If I had a problem with Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question it was this: it felt too interested in itself. That’s to say, it pursued what seemed to me a single thread over and over again, the characters’ primary purpose being to act as theoretical pegs that could be popped into various belief-shaped holes to see a) if they fit, and b) to arrive at a conclusion.
But this is, of course, unfair on the book. I like Jacobson’s writing very much, but perhaps in this case I simply couldn’t engage with the central topic i.e. what it means to be Jewish. (And to be fair, there is no compelling reason why I should be interested.) The characters are wonderfully interesting, and I think more could have been made of them outside the book’s main theme. Indeed I think we get a sense of this at the very end.
I got to the end feeling as if this was a missed opportunity for the characters involved – but then that’s probably because the central dilemma wasn’t as captivating for me as it clearly was for them.
Ian Gouge - Writer 