We have other people to hate. I don't even have much to say about this book. I've always been suspicious of the Booker Prize: a solid, stick-in-the-mud reward to literary doggedness and middlebrow worthiness that guarantees reading matter for the leafy home counties if nothing else. Things that seemed like they might be there to be funny, I found depressing and over-obvious. The parameters were too constrained to comfortably contain Julian, the main character's obsession with Jews and his wishful wondering if, by any quirk of fate, he could have something in his ancestry that would allow him to lay claim to being partly Jewish. It was a Booker winner in 2010. The Finkler Question is a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, ageing, wisdom and humanity. Sure, you might be able to appreciate. Treslove thinks of all Jews as Finklers, hence the title. Why did this book win a prize? unexpectedly challenging. Would not recommend. What I don't appreciate is being bombarded with the words 'Jew', 'Ju', 'Julian' with freakish consistency on every page. Did he succeed? Enter your username and a recovery link will be emailed to the email address on file at your library. This is perhaps the funniest book I've ever read; it's also seriously brilliant. Nobody should be singled out for persecution, I agree. Finkler and Treslove are about 50; Finkler and Sevcik are Jewish. Welcome back. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson. Several have landed on the Booker long list. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Good that you got it's sense of humour, most of it at the main characters. It was looking for Herzog, but in the end found a book that could have been. Video: Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question The New Yorker gave this book an extremely cranky review that might be summarized something like "but this never would happen in real life!" Company. If so, I guess I'm not keen on this type of satire. Hey guys! winning has caused quite a bit a controversy and even before winning lots of ink spilled debating whether this was any good and antisemitism in UK, and self-anti-semitism (a la tony judt, Sometimes when I pick up a book I wonder who the author is trying to imitate. The author began by making a very big deal about the pain of being a Jew in the modern world and ended the book with an impassioned plea to see Jews for what they really are, half right and half wronged, like the rest of us. UK → Bloomsbury Publishing (Ed. Why didn't I like it: there was a lack of story; the characters were unappealing and two-dimensional - do people like this really exist and if so, why write about them? empowered me with a nuanced perspective and vocabulary with which to challenge prevailing or simplistic notions of the Jewish identity. ― Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question. I had no clue what I was signing up for when I began reading this. Despite very different lives, they've never quite lost touch with each other - or with their fo… Chairman of the judges and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said, "The Finkler Question should not be seen as something that was 'relentlessly middle-brow, or easy-peasy' because it was comic. According to the reviews on the back cover. Yuk! Happy Reading! Treslove finds he has tears enough for the unbearable sadness of both his friends' losses. How do you hold yourself together?”, “So many unhappy women out there. FQ was still funny, but the characters toward the end seemed a tad too cut-out and caricatured, too formula-driven, and too tired. I can vibe with an unlikeable character if it serves a purpose but none of these characters were people I would root for. The novel won the Man Booker Prize. As a Nobel Prize lite it tends to award writers for what they mean rather than what they write. August 2nd 2010 So why read it? The Finkler Question is a scorching story of friendship and loss, exclusion and belonging, and of the wisdom and humanity of maturity. Unfortunately, this momentum didn't continue. At 11:30 pm that night, Treslove is attacked while walking home. The Finkler Question is a remarkable work. book | Fiction | 2010. I tried really hard to read it until I realized that I had not got one minute of enjoyment out of it. Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular and disappointed BBC worker, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. I can vibe with an unlikeable character if it serves a purpose but none of these characters were people I would root for. The Finkler Question is characterised by his structuring skill and unsimplifying intelligence - this time picking through the connections and differences, hardly unremarked but given fresh treatment here, between vicariousness and parasitism, and between Jewishness, Judaism and Zionism. See all 8 questions about The Finkler Question…. Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Despite very different lives, they've never quite lost touch with each other - or with their former teacher, Libor Sevcik. Unfortunately, this momentum didn't continue. The Finkler Question is a 2010 novel written by British author Howard Jacobson. 0 likes . So why read it? The dialogue is clever, intellectual and quite thorough. Publication Date: October 12, 2010; Paperback: 320 pages; Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; ISBN-10: 1608196119; … Because I'm not. I appreciate that unambiguously. Overall just baffled that this won the Man Booker Prize. Finkler’s great friend, Libor Sevcik, is a retired celebrity columnist, nearing ninety years old, who maintains an extended disagreement with Finkler on the question of Israel. I never reviewed this book after I read it --- (read it ways back when it first came out) --but another GR's friend just brought this book to my attention. A good book, just not a great novel. It seems he is mugged by a woman who hisses the phrase "You Ju" at him. hard to put down. George Gibson) He should have seen it coming. They dine together at Libor's grand apartment in central London: it is a sweetly painful evening of reminiscences. which seems like a rational American take on this very British book. Signed copy. Jacobson was the oldest winner since William Golding who won the prize in 1980, aged 69, for Rites of Passage. A momentary pause to search it up on Google might help the more curious and interested mind. It was even Jewish in the title, though you won’t appreciate the reference until you’re a bit of the way into it. View PDF. Such a sea of female misery.”, Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize Nominee (2011), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee (2012). When I started the Finkler Question, I had images of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen floating in my head. 0 likes. The characters were very weird and gross and their negative traits didn't seem like they existed to make a point. What is the tone at the end of the novel? But I liked it well enough, despite its relentlessness. The Finkler Question (longlisted for this year's Man Booker prize) is full of wit, warmth, intelligence, human feeling and understanding. The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson, Bloomsbury, RRP£7.99, 384 pages. The interplay among the three and the development of these characters is worth the price of the book although perhaps not the Man Booker Prize which it received. Is it true? Our of 5 members of our book club, only two finished and one ( anew member) said that she had thought to herself that if this was the type of book we read, she would quit! Because Jacobsen's diction is flawless and because the characters are well educated it might take a while to understand just how broad the humor is here. Why didn't I like it: there was a lack of story; the characters were unappealing and two-dimensional - do people like this really exist and if so, why write about them? All Quotes Quotes By Howard Jacobson. Sometimes bitter coffee secretes more flavor on palate especially if we cling to trite routine of sweet one's. Things that seemed like they might be there to be funny, I found depressing and over-o. After this, his whole sense of who and what he is will slowly and ineluctably change.The Finkler Question is a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, aging, wisdom and humanity. Why didn't I get it? "[1], The novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2010[1] and was the first comic novel to win the prize since Kingsley Amis's The Old Devils in 1986. This is a great book. Start by marking “The Finkler Question” as Want to Read: Error rating book. And it's that very evening, at exactly 11:30pm, as Treslove hesitates a moment outside the window of the oldest violin dealer in the country as he walks home, that he is attacked. Like “Just when you've overcome the grief, you realise you are left with the loneliness.” ― Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question. There are three main protagonists; Sam Finkler (a journalist and TV pundit), Julian Treslove, an old school friend and former BBC employee (now Brad Pitt lookalike) and Libor Sevcik; a former teacher and friend. Several people have used the word wise, and that's a good word. ", It was shortlisted for the JQ Wingate Prize (2011). Now, both Libor and Finkler are recently widowed, and with Treslove, his chequered and unsuccessful record with women rendering him an honorary third widower, they dine at Libor's grand, central London apartment. The front cover proclaims that it won the 2010 Man Booker Prize. To be honest, it was downright obsessive. Good that you got it's sense of humour, most of it at the main characters. The Finkler Question by JACOBSON, Howard and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.co.uk. When The Finkler Question begins, Julian, a failed BBC producer, has just had dinner with two of his oldest friends/rivals. Interview with Harold Jacobson at Toronto Public Library, Howard Jacobson answering questions on Classic FM's Facebook Page this Sunday, The Debut Novel 'Of Women and Salt' Explores the Force of History. I had to read something more contemporary and since this won the booker prize I just bought it. Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Howard Jacobson was born in Manchester, England, and educated at Cambridge. I kept wanting to quit this unlikeable cramped book, but I didn't, because I kept waiting to see what the Booker Prize committee saw in it. How do you survive a single hour, a single minute, a single second of that knowledge? In 2002, during my final semester of university, I went to the Caribbean on spring break. Jacobson, 68, who remains far better known in his native England than in this country, has been a prolific writer of comic novels, mostly about Jews and Jewish identity, since 1983. It is much cleverer and more complicated and about much more difficult things than it immediately lets you know. 1 star seems harsh but honestly there wasn't really anything I liked about this book other than the writing, sometimes. So he should have been prepared for this one... Julian Treslove and Sam Finkler are old friends, Libor Sevcik their former teacher. The characters were very weird and gross and their negative traits didn't seem like they existed to make a point. by Bloomsbury. The Finkler Question is one of six novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The Finkler Question was funny, clever, absurd and seemed like it might just belong on the shelf of great Jewish novels. What was the point of that? It was looking for Herzog, but in the end found a book that could have been written by Jonathan Safran Foer (not a high compliment). Way too contrived for me. Yet, simultaneously, the mugging, which is mentioned repetitively never gets fully developed or explained or even suggested for explanation. His many novels include, “How do you go on knowing that you will never again - not ever, ever - see the person you have loved? It's a sweetly painful evening of reminiscence in which all three remove themselves to a time before they had loved and lost; a time before they had fathered children, before the devastation of separations, before they had prized anything greatly enough to fear the loss of it. The Finkler Questionis a terrifying and ambitious novel, full of dangerous shallows and dark, deep water. The Finkler Question is a scorching story of friendship and loss, exclusion and belonging, and of the wisdom and humanity of maturity. enjoy it? Of Women and Salt, the debut novel by Gabriela Garcia, has the feel of a sweeping family saga that’s hard to reconcile with the fact that it’s... Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular and disappointed BBC worker, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. I initially had a bit of difficulty with things Jewish, but a lot of it can be understood with the subsequent sentences, so that you do not have to understand the rituals, traditions, and words. No graver matter pervades the pages of The Finkler Question, Howard Jacobson's latest holler from the halls of comic genius. (307) Why does this humorous novel end on a note of mourning? It's very different but very interesting. I had no clue what I was signing up for when I began reading this. Why didn't I get it? What I don't appreciate is being bombarded with the words 'Jew', 'Ju', 'Julian' with freakish consistency on every page. Now, both Libor and Finkler are recently widowed, and Treslove's chequered and unsuccessful record with women qualify him as an honorary third widower. I'm just kind of confused by it? The novel won the Man Booker Prize. Now, mind you, this isn't because I'm an anti-Semite. Like. We’d love your help. Yes, my thoughts exactly. every time I put it down I had a strange yearning to call my grandmother, to remember and to be close. To see what your friends thought of this book. His life had been one mishap after another. The reviews said it was extremely funny, but I didn't laugh or smile once. The reviews said it was extremely funny, but I didn't laugh or smile once. In his acceptance speech, Jacobson claimed he was going to spend his £50,000 prize money on a handbag for his wife, asking, "Have you seen the price of handbags? This is a novel that deserved to. Anthony Julius's book, 'Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Antisemitism in England' is published by OUP. Bec. I really enjoyed this book. Can anyone who does not have any idea about Jews etc. Julian Treslove is a 49 year old Gentile living in present day London whose life has been a series of disappointments: he has movie star good looks but can't seem to sustain a relationship with a woman for more than a few months; he was let go from his production job at the BBC for his overly morbid programs on Radio 3, a station known for its solemnity; and he has fathered two boys, who ridicule and despise him. The characters in this book reminded me of the Ricky Gervais version of The Office--highly exaggerated circumstances, painfully flawed people, and the joke goes on and on and on, to ludicrous, nearly unbearable lengths...and all of it really, really funny, once you stop being offended. Would n. I don't even have much to say about this book. presents a difficult topic in a hitting and fearless fashion. 0 likes. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. In the meantime, Finkler joins an "ASHamed" organization which favours the Palestinians over the Israelis over their land disputes. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they've never quite lost touch with each other - or with their former teacher, Libor Sevcik, a Czechoslovakian always more concerned with the wider world than with exam results. I tried really hard to read it until I realized that I had not got one minute of enjoyment out of it. touching and funny. Let there be nary a doubt, this book is first, foremost, and damn near exclusively about being Jewish. Really really really great. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they've never quite lost touch with each other - or with their former teacher, Libor Sevcik, a Czechoslovakian always more concerned wi. The characters in this book reminded me of the Ricky Gervais version of The Office--highly exaggerated circumstances, painfully flawed people, and the joke goes on and on and on, to ludicrous, nearly unbearable lengths...and all of it really, really funny, once you stop being offended. those on book prize committees) of which I am not a member. Devoid of any cultural prejudice, I think I am the kind of reader the author would have liked to woo. Maybe this is meant to be read by a certain sector of people (i.e. After this, his whole sense of who and what he is will slowly and ineluctably change. 1 star seems harsh but honestly there wasn't really anything I liked about this book other than the writing, sometimes. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. Mind numbingly boring, self indulgent navel gazing, attempted intellectualisation of mid life crisis wankery. Doesn't it seem as if Jacobson is trying too hard to be funny? Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. I have an appetite for the whole Semitic scene – a necessity to get through this one. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. ‎Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. The Finkler Question was funny, clever, absurd and seemed like it might just belong on the shelf of great Jewish novels. The New Yorker gave this book an extremely cranky review that might be summarized something like "but this never would happen in real life!" The author began by making a very big deal about the pain of being a Jew in the modern world and ended the book with an impassioned plea to see Jews for what they really are, half right and half wronged, like the rest of us. Jewish readers: did you relate and like this book? Let there be nary a doubt, this book is first, foremost, and damn near exclusively about being Jewish. I have just started reading this book - read about 20 pages. I never did. which seems like a rational American take on this very British book. Even worse, he compares poorly to his friend, rival, and former school classmate Sa. Michael Fishwick) US → Bloomsbury Publishing (Ed. The Finkler Question, Bloomsbury, 2010 (Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize) Zoo Time, Bloomsbury, 2012; J, Bloomsbury, 2014 (shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize) Shylock Is My Name: a novel, Hogarth 2016; Pussy: a novel, Cape, April 13, 2017; Live a Little, Cape, 2019; Non-fiction. FQ was still funny, but the characters toward the end seemed a tad too cut-out and caricatured, too formula-driven, and too tired. In the case of Howard Jacobson's, When I started the Finkler Question, I had images of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen floating in my head. Julian Treslove is a 49 year old Gentile living in present day London whose life has been a series of disappointments: he has movie star good looks but can't seem to sustain a relationship with a woman for more than a few months; he was let go from his production job at the BBC for his overly morbid programs on Radio 3, a station known for its solemnity; and he has fathered two boys, who ridicule and despise him. I appreciate that unambiguously. After much cogitation, Treslove believes what the assailant meant was "You, Jew", sparking a long-running obsession with all things and people Jewish – which he refers to as "Finkler". Jewish in England, Jewish in culture, Jewish in language, Jewish in world affairs, Jewish against Israel, Jewish for Israel, Jewish in humor, Jewish in intellect, Jewish in guilt, Jewish in pleasures, Jewish in the head, Jewish in the schlang, Jewish in food, Jewish in ceremony, Jewish as chosen, Jewish as persecuted, and Jewish in just about any other way you can imagine, stereotyped or otherw. The novel coalesces into an ending that brings together the disparate narrative strands amongst the three central male characters. my 2nd booker prize winner (2010) in about as many days. Why did this book win a prize? Refresh and try again. The Finkler Question (2010), a novel by British author Howard Jacobson, tells the story of three friends—Julian Treslove, Sam Finkler, and Libor Sevcik—as they explore what it means to be Jewish, ultimately coming to very different conclusions about their respective identities and their places in a historically antisemitic world. I initially had a bit of difficulty with things Jewish, but a lot of it can. The Finkler Question. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. The Finkler Question is a 2010 novel written by British author Howard Jacobson. The Finkler Question ends on a scene of mourning: Hephzibah lamenting Libor’s death and the end of her relationship with Treslove, and Finkler “mourning the Jewish people” as a whole. Nobody should be singled out for persecution, I agree. And I found it to be funny. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they remain good friends, keeping contact with their former teacher Libor Sevcik, a Czech Jew nearing ninety who once tutored in Czech history and worked part-time as a Hollywood gossip columnist. It seemed repetitive. Jewish in England, Jewish in culture, Jewish in language, Jewish in world affairs, Jewish against Israel, Jewish for Israel, Jewish in humor, Jewish in intellect, Jewish in guilt, Jewish in pleasures, Jewish in the head, Jewish in the schlang, Jewish in food, Jewish in ceremony, Jewish as chosen, Jewish as persecuted, and Jewish in just about any other way you can imagine, stereotyped or otherwise. Treslove gets into a relationship with Hephzibah, the great-grandniece of Libor, and is haunted by his adulterous affair with Tyler, Finkler's deceased wife. That doesn't mean I didn't like swaths of it, however, it just didn't possess enough sustained energy or original genius to justify the attention it got a couple years ago. by Jacobson, Howard and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.co.uk. The man who loves deepest, it seems, is most deeply snared in sorrow. I would say it was one of my favorite reads over the last few years and I think part of it is you have to understand what the author is trying to say and I think I got it. It covers a lot of area and is essentially a comic novel with deeper meaning and tinged with sadness. The title itself is a euphemism for "the Jewish Question." 16. The Finkler Question is a scorching story of friendship and loss, exclusion and belonging, and of the wisdom and humanity of maturity. I'm just kind of confused by it? Overall just baffled that this won the Man Booker Prize. What to make of this? Was it meant to be satirical? Howard Jacobson's comedy about anti-Semitism, "The Finkler Question," won the $79,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction in London Tuesday, beating "Parrot & Olivier in America," by two-time winner Peter Carey, and Emma Donoghue's popular "Room." Like “People who see what’s coming have faulty chronology, that is all.” ― Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question. I picked it up because I hold Wodehouse in such esteem for his comedic novels (not that I was expecting Wodehouse here, he just introduced me to this category of writing). Don't let the philistines of this pitiful site ruin it for you. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. I don't like the idea that literature is written "for" or "not for" any people. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one … Even worse, he compares poorly to his friend, rival, and former school classmate Sam Finkler, a pop philosopher, radio and television personality, and author of best selling books such as The Existentialist in the Kitchen and John Duns Scotus and Self Esteem: A Manual for the Menstruating, which have made him wealthy and respected, with a beautiful wife and three successful children. THE FINKLER QUESTION. In my culture, anti-Semitism is merely something other people do to other people, or nothing at all. Better, perhaps, to go through life without knowing happiness at all because that way you had less to mourn? About The Finkler Question. … What issues are resolved, and what remains unresolved? According to the reviews on the back cover, The Finkler Question is hilarious. But the reviews here give the impression that the book is for people who know a lot about Jews and might not appeal to all. I found this book laborious and slow moving. [2], Learn how and when to remove this template message, Howard Jacobson wins Booker prize 2010 for The Finkler Question, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Finkler_Question&oldid=902522241, Articles needing additional references from July 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 19 June 2019, at 12:14. RELATED STORIES; UK. 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To award writers for what they mean rather than what they write educated at Cambridge Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Nominee! As want to read: Error rating book recovery link will be to. Any cultural prejudice, I found depressing and over-o of it at the main characters Jacobson was born in,! Baffled that this won the Prize in 1980, aged 69, for Rites of Passage people! At all because that way you had less to mourn painful evening of reminiscences about much difficult! Those on book Prize committees ) of which I am the kind of reader the would... Written `` for '' any people every time I put it down I had no clue I. Of humour, most of it at the main characters 's book, just not a member might! About being Jewish your Goodreads account we cling to trite routine of sweet one 's Finkler Question funny! Read: Error rating book after this, his whole sense of humour, most of.! But I did n't laugh or smile once meantime, Finkler joins an `` ASHamed '' organization which the! I liked about this book is first, foremost, and of the wisdom and of...