I read most of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union on the plane, and finished it off last night. I’m please to report that the Periscope Light book holder worked very well. As for the book: fabulous. It is a little difficult to get into if you are not Jewish, and therefore not familiar with a lot of the language, but us spec fic readers ought to be used to that sort of thing. It is an alternate history, so it is definitely Hugo-eligible. The writing is wonderful, as one might expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner. And along the way the book makes some interesting points about religious fanatics, terrorists and US foreign policy that it might not have been able to make so clearly if it were not set in a parallel universe.
At this point I think I’m finally beginning to settle on a short list for the Hugos. It currently looks like this:
- Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay
- Spook Country, William Gibson
- Generation Loss, Elizabeth Hand
- In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
I have to admit that it is hard to shoehorn the Hand into a spec fic category, but it is a wonderful book with a definite spooky air too it, so I’m nominating it anyway.
Yes, I know, there are three men on that list, so I’m a class traitor who will be first up against the wall when the Feminist Revolution comes.
And speaking of awards, I’ve looked at the Nebula Preliminary Ballot, and I have scratched my head in bewilderment. I suspect that SFWA members simply don’t read much these days.
The real feminist doesn’t notice who wrote it — just if it was good or not. You’ve succeeded where others are still hung up on labels.
Good on you ;>.
I loved The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. But many people on DorothyL (a mystery list) didn’t like it at all. It’s certainly not a standard mystery, which probably put them off, but I would have thought anyone who liked Hammett would take to it immediately.
It certainly isn’t a standard mystery. In some ways it is a political thriller disguised as a mystery. But it is also an alternate history, which in itself is enough to put off many mystery readers. And as I said, it can be hard to follow if you are not Jewish and not used to reading books which are set in an unfamiliar culture. Heck, if Chabon had claimed that it was SF and had aliens instead of Jews some of the SF readers would be complaining that he didn’t make it clear enough what some of the words meant.
I suppose it is hard to follow from that point of view – I didn’t even notice since as a New Zealander virtually everything I read is from another culture. Whereas American readers are protected from other cultures to the degree that even English is translated into its American equivalent, and therefore are less used to grappling with the unfamiliar. This seems to be a situation that’s getting worse rather than better (the number of US-published mysteries set in locales outside the US has dropped precipitately over the last couple of decades, for example), which is a real shame. Reading is a wonderful (and cheap) way to be introduced to other cultures.
I thought it was a very good books, especially since I’m Jewish and understood all the references. It’s the first book ever to have the Parah Adooma (the red heifer) be an integral plot point – which I thought was great.
I did think it dragged a bit at times and could have been a little tighter, but it was still a good novel.
I do agree that the long ballot is a bit puzzling. Just for fun, what is the one thing you’d like to add to any of the fiction categories?
Yiddish Policemen is still on my TBR pile, but will move it up.
Nadine:
Of the five novels I listed above, only the Chabon is on the Nebula Preliminary ballot. I can see the Hand not being classed as SF/F, and the Goonan hasn’t got a lot of exposure, but I cannot understand how Ysabel and Spook Country are not on the list.
Ian:
Oddly enough the red heifer was one of the few things I did recognize, so I guess I have seen it in a book somewhere.
Sorry I wasn’t clear-I knew only the Chabon was on the novel long list-what i meant was of all the things not on the list, which one would put on.
Personally, I think between a lot of younger writers leaving SFWA over the copywrite flap, and a sort of circling of the wagons by the old guard, the choices would be fairly narrow. Ysabel may make it onto next year’s ballot. I have a feeling Spook Country was also thought not genre enough.
Nadine:
Sorry, I plead jet lag. Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe.