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mark_lm's review
2.0
This might be good the way that Henry Miller might be good, or the way that Andrew Dice Clay might be funny, but sadomasochistic Holocaust revenge porn is not for me, even if it shows some cleverness in its design, is self-referential, and has footnotes.
wsking's review against another edition
3.0
Alternate history. Reads like a hallucination, in the best and worst of senses.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books so far this year, A Man Lies Dreaming by Israeli science fiction novelist Lavie Tidhar intersperses the story of "Wolf" (aka Adolf Hitler), a down on his private detective in London in 1939--an exile after the communists beat the Nazis in the 1933 elections--with a pulp fiction writer in Auschwitz who is fantasizing about an alternative history that is the Wolf story. The 1939 story is both an homage to hard boiled pulp as Wolf works two cases simultaneously--finding a missing Jewish girl and tracking down a conspiracy to murder the fascist British candidate for Prime Minister--while he is dogged by the police for a series of murders of prostitutes. The Auschwitz story is much shorter and is a brutal description of the concentration camp but also of the attempts to escape it with narration. And the two merge into each other as, for example, Wolf is tortured in the 1939 alternative history in ways that reflect the wish fulfillment of the concentration camp inmate. Wonderfully written, well plotted, moving, and a new perspective on the holocaust novel.
perpetually_reading's review
5.0
I haven't had a chance to read many stories with an alternate history plot, but A Man Lies Dreaming had me scrambling for more in this genre.
The story starts with Wolf, an anti-Semitic down-and-out detective, who accepts a job from a well-to-do Jewish girl to find her sister. The twist in this world is that the Nazis (and therefore Hitler) never came to power in Germany, and was beaten in the elections by the Communists. As we navigate this topsy-turvy world with Wolf, the story also cuts to the point of view of Shomer, a Jewish pulp-fiction author imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. You quickly realize that the topsy-turvy world is all in Shomer's imagination, his way of coping with the horrors of being in a concentration camp.
I really enjoyed the 1st and 3rd person voice Tidhar uses throughout the novel. There's sections of Wolf's diary included in the narrative, and I liked how it added even more depth to Wolf's true feelings towards everything that was happening throughout the novel. With that said, Wolf is definitely not a likeable character. He's rude, ignorant, racist, and sexist, and the fact that he is Shomer's interpretation of Hitler if he'd never came into power does not lighten your attitude towards him at all. However, watching Wolf (or Hitler) get disrespected, beat up, and spat upon by everyone else in the book is a bit satisfying.
The overall plot, mystery, and ending was throughly enjoyable and I loved every moment of this crazy ride. I definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy alternate histories, but also don't mind sexually explicit and brutal content. Tidhar was definitely unapologetic when it came to writing this book, and is a great commentary against racism and prejudice towards refugees.
The story starts with Wolf, an anti-Semitic down-and-out detective, who accepts a job from a well-to-do Jewish girl to find her sister. The twist in this world is that the Nazis (and therefore Hitler) never came to power in Germany, and was beaten in the elections by the Communists. As we navigate this topsy-turvy world with Wolf, the story also cuts to the point of view of Shomer, a Jewish pulp-fiction author imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. You quickly realize that the topsy-turvy world is all in Shomer's imagination, his way of coping with the horrors of being in a concentration camp.
I really enjoyed the 1st and 3rd person voice Tidhar uses throughout the novel. There's sections of Wolf's diary included in the narrative, and I liked how it added even more depth to Wolf's true feelings towards everything that was happening throughout the novel. With that said, Wolf is definitely not a likeable character. He's rude, ignorant, racist, and sexist, and the fact that he is Shomer's interpretation of Hitler if he'd never came into power does not lighten your attitude towards him at all. However, watching Wolf (or Hitler) get disrespected, beat up, and spat upon by everyone else in the book is a bit satisfying.
The overall plot, mystery, and ending was throughly enjoyable and I loved every moment of this crazy ride. I definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy alternate histories, but also don't mind sexually explicit and brutal content. Tidhar was definitely unapologetic when it came to writing this book, and is a great commentary against racism and prejudice towards refugees.
perpetuallyreading's review
5.0
I haven't had a chance to read many stories with an alternate history plot, but A Man Lies Dreaming had me scrambling for more in this genre.
The story starts with Wolf, an anti-Semitic down-and-out detective, who accepts a job from a well-to-do Jewish girl to find her sister. The twist in this world is that the Nazis (and therefore Hitler) never came to power in Germany, and was beaten in the elections by the Communists. As we navigate this topsy-turvy world with Wolf, the story also cuts to the point of view of Shomer, a Jewish pulp-fiction author imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. You quickly realize that the topsy-turvy world is all in Shomer's imagination, his way of coping with the horrors of being in a concentration camp.
I really enjoyed the 1st and 3rd person voice Tidhar uses throughout the novel. There's sections of Wolf's diary included in the narrative, and I liked how it added even more depth to Wolf's true feelings towards everything that was happening throughout the novel. With that said, Wolf is definitely not a likeable character. He's rude, ignorant, racist, and sexist, and the fact that he is Shomer's interpretation of Hitler if he'd never came into power does not lighten your attitude towards him at all. However, watching Wolf (or Hitler) get disrespected, beat up, and spat upon by everyone else in the book is a bit satisfying.
The overall plot, mystery, and ending was throughly enjoyable and I loved every moment of this crazy ride. I definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy alternate histories, but also don't mind sexually explicit and brutal content. Tidhar was definitely unapologetic when it came to writing this book, and is a great commentary against racism and prejudice towards refugees.
The story starts with Wolf, an anti-Semitic down-and-out detective, who accepts a job from a well-to-do Jewish girl to find her sister. The twist in this world is that the Nazis (and therefore Hitler) never came to power in Germany, and was beaten in the elections by the Communists. As we navigate this topsy-turvy world with Wolf, the story also cuts to the point of view of Shomer, a Jewish pulp-fiction author imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. You quickly realize that the topsy-turvy world is all in Shomer's imagination, his way of coping with the horrors of being in a concentration camp.
I really enjoyed the 1st and 3rd person voice Tidhar uses throughout the novel. There's sections of Wolf's diary included in the narrative, and I liked how it added even more depth to Wolf's true feelings towards everything that was happening throughout the novel. With that said, Wolf is definitely not a likeable character. He's rude, ignorant, racist, and sexist, and the fact that he is Shomer's interpretation of Hitler if he'd never came into power does not lighten your attitude towards him at all. However, watching Wolf (or Hitler) get disrespected, beat up, and spat upon by everyone else in the book is a bit satisfying.
The overall plot, mystery, and ending was throughly enjoyable and I loved every moment of this crazy ride. I definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy alternate histories, but also don't mind sexually explicit and brutal content. Tidhar was definitely unapologetic when it came to writing this book, and is a great commentary against racism and prejudice towards refugees.
m3l89's review against another edition
3.0
I came across this in the library and was undecided whether to give it a try as its the kind of thing I watch rather than read. But then I spotted the author's name and realised I had to read it as my fiancée knows him and went to his wedding reception in Israel.
After finishing this I am undecided as to whether it was very weird or rather brilliant. The scenes in Auschwitz, although weren't very long conveyed life in the camp and were we written to achieve this in such short segments.
The story of Wolf seemed to be one long anti semitic rant from Wolf's perspective. I thought the BDSM scenes involving Wolf were an oddly satisfying karma considering the real world history.
After finishing this I am undecided as to whether it was very weird or rather brilliant. The scenes in Auschwitz, although weren't very long conveyed life in the camp and were we written to achieve this in such short segments.
The story of Wolf seemed to be one long anti semitic rant from Wolf's perspective. I thought the BDSM scenes involving Wolf were an oddly satisfying karma considering the real world history.
qdony's review against another edition
5.0
Uno no puede menos que quitarse el sombrero ante el hallazgo que supone este “A Man Lies Dreaming” de Lavie Tidhar. Sus virtudes son numerosas, la inteligencia que anima a la novela grande y malintencionada y, por si fuera poco, está impregnada de un negrísimo sentido del humor que no hace más que resaltar un trasfondo tanto más valioso en cuanto se trata de un libro sumamente entretenido que ya valdría la pena leer sólo por el buen rato que proporciona. Se trata, además, de una ucronía excepcional que consigue construir en su protagonista uno de los mejores ejemplos de antihéroe que he tenido el placer de leer.
msaari's review
4.0
A wild alternate-history take on holocaust, a world where Nazis didn't rise to power in Germany, but instead fled to England from the communist rulers. The blackshirts get in power in England, instead. Adolf Hitler appears as a classic hard-boiled detective. At the same time, a man lies dreaming things in Auschwitz... This is a strange and a fascinating book.
luluwoohoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar
☀️☀️🌥️
▪️A stirring concept that failed to find it's feet - a lack of clear genre, style and intention let it down
▪️The tone of this story was a bit all over the place, shifting between harrowing moments and clearly intended comedy without skill, and the continued level of gratuitous violence didn't leave me with the satisfaction I think it was supposed to. As a knock off noir mystery the pacing was good but ultimately didn't deliver anything else of substance beyond that level of parody
▪️The structure of this novel isn't especially bad or unusual, but the lack of consistency in the diary entries made for difficult reading - many entries weren't in proper form and ruined the illusion. Also the chapter lengths were too long and chapter breaks not often in logical places so it didn't flow as nicely as it probably could have done. Yes, it's meant to be a dream, but even acknowledging that it felt strangely disorientated
▪️Wolf/Hitler as a main character didn't grab me particularly, and the bizarre back-and-forth of him playing victim and aggressor did little to help his character arc
▪️For a book I picked up randomly off a shelf with no more information beyond the cover and blurb description I was still disappointed by this novel. It had incredible potential but unfortunately it felt like three books condensed into one lacklustre one.
"'It is the nature of the world that evil exists,' Wolf said. 'It is not money that is evil but the means to which it is put to use...a small lever to move small people...but give me a large enough lever and I would move the very world."
"There is only now, no past, no future, there is only Auschwitz, an island floating on the Polish ground. The dead rise in black ash into the sky, day and night the ovens burn, day and night the trains come laden. And Shomer's mind retreats into itself, the way it has when he was still a man."
☀️☀️🌥️
▪️A stirring concept that failed to find it's feet - a lack of clear genre, style and intention let it down
▪️The tone of this story was a bit all over the place, shifting between harrowing moments and clearly intended comedy without skill, and the continued level of gratuitous violence didn't leave me with the satisfaction I think it was supposed to. As a knock off noir mystery the pacing was good but ultimately didn't deliver anything else of substance beyond that level of parody
▪️The structure of this novel isn't especially bad or unusual, but the lack of consistency in the diary entries made for difficult reading - many entries weren't in proper form and ruined the illusion. Also the chapter lengths were too long and chapter breaks not often in logical places so it didn't flow as nicely as it probably could have done. Yes, it's meant to be a dream, but even acknowledging that it felt strangely disorientated
▪️Wolf/Hitler as a main character didn't grab me particularly, and the bizarre back-and-forth of him playing victim and aggressor did little to help his character arc
▪️For a book I picked up randomly off a shelf with no more information beyond the cover and blurb description I was still disappointed by this novel. It had incredible potential but unfortunately it felt like three books condensed into one lacklustre one.
"'It is the nature of the world that evil exists,' Wolf said. 'It is not money that is evil but the means to which it is put to use...a small lever to move small people...but give me a large enough lever and I would move the very world."
"There is only now, no past, no future, there is only Auschwitz, an island floating on the Polish ground. The dead rise in black ash into the sky, day and night the ovens burn, day and night the trains come laden. And Shomer's mind retreats into itself, the way it has when he was still a man."
tfrohock's review
5.0
I've seen a lot of people point to this book as alternative history, but that wasn't my takeaway from the novel. To categorize the book as alternative history changes the focus from the dreamer (Shomer) and shifts the novel to become Hitler's story. That was not how I read the story.
A MAN LIES DREAMING is Shomer's story. It is Shomer who is "writing" Hitler as detective in order to debase him. For every humiliation Shomer is forced to endure, he "writes" that many more for his detective Wolf (Hitler). So while Wolf's adventures take up a greater portion of the pages, it is still Shomer's story. The title tells you who to focus on: A MAN LIES DREAMING. That is Shomer.
And I find it interesting that so many people shift the story from the Jewish protagonist to Hitler. I'm not sure if this is Marketing 101, or our way of looking away from Shomer's pain, because it is so very real. However, when we say this book is alt.history, we cheat both the author and the story, which about a man, mired in the devastating horror of the concentration camps, and using the only means of escape at his disposal--his imagination.
A MAN LIES DREAMING is Shomer's story. It is Shomer who is "writing" Hitler as detective in order to debase him. For every humiliation Shomer is forced to endure, he "writes" that many more for his detective Wolf (Hitler). So while Wolf's adventures take up a greater portion of the pages, it is still Shomer's story. The title tells you who to focus on: A MAN LIES DREAMING. That is Shomer.
And I find it interesting that so many people shift the story from the Jewish protagonist to Hitler. I'm not sure if this is Marketing 101, or our way of looking away from Shomer's pain, because it is so very real. However, when we say this book is alt.history, we cheat both the author and the story, which about a man, mired in the devastating horror of the concentration camps, and using the only means of escape at his disposal--his imagination.