? This mystery novel set in that world paints a vivid picture of the possibilities. But the picture is personal and claustrophobic, centered on the life in that city of one rundown Yiddish police detective and a murder case that imposes itself on his life. In that regard, it is a successful homage to the noir detective novels of the 40s and 50s, such as those of Raymond Chandler.
The prose is rich and laced with Yiddish, most of which a non-Yiddish speaker will have to learn by context. The characters and settings are dynamic and richly described. I can understand how the author managed to win a Pulitzer (for another title). The story itself is somewhat lightweight and laughable, also in the vein of Chandler. It's just something to hang the character and settings on.
I liked the book, but would have liked a bit more story.
Labels:
****,
alternate history,
literature,
mystery,
sf
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