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A review by tfrohock
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar
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.