The Yiddish Policemen's Union

by Michael Chabon | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9780007149827 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Antof9 of Lakewood, Colorado USA on 8/6/2007
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5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Antof9 from Lakewood, Colorado USA on Monday, August 6, 2007
Pre-numbered label used for registration.

This book was purchased for BBC (Barely a Book Club).

Journal Entry 2 by Antof9 from Lakewood, Colorado USA on Monday, August 6, 2007
I''m waffling on whether or not I liked this book. I sort of did, but I''m not jumping up and down about it :)

The first thought I had about this book was "why did we choose another 500 lb. hardback?" But after I read about 5 chapters, I picked up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is so heavy it needs to be read at a table. Once I finished that book and came back to this, it felt as if it weighed nothing at all!

There are parts I thought were great writing and I thoroughly enjoyed. There''s quite a bit of humor, too. For example, at the beginning of chapter 17, there''s a whole discussion on the title of "Loneliest Jew in the Sitka District". He keeps referring back it, talking about his rivals, etc. When "this man silently begins to weep into his plate of herring, Landsman tips over his king" and concedes the title. I thought this was particularly brilliant, given the theme of chess throughout this book :)

When Landsman is recuperating at Berko''s house and ends up with a baby and then subsequently his brother in the bed with him, I was laughing out loud. "The boys execute a series of maneuvers, a kung fu of slumber, that drives Landsman to the very limit of the bed. They chop at Landsman, stab him with their toes, grunt and mutter. They masticate the fiber of their dreams (!). Around dawn, something very bad happens in the baby''s diaper."

"''You have a serious toenail problem among your youth,'' Landsman says. ''Also something, I think it might be a sea otter, died and is rotting in the little one''s diaper.''"

I''d never heard of a fata morgana before. I found that totally fascinating.

Last, I was totally entertained by the concept of "speaking American" throughout the book -- mostly for swearing, but it was so funny to think of entire conversations happening in Yiddish, and then an exclamation in American English, consisting of ... swears :)

An editorial surprise: in the opening of chapter 6, the word "access" should have been "excess".

This book is now headed down to Charleston for a visit.

Journal Entry 3 by wingbookczukwing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, August 13, 2007
The book''s only 400 pages--what''re you complaining about?!

You know, your reaction to this reminds me of my reaction to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. (Did I ever tell you I went to school with twins named Krista and Kava Lear? But I digress...)

The book arrived safely and I only wish there existed a way to track the journey from Colorado to Charleston on a BookCrossing map. Someday... sigh.

Thanks, ant! I''ll pop this to the top of Mt TBR!

Journal Entry 4 by wingbookczukwing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on Sunday, October 7, 2007
When I first heard of it, the title of this book enchanted me. In fact, it still does. It held out the tantalization of a delightful read. I was a little wary, as in the back of my mind, I recalled reading another novel by the same author and finding myself more bemused than enlightened. In that other novel there were moments of fabulous writing, surrounded by moments of great tediousness (for me, at least.) But, as this one had great reviews (and studiously ignoring that the other one had great reviews as well), and recommendations from a number of reading friends I respect, I settled in and prepared to be immersed in the world and words of the author. What happened? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The book didn't even fall flat- it just plain didn't even move at all for me.

Again, there were moments when my interest would begin to yawn awake, but then that spark was quickly stifled and I found myself back in the nothingness again. By all rights, I should have liked the book-- it involved many elements of fiction that I normally adore: I like alternative histories, whodunits, mystery, quirky humor, and even a little love story. But so far, this hasn't grabbed me. I'm 170 pages into it and the best I can say is that the other day, I dropped the book and lost my place. It took me forty five minutes to find my place again! I couldn't tell if I had read passages already or not. I've given the book a three day rest, in which time, I've read three other novels and started a fourth. At first I thought I'd just abandon the book, but now I'm wondering if I should forge ahead. What to do, what to do....

I suppose I'll press on, and then swear, once again, to swear off Chabon. Stay tuned....

Journal Entry 5 by wingbookczukwing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on Saturday, October 13, 2007
So here are some additional thoughts-- In theory, I really liked the tie in with chess in the book. In actuality, I don't play chess, so the subtleties of the game were lost on me. (And I found myself reminded of the old joke what are the three things you'll never hear a Southerner say? 1. "This iced tea is too sweet," 2. "Duct tape won't fix that," and 3. "Checkmate.")

As ant said, there were moments of great wit in the writing. I've got to hand Chabon that. But all in all, it was a struggle to get through. Somehow, I think I like my tales a little more direct, a little more Christie-like in tidiness, but that's my own quirky nature.

This book has been compared to Philip Roth's The Plot Against America and Marc Estrin's Insect Dreams, both of which I intend to read-- and both of which I sincerely hope don't disappoint me as much as this.

Others in the household expressed an interest in this, so I shall offer it to them.

Journal Entry 6 by wingjavaczukwing from Charleston, South Carolina USA on Sunday, February 24, 2008
I really did enjoy this book. It's not the type of read that keeps you awake at night, the adrenaline doesn't pump. It's just a nice comfortable read, driven along by the characters.

Which may have been the problem that the two previous readers had with it. Character drives this book. One puts oneself in the role of Landsmann, the main character. You schlump along with him, experience his pains, his neuroses, his Jewishness. But from a male perspective. Not that there aren't strong female characters in this book; there are, but they are seen through the eyes of our hero.

The sense of place is not terribly strong, although the setting is interesting-- the hinterlands of Alaska where Jewish refugees were allowed to settle for a limited time after WWII. Israel was never revived. So imagine these Yiddish speakers establishing their unique culture in about the last place we would associate with Jewish culture.

The plot is not at all high energy, it is a vehicle with which we can experience the characters. The who-done-it aspect of the book, revealed at the end, seems almost like an afterthought.

I look forward to meeting more characters created by Chabon in future.

Released 16 yrs ago (3/9/2008 UTC) at Muddy Waters - 1331 Ashley River Road, West Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina USA

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Journal Entry 8 by rebekkila from Charleston, South Carolina USA on Sunday, March 9, 2008
caught today at the meet-up.

Journal Entry 9 by rebekkila from Charleston, South Carolina USA on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Friendkelly has this book

Released 13 yrs ago (7/11/2010 UTC) at WildFlour Pastry on Spring (closed July 2019) in Charleston, South Carolina USA

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I am bringing this to the meet-up.

Journal Entry 11 by brownwhitetan at Charleston, South Carolina USA on Sunday, July 11, 2010
Got this a the meet-up. It's size is a little daunting, but we'll see if I'm up to the task.

Journal Entry 12 by brownwhitetan at Charleston, South Carolina USA on Saturday, August 6, 2011
I had this on my shelf waiting for the time when I was ready to invest in this much reading. Maybe I wasn't as ready as I thought because I read the first paragraph and thought "uh, no" and just closed the book. Getting this one back into circulation for more readers.

Journal Entry 13 by brownwhitetan at Bakehouse 180 East Bay in Charleston, South Carolina USA on Sunday, February 12, 2012

Released 12 yrs ago (2/12/2012 UTC) at Bakehouse 180 East Bay in Charleston, South Carolina USA

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