It's cynical about Jews, frum and otherwise. The narratorial voice is dubious about the merits of the Zionist experiment, but the whole book, showing an Alaskan ghetto as the alternative, highlights by contrast how vibrant Israel has become.
The nastiest portrayal of frum Jews comes in Chabon's Verbover Chasid crime family, no different from the Gambinos except that they lay tefillin and don't collect protection on Shabbos. But provided you keep the right perspective, remembering that this is a fictional noir world, that shouldn't offend you.
In the end, the main character, whose doubts about his own future sharply parallel the Jewish community's doubts about Zionism, finds reasons for hope. So you can definitely take a pro-Zionist message out of the book. But the ending does condemn the actual Zionists who are trying to fulfill the dream.
In my opinion, this is too big and complicated a book to simply dismiss as offensive without examination and discussion.
no subject
The nastiest portrayal of frum Jews comes in Chabon's Verbover Chasid crime family, no different from the Gambinos except that they lay tefillin and don't collect protection on Shabbos. But provided you keep the right perspective, remembering that this is a fictional noir world, that shouldn't offend you.
In the end, the main character, whose doubts about his own future sharply parallel the Jewish community's doubts about Zionism, finds reasons for hope. So you can definitely take a pro-Zionist message out of the book. But the ending does condemn the actual Zionists who are trying to fulfill the dream.
In my opinion, this is too big and complicated a book to simply dismiss as offensive without examination and discussion.