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

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

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The Yiddish Police...

	The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.) Michael Chabon Harper Perennial, 2008 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 304 reviews view larger image
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A mayse of the Frozen Chosen

The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a delightfully fun read set in part of Alaska set aside as a refuge for the Jews after the Holocaust. The United States, after the Israelis lost their war for independence, leases the territory to the Jews for sixty years. But now the lease is up and most of the Jews will have to find another home. This sets of a series of events that starts with the death of a chess prodigy and continues through convolutions that would take the Eruv Maven to sort out.

Instead of Hebrew and redemption, the they speak the Yiddish of exile. Many of the metaphors that seem odd in English work well when understood that it is meant to be understood as a literal translation of the Yiddish (translated back to Yiddish it works). Buildings and streets have names culled from the cannon of Yiddish literature. The reader familiar with Yiddish language and literature will have to stop every few pages to laugh with recognition, at least until the tragedy embedded in the plot becomes apparent.

The reader unfamiliar with Yiddish will definitely miss most of the inside jokes, like a Shoyfer (Shofar-ritual horn -- Cell phone), Sholem for a gun (Shalom-Peace-Piece),and Shomer (watchman for a corpse before burial). Leo Rosten's The Joys Of Yiddish could be a helpful companion book.

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Average mystery

Peel away all the Yiddish jargon and what I found left was your average cozy mystery. I understand a lot of Yiddish and I still found myself having trouble following the dialogue. It was confusing keeping all the names straight. "Yid" this and "Yid" that - everywhere like too much salt on the meat. OY. And please, with all the Yiddish jargon to make us feet right at home in fantasy-land Jewish Alaska, and then he writes about "noodle pudding"? What?!?! Why not just say kugel? For goodness sakes. I found this book tedious to read and get through. Ultimately a somewhat satisfying mystery. But I don't get all the hype unless it's just for the sake of uniqueness. Sorry.

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