Jew

by DODD D O (Artist)

A man regains consciousness to find himself naked in a mass grave, with no idea who he is. His thought is survival, but in a religious war survival depends on knowing which side you are on. Donning another man's military uniform, he drives off and enters a nearby town to discover that the occupying soldiers have been waiting for someone very much like him. Suddenly, he finds himself in power. His first act is to save a woman about to be murdered by soldiers. The woman, as it turns out, has a history with the man, and knows more of him than he knows of himself, or does she actually have the right man?

Genres: Fiction, Historical

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This very short novel is like nothing else I have ever read. It is dark, shocking, compelling, terrifying and pretty ruthless.
Other reviews have compared Dodd's writing to Kafka. I'd agree, I definitely closed the book at the end with the same sort of wonderment that Kafka left me with.
Stark and to the point, this story takes no prisoners. None of the characters are named, the reader just knows them as 'the woman from the bakery' or 'the older soldier' and the lead character himself is only known as the 'commander'.
The opening chapter is so powerful that the reader has to carry on to the end. As the commander wakes up, wondering where he is and who he is, as he gradually realises that he is stuck in the middle of a pile of dead, naked, human bodies, and as he tries to make his way out of it. The prose and the description of feeling his way through limbs, eyes, hair - not knowing what has happened and not knowing what he will find if he ever manages to get himself out.
Eventually, the commander finds himself in the midst of religious war - witnessing brutal torture and murder at every step, until he then becomes the killer and tries to survive and to work out who he is, why he is there and can he save anyone.
I'm not sure just what Dodd means the reader to take away from this, there is no way to identify where the story is set, yet most readers would guess at the Holocaust during the Second World War. Written in the third person and with no names, makes it seem quite distant - yet the reader is thrust into the middle of it all.
It's raw, it's violent, it's shocking - yet at times it's incredibly tender. It is certainly memorable and will spark many discussions.
D O Dodd is something of an enigma too, a reclusive author from Canada - I'm not sure whether Dodd is male or female, but I am sure that they can certainly write and will probably haunt some dreams.

[Bram · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I was reminded of Gerard Donovan's incredible Schoepenhauer's Telescope. The man in a hole, the unnerving atmosphere, the strange wartime setting. Dodd certainly has a way of disorientating the reader and maintaining an air of uncertainty throughout, but his central device strays a little far into the "just plain confusing" territory. A fine novel, a thought provoking novel, but I had hoped for more.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful and non compromising look at man's inhumanity to man. Stark and utterley gripping from the outset, this is a difficult book to enjoy, but well worth reading.

[Nadira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misterinya.

[Virginia Rand · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written in that stark faux-literary style that teenagers seem to favor, and so vague as to be meaningless.

[Jody Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was good... intriguing and engaging. The second half was confusing and abrupt.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it incredibly written but the ending was oh so confusing

[Robert Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting though a little cryptic in parts. It's very short so you can read it in a day.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a novella than a novel at 174 pages with 10 short, punchy chapters, complemented by nightmarish line illustrations, Jew is certainly a challenging and unusual read. Jew is not actually intended to be about the Holocaust despite the title and storyline. It opens with a nameless man finding himself naked in a mass grave. After this "resurrection" he dons a discarded uniform and finds himself welcomed by soldiers in a nearby town as their commander. He has no recollection of who he is but realises that in order to survive he must behave like the occupying soldiers and adopt their brutal methods.

This is certainly not a story for the squeamish and it is related in stark, enigmatic prose reminiscent of Kafka. All the characters remain anonymous and if we were initially led down the Holocaust route with mass graves and an occupying force this illusion is soon dispelled by the inclusion of Arabic phrases.

"Now, I almost feel sorry for you. You filthy Mu'min."

We are suddenly reminded of the fact that persecution is rife in all parts of the world and the dangers of rampant nationalism are always lurking, ready to pounce when we least expect it.

There are questions of identity, guilt, the worst side of human nature which will disturb the reader and raise difficult issues but all presented in an anonymous way which criticises not one particular nation or race but rather the human race as a whole. Apparently the author, D O Dodd, is also a bit of enigma, preferring to let the text do the talking as he/she has stated

"Far too often, ruminations on the author’s damage, youth, blondeness, blackness, oldness, snideness, beauty, darkness, eloquence govern the slant of critical reception and, oftentimes, overshadow the book."

So, we are left with the written word, raw and unadorned - a book which will certainly make you think.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 2 out of 5]

After an incredible opening - the utterly grim description of a naked man, with no memory of who he is or how he got there, dragging himself out of a pile of dead and decaying bodies - I expected great things of this short, brutal book.

But as the story progressed, I started to feel a little bit cheated. The bald, bleak descriptions of appalling and inhuman events are hugely effective and the book is trying to say something very profound about human cruelty and how easily we descend into it.

The problem is that in making the narrative so vague, other-worldly, fantastical and possibly allegorical, it relies on far too many coincidences and leaves obvious logical holes just gaping wide open. It's all very nightmarish but nightmares, no matter how frightening and vivid, quite often don't make all that much sense, or tell a good story.

[Genna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that I liked this book - but it deserved more than 2 stars - it was certainly a readable and thoughtful piece. Kind of like reading a nightmare, or a vision of hell - interesting, disturbing and not very pleasant but compelling. Draws attention to man's inhumanity to man using a generic war-setting that could feasibly be in any war-torn country - past or present. The pointless barbarism separating the victims from the perpetrators by only a thin, unseen line that can so easily be crossed. Certainly left me thinking.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this reminded me of other post modern literature, where one is inside an event, but also exploring the abstraction of the mentally ill, or the human constructs that define us. There were a few questions about who was killed at the end, two sets of brother, what the? But a really interesting and intriguing work that I thoroughly enjoyed. I dont like black and white answers, and no one lives in that world, so this was inspiring and interesting!

[Library of Pearl · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I honestly don't know what to make of that book. I loved the dark, haunting honesty and brutality of the writing - very similar to that of Kafka. I'm just not sure what to take from this book. It undoubtedly made a strongly depressing impression and deeply concerned me, it was just very strange. I think the last chapter was my favourite because the insanity of it seemed to make sense because of where the commander/prisoner ended up.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, shocking brutal read that really does bring home the awful acts of cruelty by one human to another. The commander was a strangely compelling character showing emotions ranging from tenderness and mercy to brutality. It is certainly a book that stays in the mind after reading.

[DJ Dycus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um, really, I'm not sure HOW I feel about this book. It's an easy read, but also dark and unsettling. Brilliant but violent and vile, even. Someplace I read a review describing this book as kafkaesque, which is as good a word as any. One should definitely proceed with caution.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a strange book.

It's not written all that well with many typos so can be difficult to follow.

It left me wanting, i would not recommend a read

[Ira Nadhirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

what the hell was that?

[Sheila Hanly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not for me

[Dylstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh look, it's pretty dark.