''Kalooki Nights'', Howard Jacobson

It’s only in my old age (bring on 30) that I realize what my schooling taught me, and perhaps more startlingly, what it didn’t. I mean facts here, not skills – I’m not much in doubt of my 3 ‘’R’’s, although missing Primary 7 when I was put up a year meant I never learnt long division which I’m ashamed to say I cannot do to this day (somehow it never seemed the right day to learn it). Of course it’s all relative – I’ve often been struck by the fact some (ok, most) people see me as a total no-hoper at general knowledge whilst others consider my chit-chat encyclopedic – and yet there are whole areas of factual knowledge that are just missing. Thanks to the bizarre Scottish education system I know nothing about the Tudors and Stewarts. At all. And by dint of being born in 1980, not studying politics at school, and a general lack of interest in newspapers until I was 14, I know very little about recent-ish history and politics, especially the 70s and 80s. This was horribly evident at my Cambridge interview when I was asked a question about Margaret Thatcher and what I thought about her views of the EU. To which I made up something about her supporting it (an early example of when shutting up would be better than making it up, but some things we never learn….). Which brings me to Judaism. I’m not from a Jewish family, I didn’t do religious studies, I didn’t know any practicing Jews growing up, and thus, well, I didn’t know anything. Not really registering a whole section of society on my radar, I was completely stumped when a good friend once pointed out an anti-semitic comment in the newspaper. Firstly, I didn’t recognize it to be anti-semitic as I didn’t get the reference to Jews. Secondly, I didn’t understand the stereotype that was being made, having had no prior opinion of Judiasm or ever heard anyone else talking about it (postivitively or negatively) for that matter.

So, since then, I have made some attempts to fill in the gaps in a somewhat anthropological, mildly voyeuristic way. Kalooki Nights is about a young Jewish boy called Max Glickman growing up in Crumpsall Park post-war (although I never quite worked out exactly when) and his relationship over various time periods with an on-off friend, Manny Washinsky. The majority of the story revolves around Max contemplating the Holocaust, and creating his own illustrated cartoon book of Jewish history, entitled ‘’Five Thousand Years of Bitterness’’. The Holocaust plays an intriguing role in his life – he didn’t live through it, doesn’t know anyone who did, but he knows it’s relevant for him and must be important despite the wishes of his father for him to divorce himself from the traditional Jewish community. Max’s slow discovery of this history is mostly from illicit books with the photos ripped out (although later found) and the playground chatter of his friends including the fantasist Washinsky who has created his own fictional back-history to claim a part of the past for himself. It’s a book about cultural identity dominated by a cataclysmic event and how this is passed on to children who didn’t live through it and aren’t directly taught but discover it for themselves.

However, whilst educative for the first third I must say that after that I tired. Jacobson jumps around in time an awful lot and the plot is pretty plodding and gets a bit monotonous. Reviews of this were mixed – some people thought it was hilarious which frankly I just don’t get, whilst others did note its rather rambling, random nature. So not a high recommendation to be honest although perhaps there’s something richer in there for people who know more about the subject than I.