The Ministry of Special Cases | Nathan Englander | Great Fiction + Page-turner = Five Stars

The Ministry of Special Cases | Nathan Englander | Englander has skillfully interwoven vibrant elements of family and political drama

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The Ministry of Sp...

	The Ministry of Special Cases Nathan Englander Knopf, 2007 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Fiction + Page-turner = Five Stars

This universal story of identity and community takes my breath away. I've never read a book that was written so well and so economically that turned out to be such a quick-read, too. Word and phrase choices are meticulous and appropriate. All extraneous background and history has been stripped out leaving the narrative to resonate without distraction. The result is like an olympic sprinter in motion whose every move is perfected and with specific purpose. Englander's second book was well worth the wait. Bravo.

Englander has skillfully interwoven vibrant elements of family and political drama

When a young author produces a short story collection as lavishly praised as FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, it's understandable that expectations for his first novel will be high. But when the author takes eight years to produce that novel, the weight of those expectations can be crushing. Happily, readers of Nathan Englander's THE MINISTRY OF SPECIAL CASES won't be disappointed with this rich and vividly imagined work.

Englander's novel is set in Buenos Aires in 1976, the first year of Argentina's "Dirty War," which began after a military coup ousted Juan Peron's widow, Isabel. Kaddish Poznan and his wife Lillian view the militarization of their city with increasing unease. Their 19-year-old son, Pato, is a college student who expresses his resentment of the political crackdown by refusing to carry his identity card, but exhibits more in the way of typical teenage rebelliousness than political radicalism.

At first, the military's encroachment on civil liberties has little effect on the Poznans' daily lives. Kaddish continues to pursue his bizarre vocation, removing the names from gravestones in the cemetery of the Society of the Benevolent Self --- the Jewish burial ground that houses the remains of the lower classes of Argentine Jewish society, the social strata from which Kaddish, himself the son of a prostitute, comes. One of Kaddish's clients, a prominent but cash-strapped plastic surgeon, persuades him to accept two free nose jobs in exchange for such an assignment, with transforming consequences for Kaddish and disastrous ones for Lillian.

Both Lillian and Kaddish fear for Pato's safety, but they exhibit their concern in oddly different ways. Lillian spends a relative fortune on the installation of a steel door in their working class apartment, while Kaddish takes it upon himself to burn what he considers to be some of Pato's more questionable books. In the end, neither measure succeeds, as the secret police raid the Poznans' apartment and haul Pato away, converting him into one of the thousands of "disappeared" whose absence haunts this story.

When Pato is seized, Lillian becomes obsessed with finding him. In the process she's enmeshed in the military junta's bizarre and almost comical bureaucracy. She spends long days in a world that owes an obvious debt to Kafka and Orwell, shuttling between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Special Cases, a strange agency that seems to have as much to do with helping citizens make arrangements to flee the country as it does with efforts to find the "disappeared." Eventually, Lillian's search becomes a fulltime occupation, her emotions cycling from despair to hope and back again.

From the beginning, Lillian's determination to find her son is counterbalanced by Kaddish's rising pessimism about the prospect he will ever return. Kaddish, feeling himself inadequate to the task when he compares his activity to Lillian's, combs the underbelly of Buenos Aires society, searching for clues. Eventually, he encounters a character known as "the navigator," who describes in harrowing detail one method for disposing of the prisoners and convinces Kaddish that all hope is lost.

Lillian and Kaddish turn finally to the Jewish community for help. At first, Lillian is optimistic that the leader of the United Jewish Congregations of Argentina, the organization representing respectable Jewish society, will assist her, but in a scene of profound disillusionment, it becomes clear that her pleas for aid are fruitless. Kaddish consults an elderly rabbi, hoping he will sanction the father's belief that Pato is dead and thereby permit the family to observe the Jewish mourning rituals. Kaddish's ultimate act to raise the money that may purchase Pato's freedom is stunning in its audacity and heartbreaking in its execution.

In THE MINISTRY OF SPECIAL CASES Englander has skillfully interwoven vibrant elements of family and political drama that is at times surreal but is no less poignant for being so. He dwells on the theme of what it means to be Jewish in a non-Jewish world: Kaddish's dubious ancestry, his work erasing Jewish names from memory, even the plastic surgeries he and Lillian undergo all echo this theme. Thankfully, he offers no glib answers to the weighty questions he poses and his admirable willingness to wrestle with them is consistent with much that is valued in the Jewish tradition.

One can only hope it won't be another eight years decade before Englander produces his next work. His voice is too singular, passionate and compelling to remain silent that long.

--- Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg

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Full of Grace and Wisdom

Englander, Nathan. "The Ministry of Special Cases", Knopf, 2007.

Full of Grace and Knowledge

Amos Lassen ad Literary Pride

Set in 1976, Nathan Englander's "The Ministry of Special Cases" is a look at the "dirty war" in Argentina. Kaddish Pozan, the son of a "whore" makes a meager living by marring tombstones of Jewish prostitutes and pimps. Their children, who are doing just fine socially and financially, do not want to be reminded that their parents were immigrants or of their shameful occupations. Kaddish works at night in the cemetery while Lillian, his wife, labors at an insurance agency during the day and their son, Pato, goes to college, concerts and smokes marijuana with his amigos. Pato is suddenly taken away ad Kaddish learns what it is to have identity erased. It seems that Pato has been arrested and no one will admit that is the case. In fact, as far as anyone in authority is concerned, there is no proof that Pato even exists. Lillian and Kaddish make preparations to get into the Ministry of Special Cases and it is here that we, the readers, begin a journey into the depths of hell.
Rich in imagery and symbolism, "Ministry" is a sheer delight to read. It is a haunting look at the very worst scenarios in an attempt to erase knowledge of the existence of people on earth.
Englander's powerful prose exploring the nature of absence is a revelation.
When Kaddish discovers that his son is missing we learn a great deal about the nature of loss and gain an insight into the nature of the government of Argentina when it attempted to purge the country of what it called "desaparecidos". There are times when the novel takes an absurdist turn and the author's sense of humor and powerful writing tells of subjects that are almost unbearable with a comic punch. Yet, when we reach the end, we are dealt quite a blow.
It is interesting to note that a novel that deals with human absence and government misrule can be as funny as this is. How is it possible for the government of Argentina can erase both the future and the past? At other times the book s horrifying as the obliteration of a culture and families is attempted by a government which seeks absolute power.
Englander successfully layers the tradition of the Jewish people with Argentinean obliteration.
The juxtaposition of comedy and heartbreak is fascinating and a book that first appears to be quite a simple story deceptively fools the reader--we are not really reading about a lost child but about the loss of an entire community and its faith. As the plot continues to unfold, we are not even sure what disappearance means. There is pathos and ethos in this wonderful book as well as a great deal of knowledge as the novel constantly contradicts itself. Disorientation and oppression are the major themes as a country at war with itself creates havoc among its citizenry.

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Worth the Wait

For those of us who have been waiting for Englander's next book , "The Ministry of Special Cases" was certainly worth the wait. While set in Argentina during the Dirty War, the mind-numbing-struggle this family faces against a totalitarian regime that refuses to acknowledge its sins, is a universal one. The story is deeply tragic and yet somehow Englander laces it all with his special brand of humor. We laugh and cry with the characters because Englander makes them breathe for us. We watch them live the full spectrum of human experience and sometimes life hurts but still the author helps us find reasons to laugh along the way.

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Breathtaking

Once again, Englander has woven a complex and beautiful tale. His writing is cryptic and engaging.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6

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