XX - The Lazarus Project, by Aleksandar Hemon
WHY I PICKED IT: Something else by him hit my to-read list, and I found this at a used book store
ELAPSED TIME: 2 Weeks
RATING: Meh
In 1908 Lazarus Averbuch, an Eastern European Jewish immigrant is killed by the Chicago Police Chief. 100 years later, Brik, an Eastern European immigrant decides to write about what happened.
Hemon does a great job with some things: Cultural differences between Brik and his American wife are beautifully described (the American need for Truth, versus the Bosnian willingness to believe a good story). The description of feeling at "home" in Sarajevo versus Chicago is evocative and relate-able.
Despite those real strengths, but that wasn't enough to overcome a fatal flaw: Brik is written as a weak character, and that makes him someone hard to root for. And it was because of that that I skipped most of the second half of the book...
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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