The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

The Finkler Question

The Finkler Question won the Man Booker Prize for 2010. I relish a witty, well-educated, perceptive author as much as the next book lover, and Mr Jacobson is both well known and well regarded. The Finkler Question is thought provoking, funny and musical all at the same time.

The main characters are three men who have been friends for years; two Jewish men, Libor and Finkler; and Treslove. Treslove calls all Jewish people Finklers, after his friend.

Libor is much older than Finkler and Treslove. His identity as a Czech Jewish immigrant is all tangled up with his love for his wife and his advancing years. Finkler is a published philosopher who can’t seem to stand being Jewish and all the stereotypes that go with it. Treslove is dying to be Jewish because he lacks identity and purpose.

There are a number of events throughout the book, but the real story is each man’s relationship with Judaism, each other and ultimately himself. Each man arrives at a different, sometimes ugly and sometimes tragic conclusion about the importance of belonging, what we’re prepared to do to belong and what we might do if we feel we don’t.

The Finkler Question examines the link between religious belief and identity. There are not many people who don’t know what the Holocaust was, and the book looks at the argument that Jewish people are victims of their own mentality. That is a much bigger debate than a single book review so I’ll leave it there. It’s enough to say the different roles of the Holocaust, the state of Israel and Jewish history are well examined in The Finkler Question.

The book also examines the idea of belonging, tribalism or whatever you want to call it. Think about football fans, emos or niche music fans. We’re all looking for both a point of difference and a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. It’s the modern paradox, and The Finkler Question is clever and subtle in its examination.

The Finkler Question is well written, well structured and just, well, witty. But … there’s more than one aspect to the “success” in successful literature. The first is, of course, the quality of the literature. The second, creating the eternal conflict for authors everywhere, is commercial success.

Pop literature, like pop music, is just an abbreviation for art that is popular. Pop literature is not necessarily bad, it’s just popular. Let’s not forget Shakespeare was popular contemporary theatre, and I’m one of those people who think he would like modern rap music for both its lyrical style and its relevance to modern life (some of it anyway). The Finkler Question wasn’t written to be popular. If it had been, then words like ‘solipsism’ (here’s a link for the meaning if you’re curious) wouldn’t appear. But, it’s hard to imagine a better word for the sentence.

I would recommend The Finkler Question if you fancy yourself a literature lover, or a lover of words, rather than an out and out book lover. You’ll have to work to lose yourself in this one, but it’s worth it. Eventually.

Title: The Finkler Question
Author: Howard Jacobson
Format: Paperback, 307 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing 2010