English Drops: The Hugo Finalists - The Yiddish Policemen´s Union

Things are pretty hectic right now here, with translations, reviews and no less than two books of my own in the making (a novel and my doctorate thesis), so I find it easier to write more in Portuguese than I already had planned. Thing is, I read mostly in English, and, even though I find it really necessary to show to my Brazilian friends (and publishers) the treasure trove of books that they are missing, I also consider fundamental keeping a window wide open, a little something that may bridge the gap between our cultures.

This preamble is quite adequate for the book I just finished reading. Michael Chabon´s The Yiddish Policemen´s Union is, with Ian McDonald´s Brasyl, a strong candidate to both Hugo and Nebula Awards.

I already wrote a review about Brasyl here (in Portuguese, sorry), a book that I enjoyed reading -- but not as much as I liked to read The Yiddish Policemen´s Union.

The plot is a clever one, mixing elements of roman noir and espionage thriller: a man is murdered in a trashy hotel and a wasted, insomniac detective who lives in the same place ends up taking the case. It would be a run-of-the-mill detective novel... if it happened in our universe.

But it all happens in an alternate Earth, where the Jewish community was forced to get away from Israel em 1948 and accept to settle down in Alaska. As if this situation was not enough, the agreement with the U.S. was only temporary - and the murder happens less than two months to the Reversion, the return to American control. It´s a time of uncertainty, and no one can be trusted.

The atmosphere is noir, due to the cold, and perhaps tradition, everybody seems to dress like the Forties, but the year is 2008 -- exactly sixty years after the creation of the District of Sitka, where millions of Jews live now. There is the Internet, and cellphones (called Shoyfers, apparently a yiddish mobile phone brand), and, aside from this massive geographical dislocation, there are several tips pointing to other changes in that world - for instance, when Meyer Landsman, the detective, remembers a night at the movies with his ex-wife to see a Orson Wells´ classic flick -- Heart of Darkness, the famous aborted project of Wells which lead him to make Citizen Kane instead.

The dialogues are written in the best tradition of Raymond Chandler, which is to be expected but nonetheless gives the fans of detective stories a cozy, homely feeling. The story also follows a similar thread, convolute, intricate, which (specially in the end) grab us by the balls. And, boy, that can be cold in Alaska.

But not this book. Chabon did the same kind of superb job he did in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. My vote (if only symbolically) goes to him. In both awards.