Sean’s Blog

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

This week I finished Michael Chabon’s book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.  The book is a really interesting mix of a hard-boiled detective novel and an alternate history.  While I’ve never been a big fan of the detective novel genre, I loved the world building that took place in the book.

The basic premise of the story is a murder mystery.  A detective finds a dead junkie in his building and the resulting investigation takes him from Hasidic crime families to messianic Zionists and international politics.  I won’t go too much into the story as discovering all this is a lot of the fun of reading it.

The big twist though is that it takes place in Sitka, Alaska.  But this isn’t the Sitka of today, it’s a Sitka that might have been.  Back in the late 1930’s FDR’s Secretary of State Harold Ickes proposed moving the Jews of Europe away from the persecution of the Nazis to the not yet state of Alaska.  This was actually proposed in the Slattery Report.

Chabon plays this alternate history through with a Jewish pseudo state in Alaska that is on the verge of being reabsorbed into the United States.  In this history, the Palestinians had pushed the Jews out of Palestine and modern Israel had never been founded.  Throw in Zionists, evangelical Americans, a fictional Hasidic crime family and chess and you have the makings of a really good novel.

I really enjoyed The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.  Not having a lot of experience with detective novels, I don’t know how much a crime novel fan would like it, but Chabon has a great way of playing with language and a great imagination.  Get ready to break out your Yiddish dictionaries as well, because the book is full of it.  I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for a interesting read.

Bridge of Birds - Barry Hughart

A while back on Whatever, there was a discussion on literary one hit wonders and Barry Hughart was talked about quiet favorably. I’d never heard on Hughart or Bridge of Birds before and I though that I would give it a try. Boy was I glad I did. Bridge of Birds is a very funny book. The best way I can I can describe it is like a kung-fu Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

After the children of his village are poisoned, Number Ten Ox goes to Peking to find a wise man to help cure them. With very little money he is laughed out of all the houses of the reputable wise men and stumbles in on the drunken Master Li who “has a slight flaw in in his character”. From there they set out to find the Great Root of Power.

I can’t possibly go into where the story goes from there, but it includes sword dancing ghosts, the most desirable women in the world, giant invisiable hands, and underwater cities. The names in the book are great : Henpecked Ho, Cut-off-their-balls Wang, Ma the Grub and others.

Lastly any book that references the All China Freestyle Blasphemy Championship is OK in my book. I would really recommend this book for great fun read.

Then We Came To The End - Joshua Ferris

Then We Came To The End is a book about work.  It was sold as “Hilarious” “Witty” etc… and it was all those things.  But it also struck me as a very sad book.  A book where jokes go to far and pettiness is the rule.  Which is not to say that it didn’t ring true to someone who has spent the last six years as a member of the cubicle nation.

The book follows a group of ad designers through the late nineties and early aughts (Total Aside: I know that aught as in 00 is the correct way to refer to the decade before 2010, but does anybody actually say that?  I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it.  If nobody says it how do we refer to it?  The zeros? Zeds? I can’t be the only one that has run across this problem before) as they work and fear for there jobs.

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Blasphemy - Douglas Preston

I have a soft spot for Douglas Preston.  He and Lincoln Child wrote Relic and several other really fun books including Thunderhead.  Thunderhead was the book that got me to visit the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument which is really one of my favorite places.

Blasphemy is the story of a supercollider even bigger then the new one at CERN going online.  When it is fired  up for the test run something very unexpected happens.  I really don’t want to give to much away, but it is a fun ride.  If you liked any of Preston or Child’s other books this one is very enjoyable.

That being said, one of the big conflicts in the book is with the evangelical christians that don’t want the supercollider to go online.  As I was reading it struck me that while fundamentalist christians have a problem with many of the life sciences (genetics, biology, etc…) I haven’t heard the same kind of uproar against the physical sciences.  I’m really not sure why this is the case.

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The Name of The Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

First off, let me say the Name of the Wind is a great book. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but I had heard some good things about this one and I decided to pick it up.

The story is told as a retelling of the main character’s, Kvothe, life. Apparently, Kvothe is of some repute, but has retired and is living life under an assumed name as a innkeeper in a small backwoods town. When a famous historian tracks him down, he agrees to tell his life story and we get to know some of what was hinted about him in the beginning.

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Rules For the Modern Man - Dylan Jones

Dylan Jones is the editor of GQ Magazine and with the book he set out to write a set of rules that is applicable to style today. To paraphrase one of his fantastic sayings, most fashion advice seems to come from either the nineteenth century, or was written on the back of a drug dealers business card five minutes ago. And commentary like that is why I loved this book.

Anyone that knows me knows that of the many words you could use to describe me, stylish is not one of them. So with my wedding coming up, I though I would give this a look over since I will need to get a new suit (and have no desire to start off married life embarrassing the wife more then necessary). After reading the introduction, I was hooked.

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A Study In Emerald - Neil Gaiman (free Audio from Harper Collins)

A Study in Emerald is a short story by Neil Gaiman. It’s available as a free audio download from Harper Collins and read by the author. Most people have described it as Sherlock Holmes meets Cthulhu and I would have to say they are not to far off. I’ve always been a big Lovecraft fan, but Gaiman has been somewhat hit or miss for me. I loved American Gods, but just never could get into Anansi Boys. I loved Good Omens, but couldn’t get into Stardust.

So I wasn’t sure how much I would like it when I downloaded the audio story. Let me just say that I loved it. Gaiman does a great job reading and the story is fantastic. I don’t want to give to much away, but you will never think about Queen Victoria in the same way again.

Give it a download here.

This story is part of collection called Fragile Things (which I’ve not read yet).

Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda by Scott Peterson

Some books have a profound impact on the way you look at the world. Me Against My Brother was one of them for me. I read this book about 5 years ago and just finished rereading it. Although the conflicts described have changed and have almost moved out of the realm of current events, the lessons that we can take from this book have not.

Today we see a Rwanda struggling to over come the horror of a very personal genocide. Sudan and Somalia are still at war, although the locations and combatants have changed. Me against My Brother gives us some perspective on these current conflicts and our responses to them.
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Looking for Jake - China Mieville

Several years ago, I ran across Perdido Street Station in the local library and picked it up hoping for a fun read. What I didn’t expect was that it would change the way I read fantasy forever. Not long after I finished it I ran out to my local book store and bought The Scar and for the first time ever, I preordered a book from Amazon (Iron Council). Needless to say, I have pretty high expectations of China Mieville. Looking For Jake is a collection of his short stories and does not disappointed.

Mieville is one of the most original authors working today in my opinion and I generally read anything of his that I can get my hands on. Although I would recommend Perdido Street Station or The Scar to someone that had not yet read anything by him, Looking for Jake is a fine collection.

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The Devil’s Labyrinth by John Saul

I was really looking forward to this book. I have a soft spot in my heart for horror, and this one seemed to have it all. A creaky old Catholic school with underground tunnels and a forgotten chapel, forbidden rites, demonic possession. I was really looking forward to it. Some of my favorite horror stories have similar themes. It by Stephen King, Summer of Night by Dan Simmons, I was hoping to add this one to it. Turns out it will not be making the list.

Massive Spoiler and more after the jump (you have been warned)

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