Chabon - Part tsvey (that’s Yiddish for 2)
Phew! I am very happy that Shortbus posted about this book first making my job that much easier. She already pretty much covered the synopsis so I will just highlight my thoughts.
I completely agree that it started a little slow. I had been looking forward to reading it for so long and then once I started, it took me almost 2 weeks to get through the first half of the book. It was extremely wordy and did contain an inordinate amount of detail about the characters, the town, the varying Hasidic sects, etc. This book is ripe to be made into a movie. With all of Chabon’s description, I can already picture exactly what the movie sets and actors would look like.
The brilliance of this novel was in the total craziness of the premise. It is such an absurd idea that instead of Israel, all the Jews would have been settled (albeit forcibly) in Sitka, Alaska, yet Chabon managed to make it so realistic that it didn’t seem so ridiculous. The question that has really troubled me about this book is whether a “goy” would like the book. It is SO heavily geared toward a Jew that I can’t imagine that it would be as interesting or funny to a non-Jew. The book is strewn with Yiddish phrases which were part of my vernacular growing up but had they not been - would I have found all this terminology frustrating or annoying?
I was fascinated by all the sections about the Verbovers, an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sect, who live on their own island and are so heavily financed, armed and powerful that they could have been interchangable with the Jersey mob save for their 18th century style dress attire. I am curious as to whether Chabon ever visited Kiryas Joel, which is a village that is about 1 1/2 hours north of New York City and all of its residents are Satmar Hasidic Jews. Verbover Island seemed like a replica of Kiryas Joel except they had a lot more money and a lot worse weather conditions.
It’s definitely one of the most original books I’ve read and like Shortbus, I couldn’t wait to find out the who and how dunnit. I think Chabon purposely left enough material for a follow-up book.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Nu, thanks to the Jewish comedians of my youth and Leo Rosten’s The Joy of Yiddish, I still know the difference between a schlmiel and a schlmazel despite being goyim perhaps.
June 11th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I am tickled to find another Jewish Chabon lover who wondered the same thing I did: Will Goys appreciate this book as I do? (Especially ones who don’t know much Yiddish, as do you, Herman…). If you get more answers to this question, please post ‘em!
You might enjoy some of my posts on YPU, especially this one, in which I liken Chabon and YPU to Herman Melville and Moby-Dick (if not credibly, at least not sarcastically!).
June 11th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I’m a goy as well, Herman. Like you, I owe most of Yiddish knowledge to Jewish comedians. Mrs. Cayenne is Jewish, and I thought of converting just to get an insiders take on the comedy. I didn’t. However, Mrs. C’s Bubbie explained the schlmiel/schlmazel dichotomy to me, and she was tickled that I asked. From what I had read of the book, I don’t think that a lack of Yiddish upbringing was a handicap. I’ve got a theory on this that I will expound upon when it is my turn to weigh in on the book.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Hearing all this talk of the new Chabon release makes me a little sad…
A year ago, I would have been thrilled and no doubt attended his book signing. He’s been my favorite author since I first read his debut novel THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH back in the early 90s.
But I can no longer support the work of an author who has no regard for the story and characters that put him on the literary map.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a film version of MOP coming out later this year… Written and directed by the guy who brought us DODGEBALL, in which he’s CHANGED 85% of Chabon’s original story.
And the sad part is… Michael Chabon himself APPROVED of the script! WHY would he do this? I can only think of one possible answer: $$
If you are a Chabon fan, esp MOP, I suggest you do NOT see this movie. You will be sadly disappointed at the COMPLETE removal of the gay character, Arthur Lecomte, and the fabrication of a romantic love triangle between Art Bechstein, Jane Bellwether, and a bi-sexual Cleveland Arning. And really, what is MOP without the presence of Phlox Lombardi? Alas, she’s barely in it.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Hmm, that comment seems vaguely familiar…
July 10th, 2007 at 8:03 am
[...] Somehow I only managed to be the third person on this blog to review Michael Chabon’s new book, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. However, I will be the first to provide a goy perspective. Please see our previous reviews (eyn and tsvey). [...]