Lavie Tidhar: A man lies dreaming (2014, Hodder & Stoughton)
277 pages
English language
Published Aug. 22, 2014 by Hodder & Stoughton.
Deep in the heart of history's most infamous concentration camp, a man lies dreaming. His name is Shomer, and before the war he was a pulp fiction author. Now, to escape the brutal reality of life in Auschwitz, Shomer spends his nights imagining another world - a world where a disgraced former dictator now known only as Wolf ekes out a miserable existence as a low-rent PI in London's grimiest streets. An extraordinary story of revenge and redemption, A Man Lies Dreaming is the unforgettable testament to the power of imagination.
On the one hand an enjoyable pulp romp through alternative history. On the other hand a challenging look through the mind of a pulp fiction author making it through “planet auschwitz”. Half the time I love what Tidhar tries to do in their novels, the other times i wonder what their obsession is with dreams/alternative worlds and why it eventually puts me off.
This might be good the way that Henry Miller might be good, or the way that Andrew Dice Clay might be funny, but sadomasochistic Holocaust revenge porn is not for me, even if it shows some cleverness in its design, is self-referential, and has footnotes.
