The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (P.S.)

by Michael Chabon

Set in the Jewish homeland of … Alaska, this is a brilliantly original novel from Michael Chabon, author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY and WONDER BOYS.

What if, as Franklin Roosevelt once proposed, Alaska – and not Israel – had become the homeland for the Jews after the Second World War? In Michael Chabon’s Yiddish-speaking `Alyeska’, Orthodox gangs in side-curls and knee breeches roam the streets of Sitka, where Detective Meyer Landsman discovers the corpse of a heroin-addled chess prodigy in the flophouse Meyer calls home. Marionette strings stretch back to the hands of charismatic Rebbe Gold, leader of a sect that seems to have drawn its mission statement from the Cosa Nostra. Meyer is determined to unsnarl the meaning behind the murder. Even if that means surrendering his badge and his dignity to the chief of Sitka’s homicide unit – his fearsome ex-wife Bina.

A novel of colossal ambition and heart, THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN’S UNION interweaves a homage to the stylish menace of 1940s film noir with a bittersweet fable of identity, home and faith.

• ISBN13: 9780007373055
• Publish Date: 2 October 2012 (first published 1 May 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Fourth Estate Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

Somehow I've ended up reading two alternate history noir-ish murder mysteries that take place in fictional territories recently. Apparently the Hugo awards REALLY loves them, as they both were winners.

However, while I sucked down the other one ([b:The City and the City|4703581|The City and the City|China Miéville|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320475957s/4703581.jpg|4767909]) and decided it was my favorite book out of the last hundred I've read, The Yiddish Policeman's Union took me forever to read and I never felt more than lukewarm about it. All the elements were things I SHOULD have enjoyed, but something about the prose just slowed me down and made reading feel like a chore.

I can't even point to anything specific to explain why I had to slowly chip away at this book 10 pages here, 15 pages there, in order to get through it. Usually I'm able to say something a little more constructive about why something didn't work for me, but all I'm left with after finishing it is a bit of murky confusion.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Many people seem to enjoy Michael Chabon’s books so I was pleased when I finally had a reason to read The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. In the dark Alaskan winter in the city of Sitka; Detective Meyer Landsman’s ex-wife has just become his boss and has handing him a huge stack of old cold cases that she wants him to solve. While Landsman life may feel like its already hit rock bottom, he’s only just discovering the mess that he’s in; a mess that will lead to a conspiracy.

This alternative verson of Sitka, Alaska in this book is a Yiddish-speaking metropolis. That was the whole basis of this book; Michael Chabon’s idea came from a book he found called 'Say It in Yiddish' which had sayings that he would never have a chance to use because Yiddish isn't the primary language of any country. While toying with the idea of a hypothetical Yiddish-speaking country this book was born. The idea was Israel lost the 1948 war; the Jews established a Jewish state in Alaska.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union is an interesting blend of Michael Chabon's heritage with a love of old mystery novels. Chabon has called it a homage to Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald and Isaac Babel. But while the noir stylings of this book are good this book also has a satirical nature about it, with a comic look at the Yiddish language and Jewish culture. Michael Chabon originally published an essay called Guidebook to a Land of Ghosts; which he discussed some thoughts he had of the travel book Say It in Yiddish, this essay was responded with a spiteful reaction from a Jewish community. This vitriolic response only spurred Chabon on and eventually he developed the idea of this book.

While there was some parts of the book that felt like it dragged on, over all the balance between the comical and the noir seemed to work. There are some great line coming from thing book; a highlight for me was "He feels like he suffers from tinnitus of the soul." I was really surprised with just how well the dark and gritty mystery mixed with Chabon’s satirical style. I liked the whole concept of a Jewish noir novel; it was a refreshing take on a genre that I love. Well worth checking out this Alternate history novel; as it is one of the best I’ve read. I hear that the Coen Brothers are looking at adapting this book into a movie, if anyone could do this book justice as a movie, it would definitely be them. I’d be interested to see if this movie ever gets made and how it translates onto the screen.