The Final Solution

The Final Solution, written by Michael Chabon, won the National Jewish Book Award for fiction in 2005. Chabon is known for his themes like nostalgia, divorce, abandonment, fatherhood and jewish identity, all things that a mass audience can relate too. I went to the Jewish Book Council's website, www.jewishbookcouncil.org to read a little more about what the award really means. There website is very straightforward and clear which made it easy for me to navigate and find the, National Jewish Book Award tab that included information on winners, guidelines, ceremonies etc. The mission that they have on their website is to choose books appealing to a big audience. As mentioned above, The Final Solution did just that. The author picked issues to raise that many people have gone through or can easily connect with. The book must also be about Jewish Content. This story takes place during the Holocaust, and begins with the encounter of an old man and a young boy who is a German-Jewish refugee staying with an Anglican priest and his family. This plot line also qualifies it for the award, it incorporates real life experiences that happened during this time in Jewish history. Another guideline is that the books must be hardcover or original paperback and published between January 1 and December 31 of the year that it is being taken under consideration. In addition, the book must be primarily printed in English and sold in the United states and The National Jewish Book Award submission period is only from early summer to late September or early October. I think that besides the book fitting all of the above criteria, the story itself is one to be celebrated. It has similarities to Sherlock homes which is very interesting and relatable to even more people who have read the book. I also believe it won the award because although it was fiction, it was based off of true life events and had a very interesting and intriguing plot line. I think it is important to celebrate Jewish fiction, not just old sacred texts because it keeps the old traditions and hardships relevant and they remain important in today's society. I think that Jewish fiction is all about that, keep the old and making it work with the new. Fiction deals with events that are not real but are imaginary, but what makes it Jewish fiction is taking the things that are pretend, integrating them with important events and dates that are in our Jewish history and making a modern, entertaining, gripping story out of it. I think having Jewish fiction helps find our Jewish identity because we can pick things our and say, "thats like me" or "thats not like me" knowing that someone who identifies themselves as Jewish could feel either way, shows how identity is not black and white. When thinking about what defines "Jewish" literature, I went to barnesandnoble.com to see what the website had on this genre of book. Jewish fiction and literature is a category under people's and cultures. What interested me the most about this is that books based on Judaism are not under a religious category, rather they are considered cultural.