A review by prcizmadia
J by Howard Jacobson

3.0

A deeply frustrating, even maddening at times, read that actively pulled me forward against my own will. Maybe that makes for a good writer. I did find the concept interesting-- the forced cultural amnesia, but unsustainable in its dishonesty, and the latent violence it encourages-- wrapped around historical trauma. What I read as a British setting, after some horrific Second Holocaust, rang empty to me in comparison to the brush-away that us Americans do of our own blood-soaked history. This is what we DO. Meanwhile, I cannot get inside any of these peoples' heads and certainly can't get behind their actions or worldviews. Three is a round-up.