A review of this — 1 year ago
I was very dubious on starting this. I had read bad reviews both here and elsewhere and was worried that it would be very pretentious and pointless like much of modern literature. Also I had read ‘The Human Stain’ by Roth and found it very average.
I was therefore very pleasantly surprised by how good I found it. Unlike other reviewers I thought having the book narrated from the point of view of a young Jewish boy was what made it so effective. Otherwise I think it would have been a very flat and cold faux history novel. I liked the fact how both the massive political and social upheavals were given the same weight in his mind as family arguments and his stamp collection.
For me the style of writing made for a deeply believable account of what could easily have otherwise felt like daft sci-fi.






















