The Great Polemical Novel of 2009
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
You or Someone Like You is probably the great polemical novel of 2009. What the book argues (and whether or not you agree with Burr) is subordinated by the fact that it has the boldness to tackle the fundamentalism of Orthodox Judaism—and the group versus the individual—in the first place. How much of our fiction today really has the nerve to unnerve us? Burr’s is the kind of book that goads you to think of experiences and viewpoints—either your own, or those of others—that mirror the Rosenbaums and the characters that surround them. For instance, I have a good friend whose Jewish grandfather is one of the smartest, most rational (and on the whole, most wonderful) people I’ve ever met. When I found out of his long-standing policy of never attending a wedding between a Jew and a non-Jew, I couldn’t believe it. Is it that impossible to stomach a union between two people, built upon love, regardless of whatever creed or faith they happen to originate from? It just shows that even the greatest kinds of minds can easily fall victim to narrow-mindedness of the highest degree. The triumph of You or Someone Like You is to crack this kind of bigotry wide open.
Rob E. Wolff
Manhasset, New York
July 7th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
The characters are extremely well drawn. I was thrown by some of the plot shifts. The direct challenging of the Jewish vs. non-Jewish theology was enlightening. Indeed the actual confrontation of the “pure” vs. “impure” certainly echoes current conflicts between various religious groups. Each group maintains it is the only one which is pure, thereby condemning any who disagree with their beliefs.