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robs320's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
w00ster's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This is my first Joshua Cohen book, and the style of his prose is right up my alley: Urgent, witty, brash, dynamic. After only a couple of pages, I knew this was one of theses authors I'd want to find out more about.
That said, I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second, where my interest dwindled a bit and the story seemed to lose it's momentum.
I'd be intrigued to read more by Cohen, but I can't quite bring this up to 4 stars.
That said, I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second, where my interest dwindled a bit and the story seemed to lose it's momentum.
I'd be intrigued to read more by Cohen, but I can't quite bring this up to 4 stars.
rachelehyman's review against another edition
3.0
Plot seemed promising but didn't go anywhere/accurately describe the book and the characters weren't well developed.
baltoellen's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Recently read The Netanyahus, which I can't praise highly enough, so thought I'd Cohen's earlier work backwards starting with Moving Kings. Cohen is undoubtedly brilliant and a brilliant writer, piling on description upon description, showing off his powers of observations. And, this novel so wasn't for me. It's very, very male oriented, with lots of descriptions of what conscription aged males talk about. I also wondered often about the women in the Israeli army, who were absent. But, yes, it's fiction.
h2oetry's review against another edition
3.0
A decent enough read; I prefer Cohen's longer fiction or his shorter stories or essays. This was just too... middling.
missmesmerized's review against another edition
4.0
David King is the head of “King’s Moving“, a New York based family business specialised in moving homes. Couples moving in together, couples going separate ways. David and his wife Bonnie also separated, their daughter Tammy wastes his father’s money and his secretary Ruth now manages not only the office but all of David’s life. There is just one thing she cannot help him with: David’s cousin from Israel asked him to welcome her son Yoav for some time. He just came out of the IDF and like all the others, needs some travelling to forget the years in the army. David has only met Yoav once many years ago when he spent a couple of hours with his family in Jerusalem. But he is sure to offer the young man exactly what he needs, not taking into account what serving in one of the world’s toughest armies means.
Joshua Cohen’s novel appears in the beginning to be some lightweight and funny story about making business in New York and knowing (or rather: not knowing) the rules of conduct among the super-rich. David is not the classic businessman who knows his way around the upper class, he disposes of some cleverness which helped him to set up his business, but he is not really familiar with the codes. The same applies to his visit in Israel a couple of years earlier. As a Jew, he feels like having to know the historic sites in Israel but cannot connect anything with the places - just like his cousin who shows him around. When family duty calls, in form of accommodating young Yoav, he does not hesitate to fulfil the wish.
However, with the appearance of Yoav, the novel changes its tone. It is not the humorous atmosphere which prevails now, but a rather despairing and depressive mood that comes from Yoav and takes over. Having served three years in the IDF did not go without scars for him. He was in a special unit which was of no special use in peaceful times but well equipped for the emergency. Now as a civilian, he has serious problems integrating into normal life. He can only accomplish small tasks every day and spends most of his time on the couch doing nothing. He can hardly cope with being alive, not speaking of building friendships and a new life in a foreign country.
The novel takes another turn when Yoav’s fried Uri makes his appearance. Being allocated the same unit should have created a lifelong bond, but the young men are very different and their diverting points of view create more and more tension between them. Yoav is reflecting on his place in the world and what he has seen and done in the army:
“you can’t stop being a soldier, just like you can’t stop being a Jew [...] You were born a soldier, because you were born a Jew. “ (pos. 1392)
By birth he is denied the chance of making a choice in his life. And as an Israeli, people will never be impartial when they meet him. Everybody has an opinion, either on Jews, or in Israelis, or on both. They are held responsible for things they are neither responsible for nor had a chance to do something about it.
A third party is contrasted with them. A black veteran who fought in Vietnam and has lost in belief in the Christian God as well as the American state who should take care of those who have served the country abroad. His only way out is converting to Islam and seeking refuge in addiction. So, who of them is worse off? The forgotten veteran, the black American, the American Jew or the Israeli Jew?
How defining is religion after all? For most of the characters it does not provide help or relief from everyday burdens. It also does not seem to provide a framework to organise their life around. So, build your life without it, but what are the rules then? It seems to be a minefield and you can only survive of you are stronger and live at the expenses of the others it seems.
Joshua Cohen’s novel appears in the beginning to be some lightweight and funny story about making business in New York and knowing (or rather: not knowing) the rules of conduct among the super-rich. David is not the classic businessman who knows his way around the upper class, he disposes of some cleverness which helped him to set up his business, but he is not really familiar with the codes. The same applies to his visit in Israel a couple of years earlier. As a Jew, he feels like having to know the historic sites in Israel but cannot connect anything with the places - just like his cousin who shows him around. When family duty calls, in form of accommodating young Yoav, he does not hesitate to fulfil the wish.
However, with the appearance of Yoav, the novel changes its tone. It is not the humorous atmosphere which prevails now, but a rather despairing and depressive mood that comes from Yoav and takes over. Having served three years in the IDF did not go without scars for him. He was in a special unit which was of no special use in peaceful times but well equipped for the emergency. Now as a civilian, he has serious problems integrating into normal life. He can only accomplish small tasks every day and spends most of his time on the couch doing nothing. He can hardly cope with being alive, not speaking of building friendships and a new life in a foreign country.
The novel takes another turn when Yoav’s fried Uri makes his appearance. Being allocated the same unit should have created a lifelong bond, but the young men are very different and their diverting points of view create more and more tension between them. Yoav is reflecting on his place in the world and what he has seen and done in the army:
“you can’t stop being a soldier, just like you can’t stop being a Jew [...] You were born a soldier, because you were born a Jew. “ (pos. 1392)
By birth he is denied the chance of making a choice in his life. And as an Israeli, people will never be impartial when they meet him. Everybody has an opinion, either on Jews, or in Israelis, or on both. They are held responsible for things they are neither responsible for nor had a chance to do something about it.
A third party is contrasted with them. A black veteran who fought in Vietnam and has lost in belief in the Christian God as well as the American state who should take care of those who have served the country abroad. His only way out is converting to Islam and seeking refuge in addiction. So, who of them is worse off? The forgotten veteran, the black American, the American Jew or the Israeli Jew?
How defining is religion after all? For most of the characters it does not provide help or relief from everyday burdens. It also does not seem to provide a framework to organise their life around. So, build your life without it, but what are the rules then? It seems to be a minefield and you can only survive of you are stronger and live at the expenses of the others it seems.
edgoff's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I liked the book. But, it was really dense for such a small book. It look a lot of focus to follow the characters and try to keep them all straight. The writing was great though. I thought the connection between all of the characters were pretty interesting too. I probably won't read any of his other books.
guiltyfeat's review against another edition
3.0
Some of this was very inside, using Hebrew, Hebrew slang and army slang at times, but there was also an attempt at universalizing the experience of the conscript and the sense of not knowing why or who you have served. I don't think the novel succeeds throughout, it's tonally inconsistent and sometimes the stream of consciousness just feels ill-disciplined, but it's certainly part of an interesting trend. For decades US Jewish novelists have been focused on the experience of being other in America, seeming to fit in, while not. This is the third book this year (after Englander and Krauss), where an American Jewish novelist directly addresses Israel. Fascinating.
zachkuhn's review against another edition
5.0
Full disclosure: I think Cohen is the most talented working American novelist. This is his shortest book and I wanted it to be his longest (the reverse of Book of Numbers). It's his most accessible and yet his most experimental in places. I listened to it instead of reading it and the sounds of his sentences were often overwhelming in their intensity.