He should have seen it coming.
-- The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.
If ever there was an opening sentence with infinite possibility, that is it. I am now half-way through this Booker winner and enjoying every minute of it. The audio version is particularly entertaining because the reader, Steven Crossley, is excellent.
This is a story about three friends -- two school buddies, now grown, and their former professor. It is about friendship, rivalry, marriage, love, mourning, and being Jewish in modern-day London. It is also about misbehaving middle-aged men, which is my favorite fiction genre. The only thing missing for me is that none of the characters over drink. Add a touch of dipsomania and it would be an all-time favorite for me.
This is one of my Booker choices for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version.
