Chabon, Michael: The Yiddish Policeman's Union
The Yiddish Policeman's Union
Writer: Michael Chabon
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 411
With all of the hype this book got, it's no wonder that I decided to give it a go. I'd heard loads about it long before it started racking up all the major SF/Fantasy awards, so I don't feel TOO trendy for reading it. Granted, I didn't purchase it until after the nominees for the Hugo were announced, but then again, I had been waiting on the trade paperback (and wouldn't you know, I get the hardcover anyway, because Greg was with me and happened upon a first printing at Borders. Go figure).
The premise: Jewish refugees and their descendants have made the Federal District of Sitka their home, but they all long for the promised land. Alaska's not exactly a welcoming place, and after sixty years, another Reversion is on its way, promising to kick out the Jews and return the land to the natives. But Detective Meyer Landsman has problems of his own: a tenet in the hotel he's staying at is found murdered, and Landsman just can't let the case go, even though he's told by the higher-ups (like his ex-wife), that he should. His investigation leads into a bigger story than he could've imagined: a plot to take back the Holy Land, and to welcome the coming Messiah.
I'm not going to bother with a cut, because really, I have very little to say. I was thirty pages from the end when I went to bed last night, and Greg asked me, "Is it good?" and my response is, "It's interesting."
And it is. The world Chabon's detailed is just as alien to me as any made up world your typical SF/F writer has to offer. I know next to NOTHING about the Jewish religion and customs, which made this book rather slow reading, but again, interesting reading. The characters are three-dimensional and human to a fault, and the setting is fascinating (sue me, I've become a sucker for those ice-cold northern climates).
But to me, it's more of a mystery than an SF, and truly, the only thing that makes it SF is the fact that it's alternate history, which is just fine. Besides, most SF stories rely on the element of mystery to propel the plot forward, so the two genres get along just fine together. I liked seeing all the elements of this mystery fall into place, even though oftentimes I had no idea what I was looking at due to my total lack of knowledge about the Jewish religion and its beliefs. I also liked seeing the arc and growth of the characters, how they change, and how they hold on to what little they have.
It's a good book. But had I been voting, I probably would've been one of those voters who would've voted for Scalzi, and that's because as good as the Chabon is (finely written, you gotta give him credit for that, as there are beautiful descriptions and turns of phrase here), I had no emotional response or pull to the story, but I did the Scalzi. But that's me. :)
My Rating
Buy the Paperback: it's good and it's worth reading, and while it's not my favorite alternate history (that honor goes to Kathleen Ann Goonan's In War Times, which totally deserved to be nominated for the Hugo), it's a must for your alternate history collection, especially if that sub-genre floats your boat. Again, the writing is beautiful, the story complex, but I didn't have to pay the cash for the hardcover. That's just me. As far as Hugo winners go, this is definitely one of the finer crafted novels I've read.
Book: Dragonforge: A Novel of the Dragon Age by James Maxey
Graphic Novel: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore