Customer Reviews

The Planet of the Jews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Similar to C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Graubart situates a sci-fi story (stories, really) in a distinctly Jewish theological frame. The book's structure as story variations on a theme itself conforms to historical Jewish textual tradition, and the juxtaposition of science fiction and religious motifs works quite well. The book is easy to read, contains several imaginative premises and made me wish it were longer. An unpredictable, provocative ending adds interest, and even a little darkness, to the work. All in all, a very worthwhile read to anyone interested in Judaism or science fiction.

The story line and the writing are both outstanding; and Graubart's sense of humor adds something playful to a profound exploration of the human condition and the struggle to make the world (and oneself) a little better. I could not put the book down, and afterwards felt a keen desire to study with its author. Reading this book also energized my thinking about Torah study, though I believe that Planet of the Jews stands nicely on its own as an exciting and well-crafted science fiction story that changes the lense of our world view enough to make the reader think in a new way about some once and future issues.

This is such an exciting venture. I am actually only two-thirds of the way through, it is getting a little "out there" but I have the feeling that there is a reason for that. I normally am not a science fiction reader, but the comic book editor segments keep it grounded. Can't wait to find out what "the meaning" of all of this is!

I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would from the title -- probably because I'm a bit tired of Jews-as-comedy in science fiction. OK, OK, so we have "a good sense of humor" (and all blacks have rhythm?) but enough with the stereotypes already! Do we always have to be the comic relief? When is our SF going to get out of the Borscht Belt and move into some serious space exploration? Not to be a spoiler here, but the ending was really hackneyed and utterly lame... Had I payed full price for this book, I would have wanted my money back.

Now, having said that, I will also say that, if you like this type of flippant tongue-in-cheek satire, then this is an OK beach book. I'm not so sure it describes Jewish culture as accurately as some other reviewers here think -- unless you equate Judaism with suburbia (which, sadly, a lot of Jews do.) There were parts that seemed self-hating to me, like the giant strangling tefillin (are we being choked by Judaism?) and the not-so-honest way the space voyage was financed (the money-Jew stereotype?) Maybe I'm a stick-in-the-mud, but these motifs were not at all funny to me.

Those who have compared Graubart to C.S. Lewis are, in my opinion, mistaken. Lewis, who was a Christian theologian as well as a novelist, was not satirizing Christianity in his SF. He took his theology seriously, and used his novels to explore some pretty deep questions through the genre of speculative fiction. Graubart, it would appear from this book, doesn't take Judaism very seriously at all -- even God turns out to be merely the voice of a not-god (a theme already beaten to death in the 1960s by Star Trek).

Interestingly, there were places where Graubart himself seemed to realize that this was mediocre science fiction. He even has the editor of the magazine say so several times -- as if to critique his own work from within the novel itself. On the other hand, the book did explore a few interesting themes, such as what would happen if you went back in time and tried to assassinate Hitler (probably the best part of the book), a piece on the Afterlife (which the fictional editor prints even though he says it's not SF, which it isn't), and the various ways in which history tends to repeat itself. Then there was that mass conversion to Judaism, brought about by the popularity of the comic books -- a funny spoof on groupies. All in all, it's an amusing book for a long plane ride -- as long as you don't take it too seriously.

I never finished the book. It was a sorry disappointment and a bore. Sorry I wasted my money on it.