Author: Howard Jacobson
Published: 2010
Genre: Fiction
I am always reluctant to write about award-winning books. I always want to read them because the writer in me wants to know what it is that makes an award-winning book, but in the same breath I approach them cautiously because the hype can often lead to a disappointing experience. I did not pick up The Finkler Question for its rave reviews, so my expectations were somewhat managed.
I read this Booker Prize winner a few months back, and have been struggling to sit and write up on it for a while now. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes, but a with one caveat: be very patient with the protagonist.
The books relates the life and experiences of Julian Treslove an actor who works mainly as a face double in TV shows. His nondescript face and life mirrors his equally unspectacular career. His best friend is Sam Finkler- a philosopher, television personality and writer - with a stellar career, who had a beautiful wife, and is Jewish. This, the issue of being Jewish or what Julian calls being a Finkler is central to the book. Sam Finkler, according to him, epitomises all of this.
His admiration of Jews, and some of the stereotypes they represent - successful, philosophical thinkers and deeply religious are all the things that Julian, a Gentile, covets. His inexplicable desire to become Jewish is set off after a mugging on his way from a dinner with his friends; Sam Finkler and Libor Sevcik. His mugger mutters something in Julian's ear, which he interprets as "You Jew" although he can not be exactly certain. But for a Gentile who has always felt Jewish, he views this as a sign that, he is, as he always suspected Jewish. His gradual turn from mere admiration from a distance to fully believing that he is in fact Jewish is amusing to read. He goes to the extent of explaining his father's anti-Semitic behaviour as a mechanism to protect the family from what was a very anti-Semitic England at the time.
Julian, I saw as a sad little man, who wants to find meaning in his life by becoming something he is not. He is drawn to tragedy and sadness, believing that feeling these emotions deeper is all a part of being Jewish. After all, he reasons, a people that escaped the horrors of the Holocaust can not but find fuller meaning in everyday lives - so they should be able to love and feel more. His complete adherence to all things Jewish is cemented when he starts to date and live with Libor's niece. His embrace of all the religious traditions and process towards conversion amuses his friends but they indulge him nonetheless. For Julian, his inclusion into their lives is what he has always wanted.
Although I found some aspects of the book highly amusing - there were parts where I laughed outloud- towards the end - I was finding Treslove's insecurity and need for inclusion at all costs tedious.
Above all else, The Finkler Question is a story about male friendship, and those elements in the book are what kept me reading. The three friends are direct, and without pause as they discuss everything in their moments of male bonding - from philosophy to infidelity.
Recommendation: Read a borrowed copy.
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