The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)
by Michael Chabon

The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Michael Chabon
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN: 0007149832
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Harper Perennial
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Book Reviews of The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)

Book Review: Smooth, Rich and Full of Symbolism
Summary: 4 Stars

Like other reviewers I bought this book after reading Kavalier & Clay.
Unlike the others, I didn't compare the two when writing the review.
It's not fair to the author, the reader or to the book as it stands up by its own merit.

The premise of the book is simple: what if Israel lost the 1948 war, the Jews were driven into the sea and Roosevelt's proposal of establishing a Jewish state in Alaska passed (I'm sure the deciding vote belonged to Storm Thurman). Thus the setting of Sitka, Alaska - a town where Yiddish is the native tongue and kosher is the law of the land - is born. The tale is weaved around an alcoholic, yet highly moral, homicide detective, his ex-wife (now his boss), his missing sister and a bunch Jewish mobsters hiding behind their religion (but which mobster doesn't).
Throw in a wannabe messiah as well and you got yourself a story.

The novel has a noir feel and smoothly moves along like an old familiar pulp detective novel, the story has some rich Jewish imagery from old Europe as well as jokes and, like the old Yiddish tales, each paragraph is crafted to be rich in meaning and thick with symbolism.

This is a good book but, for me, a slow read. Maybe the symbolism was too much, maybe I had to re-read some parts or maybe I just didn't "get" several points.
Yet, I enjoyed the novel very much.
I felt it dragged a bit in the middle, but quickly picked up. The story is interesting, the premise is brilliant. This is not just a "Jewish murder mystery", but also about Diaspora, a search for a home and a community which is being ostracized from the world.

Summary of The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)

For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.

Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder-right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

Chabon, Michael Books

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