I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar Published by Tachyon Publications on October 16 2018
Genres: Adult, Alternate history, Mystery
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Tidhar’s latest is a challenging but ultimately satisfying read that deals with histories, both real and imagined.
Reading a Lavie Tidhar book is like being in a fever dream. Events, characters, places and impressions swirl around you, creating a sense of unease, or confusion, or sadness. Tidhar pieces the parts of his stories together with magical thread, and connections which seem tenuous at first turn out to make sense later on. I’m in awe of his writing abilities, and although this book may be classified as speculative fiction, I can see this sitting comfortably on a shelf alongside more traditional literary works.
In all honesty, this was a tough book for me to get through, and that’s especially hard to admit when many reviewers are lauding Unholy Land as one of the best books of 2018. I was surprised, because I loved Central Station and I was hoping for more of the same. But that’s an easy trap to fall into, believing that all of an author’s books are similar to one another, or that you will love them in the same way you loved that first one you read. Central Station was a collection of stories set in the same world, with characters that crossed over from one story to the next. It wasn’t a traditionally plotted novel at all, but it really worked for me. To my surprise, and dismay, I could not figure out what was going on in Unholy Land for a long time, but I’m very happy that I pushed through, because the last quarter of the story made up for the confusing and scattered beginning.
Tidhar is known for tackling controversial subjects such as politics and religion in his works, and Unholy Land is no different in that respect. This time around, the author takes a historical event that could have happened—in the early years of the twentieth century, a Jewish settlement almost came to fruition in the heart of Africa—and posits what might happen had it actually existed. He takes it one step further, though, and gives us a world where alternate realities exist side by side. In one world, our protagonist Lior Tirosh arrives in Palestina to visit family, but in another world, one that occasionally bursts forth from his memory, Palestina never existed at all, and his life was completely different.
It’s hard to break down the plot for you, because the narrative and setting are constantly shifting, making it hard to piece everything together, but I’ll give you the basics. At its heart, Unholy Land is a mystery. The story opens as Lior Tirosh arrives in Palestina to visit his father, but soon becomes embroiled in several mysteries. His sister-in-law Deborah turns up missing, and a former classmate is found murdered in Tirosh’s hotel room. As he navigates the city of his childhood, surrounded by a wall to keep the rest of Africa out, and rife with suicide bombers, border patrols and unexpected dangers at every turn, the past keeps creeping up on him. But the past he’s remembering has nothing to do with Palestina, this present. He remembers having a wife and a young son named Isaac, but what’s become of them? He keeps seeing the mysterious woman who was on the plane with him, and unbeknownst to Tirosh, an inspector from the airport is following him. How these two fit into the story becomes clear later on, but Tidhar keeps the mystery going for quite a while.
Tidhar has infused his book with autobiographical touches: the main character’s name—Lior Tirosh—is a reflection of his own. Lior is also a novelist who writes detective novels. He’s even penned a book called Osama, which of course is one of Lavie Tidhar’s most well-known books. He’s also writing about his own homeland, as he grew up in both Africa and Israel, and Unholy Land seems to be his vision of fusing the two countries together, in the hopes of creating a better, happier life for thousands of Jews. Reality and fantasy have become intertwined, and it’s quite the heady reading experience when all these connections are made.
One of the more frustrating things about reading this book, however, was the constant change in point of view. I can honestly say I’ve never read a novel where all three POVs—first person, second person and third person—are all used together. Not only that, but the POV changes at a moment’s notice, with no visual breaks to guide the reader. The first time it happened, I had to go back and reread a certain page several times, before I came to the conclusion that perhaps the uncorrected proof I was reading was formatted wrong. But no, it happened again and again, and it finally dawned on me that this was Tidhar’s unique style, which gives the novel a slipstream-like reading quality. This style also made it hard to figure out which character was holding the reins at any particular time, but having finished the book I can understand, or at least I can appreciate, what Tidhar was trying to do.
Unholy Land is one of those stories that requires the reader to let go and trust the author. His stylistic choices didn’t necessarily make sense while I was reading, but at the end I finally saw the “big picture” and was reminded of why I wanted to read this so much. This is a story of ideas and concepts that seem to shift and change along the way, much the way Tirosh keeps falling into different realities. Readers who aren’t afraid of challenging material will surely love this book, although those unfamiliar with Tidhar probably shouldn’t start here.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Whew, your review makes me think this book needs to be experienced to be able to be appreciated.
Ha ha, it was an experience, that’s for sure!
It sounds like this was quite the ambitious book! On the one hand I like when authors do the unexpected with the technical writing aspects or structure, on the other hand sometimes it can be too much. I’m interested to see how this one works for me. Great review!
Very ambitious! And I think a reread would be a good idea in this case, although I probably don’t have time for one.
I’m really looking forward to reading this book! I think I first heard of the author via one of your posts (thanks!), and I’m intrigued. I have a request pending at the library.
Oh cool, I’m very curious to hear your thoughts:-)
oh this is a must read I love alternative history especially around Jewish history! Though I’m very concern about the alternate realities! I’m very easily confused LOL
Daniela Ark recently posted…Let’s celebrate NaNoWriMo 40K words! Trivia and Giveaway!
Ha ha, you and me both!
I’m glad the book got better as you kept reading! Alternate history can be really interesting, and alternate realities existing side by side sounds cool. I gotta be honest though, that POV would really not be for me. I can’t even stand head-hopping or constantly shifting POVs when it’s all the same type of POV!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: The Nine (Thieves of Fate Book 1) by Tracy Townsend
The POV changes were really tough and confusing. I think if I had time I’d read this again just to pick up things I missed:-)
Wow, this one sure doesn’t sound like a me book but sure does sound like an incredible read. I absolutely adore that cover. Fantastic review though, I’m glad you ended up loving it. 🙂
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Something To Look Forward To – Week of November 19th, 2018
It was a strange turn it took, from not wanting to finish it to really appreciating what he was doing:-)
It sounds like this one took a bunch of patience, Tammy. Kudos for plowing through and finding it rewarding in the end. Wonderful, thoughtful review!
Thanks! It did take some patience but sometimes books you have to work harder at turn out to be so rewarding in the end.
Wow. I’m not much on alternate history but you sure have me curious about this one. Excellent review, Tammy!
Laura Thomas recently posted…Dream Of Me This Christmas Eve ~ Blitz and Giveaway
Thanks Laura, it was challenging but rewarding, if that makes any sense!
Still haven’t read Lavie Tidhar, but still want to! Some things make me think his work might be too weird for me, but I think there may be a couple of his books that are good places to start.
I don’t know if I’d recommend this, although who knows, you might really enjoy it. I’d start with Central Station.
Unholy land sounds like an interesting read. Thank you for your review.
Thanks Linda!
I’ve also not read this author and I don’t think I’m really convinced to pick this one up – you wrote a great review – but, I’m not sure this would be one for me. Perhaps Central Station as a starting point?
Lynn 😀
Yes, Central Station is a much more traditional format and I loved it. I would start with that one.
This is such a great review, and I am glad that you stuck it out for everything to come together at the end! I struggle with POV shifts and don’t really enjoy being confused while reading, but I am pretty forgiving when it ties together nicely. This book sounds like a reading experience, for sure.
Kaleena @ Reader Voracious Blog recently posted…October Book Haul
It’s one of the most unusual books I’ve read this year:-)
I haven’t tried this author, but I love the sound of this story. Thanks for sharing!
He’s very talented:-)
This sounds like a pretty ambitious book. It sounds interesting but I’m not sure how all of those POV changes would work for me.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL by Ashley Poston
It was definitely ambitious, and the POV changes were a little strange, to be honest.
I like fever dreams, and the cover is incredible, so this book is very promising!