Review--The Yid

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The YidThe Yid by Paul Goldberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel will not appeal to everyone. The humor is so black it's in the ultra-violet spectrum, and the gore level would satisfy Tarantino fans. However, it's a deep, if bordering on absurd, look into the heart of darkness that was the final days of the Joseph Stalin regime. The Doctors' Plot is little known to the modern community, but in the early 50s it was the first step toward a second Final Solution, one set in motion by Stalin to eradicate the Jewish population of the USSR.

Stalin died as the plan was beginning to unfold. Some saw Divine forces at work in this, but Goldberg offers a much more mundane, and entertaining explanation. A handful of elderly Jewish veterans, a black American ex-pat engineer, a young woman with anger issues, all put into place a plan to assassinate Stalin before he can begin the pogrom.

I found the pacing of the story a bit awkward, but the references to Kafka (justified) and the theater of the absurd that is life makes it worthwhile.


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