The Jewish Messiah

by Arnon Grunberg

Book Overview

One of the great provocateurs of world literature has written perhaps his most outrageous and morally necessary novel- the story of a confused young man from a family with a Nazi past who decides he will devote his life to redeeming the suffering of the Jews in his own unorthodox way What is it to the sixteen-year-old Swiss youth Xavier Radek that his grandfather served in the SS? Why are Xavier's parents so quiet, so furtive, so uninterested in doing...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594201498
• ISBN13: 9781594201493
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Penguin Press
• Length: 470 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.6" x 9.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Gay Messiah?

Grunberg. Arnon. "The Jewish Messiah", The Penguin Group, 2008. A Gay Messiah? Amos Lassen Let me start off by saying I loved this book. "The Jewish Messiah" is one of the most original pieces of literature I have ever read. It is so beautifully written that I found myself pausing to read and reread. It is, in essence, unique nonsense. The book itself is hilarious and mean spirited, fantastic and nonsensical, true and horribly vicious. It is also unbelievably outrageous and extremely morally sensitive. "The Jewish Messiah" will make you laugh and teach you a great deal about the nature of human nature. Xavier Radek, a Swiss 16 year old, learns that his grandfather served in the SS. It doesn't seem to matter to him very much, at least, until he meets Awromele Michalowitz, the son of an Orthodox rabbi. It is then that Xavier decides that is his mission in life to help the Jews to atone for what they have suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime. He is a naïve boy, so naïve that he seems foolish. Even with a mother who feels that Hitler was right in his plan to rid the world of Jews and a grandfather who not only was a Nazi but an over zealous one, he feels that he must help the Jews. Avromele is to be his mentor as Xavier decides that the Jews who have suffered so much, actually need his help. He decides to convert to Judaism and thereby begin his quest. Avromele is with him every step of the way, not only as a guide but as a lover and right-hand man. Xavier lost more than be bargained for with his circumcision (including his left testicle). Avromele manages to convince Xavier to collaborate with him on a Yiddish translation of Mein Kampf and the Jewish plight takes on a whole new look. The action takes place in Basel, Amsterdam and Tel Aviv and in the action are some of the funniest adventures which are accompanied by Jealousy, violence, lust and brutality. What we get in a well painted portrait of hypocrisy and bigotry. Xavier somehow manages to become the prime minister of Israel and slowly changes into a modern Hitler. The satire is wonderful and abrasive in this long tale which, if I have one complaint, is too thick. (But then I love excess). The characters remain one dimensional even though the reader is privy to their emotions and thoughts. They all also manage to become caught up in some of the most unbelievable situations ever put on a page and for that reason they seem to lack humanity. The underlying aspects of the storyline somehow get obscured by all of the nightmarish situations that take place. The story, while untrue, is also many times quite unbelievable. It is the beauty of the prose that makes this book the wonderful read that it is. Arnon Grunberg gives us an unorthodox look at orthodoxy.

Buy it for the cover alone.

Imagine Woody Allen and the Marquis de Sade had a child, not a bastard, but one they fussed over and nurtured and sent to the best schools: he might have written this horrible, vicious, hilarious, totally true book, whose tasteless provocations upon motherhood, philosophy, art, and friendship are matched by a quixotic cruelty to cheeses. The translated prose is like the best martini: ice-cold, and crystal clear, with an instant head rush, and the subtlest whiff of foreignness in vermouth. Beware: it is a very stiff drink.