Possibly one of the most bizarre books I’ve ever read! ( )

At first, I had mixed feelings about this.
At times, I felt that the over-the-top content was very... collegiate. As in, it reminded me of work that was presented in some of my college writing classes: young people trying to see how far they can push things.
There are also a jarring difference between Part 1 & Part 2, to the point where it almost felt disconnected.

In the end though, and after thought, I decided this book deserved 4 stars. It succeeded where work in the aforementioned writing classes did not. The 'shocking' content is not merely gratuitous (as it seems at first), it functions in the context of creating an ambiguous study of family relations, love, and Jewish mythology. Oh yes, and murder. Magical realism or madness? You decide.

Still, I do understand, after reading this, why Handler decided to publish his books for younger readers under a different name.
Recommended for fans of Iain Banks' 'The Wasp Factory.' ( )

One of the strangest things that I have ever read. Weird and wonderful, not for the faint of heart, or for anybody looking for much meaning. ( )

WTF?

I could only read about 10 pages. ( )

I finished this a week ago. And then had a baby. So this isn't a stellar review, or probably even an accurate representation of my thoughts on it.

I really enjoy Handler's writing. I like the way he puts sentences together, and I like a lot of his ideas. I like that he arranged this novel as a verbal opera, into acts and scenes and intermissions. I like that it was, in part, a novel of Jewish folklore and the golem myth. But while I don't mind reading about sex (even particularly graphic sex), this novel really goes way too far into the sex, and it distracts from what ought to be the meat of the story. (Ugh. No pun intended. I can't think of the right word, though.)

So, I enjoyed this, but (a) it's not his best work, and is in fact the weakest of his adult novels, and (b) it's more about shock value than substance. ( )