Judenstaat - Simone Zelitch

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC: New York, NY, 2016.

I made it! This is the 26th and final book in my Alphabet Soup reading challenge. I finished the first book in this challenge on the 11th of August last year, having started it a week earlier. So, finishing in May means it took me 9 months to finish this challenge. I suppose I could have done it quicker if I only read Alphabet Soup books, but where would be the fun in that!

Anyway, Judenstaat is a strange book. It falls into the 'alternate history' category of fiction, with this world having a slightly different outcome for the Jewish people post-World War 2. Instead of being granted a state of their own in Palestine (aka, the modern nation of Israel), they are instead granted a state of their own within the borders of Germany. This is justified both as a sort of punishment for Germany's acts of atrocity, and also as a statement of resilience from the Jewish people - that the place where they have faced their worst moments will be the place where they build their future.

This is a neat concept, and I was fascinated to see the world that Zelitch had created - one where Judenstaat has positioned itself as an intermediary between the West and the East, but where over time it has grown closer to the Soviet Union and more distrustful of the United States.

However, I was less impressed by the plot itself.

We follow Judit Klemmer, a Jewish documentarian who is seeking to put together an new documentary for the 40th anniversary of Judenstaat's founding. Her (non-Jewish) husband was murdered a few years ago, and she has been seeing his ghost at work (possibly, its a little unclear how literal we are to take these encounters). One day she receives a note telling her "They lied about the murder", and she sets out to learn the truth behind this mystery. This sounds decent enough, but the book meanders around, more interested in showing us certain sectors of Judenstaat than making a compelling story. Judit also becomes quite unwell at one point, and this is reflected by the story becoming even more disconnected and confusing.

The final revelations about her husband and the national history of Judenstaat itself didn't really add much to the story for me either.

It was okay.

So, I finish the Alphabet Soup challenge with a book that has a great setting, but a forgettable plot.

I'll have to start pondering my next challenge.

Completed 24 May 2022.



(Alphabet Soup Books)

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