BravoSix itibaren Slivarka, Bulgaria
So, why should you read this? "Reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union is like watching a gifted athlete invent a sport using elements of every other sport there is -- balls, bats, poles, wickets, javelins and saxophones."-Elizabeth McCracken or this: As the bookstore host at Chabon's recent reading said in his introduction:"In this era where fiction just reads like memoir, and memoir seems fictional, it's entirely refreshing to read a work that has been rendered whole cloth from the imagination." That's why. Chabon brilliantly uses alternate history and detective-noir to explore not only modern Jews and their relationship to faith and Israel, but the more universal theme of a sense of place and belonging. The novel is so well realized, this Jewish refuge of Sitka, Alaska; its odd politics, even odder residents, gun-toting hasids, yiddish slang, culture-clash and deliciously 'different' historical events (Did you ever see Orson Welles' Heart of Darkness on the big screen? What about when they dropped the Big Bomb on Berlin in WWII?). Chabon's playfulness leaps off the page in his wordplay and the wit of his characters--I want to go back to the beginning for another trip through this Yiddish Sitka--and as the hard-boiled element peals away, and the larger issues loom before the reader, this fascinating timeline shockingly and abruptly begins to mirror our world and the terrors we face. Thus The Yiddish Policeman's Union--at first glance disguised as whimsical thought-experiment--evolves into a profound and haunting work, extremely relevant to our times.
I'm not usually into books that fall under the "alien" genre, this is one of the few (among Stephanie Meyer's The Host) that I have actually enjoyed. "John", or Number Four, remains completely likable and somewhat normal (Unlike the atrocity that is Daniel X). He meets his challenges head-on, and tries (against his guardian's judgment) to relate to other people his age and make friends. I love how the author was able to give John amazing powers and abilities, and still keep him vulnerable and susceptible to weaknesses (again, unlike Daniel X). Spoilers I hated, HATED that Henri had to die (though, to be honest, the fact that they put him in a coffee can made me think of Due Date)! I knew that it was either him or Bernie Kosar, but why can't we just keep both of them? And then there was that terrifying span of about 15 pages where we think that we've lost both of them, at which point I would have thrown the book down in disgust and gone off for a good cry and some Ben and Jerry's. So thank goodness that Bernie Kosar was allowed to live. I loved that Bernie turned out to be Hadley, throughout the entire book I knew that he wasn't an ordinary animal from the beginning, but it came as a sort of shock (a, "How could I not have seen this?" moment) when it was revealed that he was the same animal that played with him as a child Overall, a very good book, and I can't wait to pick up the next installment.