Welcome to the world of Xavier Radek, teenage high schooler and grandson of a late Nazi SS officer living in Basel, Switzerland with a highly developed aesthetic sense and noble ambitions, his highest and most noble ambition, as it turns out, is taking on the role of comforter of the Jewish people. After enjoying two highly regarded Dutch novelists, Willem Frederik Hermans and Cees Nooteboom, I wanted to explore a contemporary Dutch author and came across Arnon Grunberg and his outrageous novel. I’m very glad I did since young Arnon tells Xavier Radek's provocative tale in a most accessible and easy-to-understand language at times lyrical and richly poetic.

In the first section of the novel we are introduced to main character Xavier's peculiar way of looking at the world, for example when he makes a public pronouncement at his school that the pursuit of beauty is his highest goal and observes how all of human suffering is but an emergency exit out of the realm of the beautiful. And then, sometime later, Xavier reflects on how beauty is a fine thing but a person needs a higher aim, and, in his case, that higher aim means aligning himself with Zionism as an ideal, an ideal, he judges, that fits him like a custom made suit. Of course, since Xavier was not raised Jewish and claims a grandfather who was a staunch member of the Nazi SS party, there is a strong irony at work here.

Rather than conveying any specifics of plot, let me simply note how this novel is laced with a good measure of not only irony but also satire and black comedy and how Arnon Grunberg introduces us to a number of characters surrounding Xavier, or, perhaps more precisely, character sketches surrounding Xavier, since a few telling details of each person is all the author needs to set the tone of his novel told with a light authorial touch as he touches on the dark subjects of violence, domination, sadism and masochism:

Awromele – Son of a Rabbi, Xavier's Jewish friend, companion and occasional lover, who tutors Xavier in Yiddish, who has dark hair and smooth, white skin and is seen by Xavier as having a drop of changeless beauty.

The Mother -- Xavier's mother, that is, who spends many hours in the kitchen and, as the story develops, acts out her masochistic and sadistic tendencies.

The Architect Father - Xavier's father, that is, a man who craves not only a high level of order in life but who also craves messages and saunas.

Marc - The mother's boyfriend who appears once the architect father leaves the scene, a man who fills his time with jazz and jet flight simulation and who also has powerful feelings for Xavier.

Dancia - Awromele's younger sister who becomes the object of bullying and abuse at school and then assumes the role of willing victim.

Rochele - Awromele's much younger sister who envisions the messiah as a pelican (thus the captivating cover of the book), a pelican who will fly her on its back to America.

The Egyptian - Sexy restaurant owner and falafel king, but, being an Arab, is a universal object of hatred.

Bettina - Sexually charged young lady who takes on a number of social causes along with her own cause of having lots of sex and keeping up with the current fashions.

Mr. Schwartz - Old half-blind Jewish businessman who trades in cheeses and offers his services to Xavior as a circumciser.

The Tall Boy - Leader of a schoolyard pack who quotes Kierkegaard and uses the Danish philosopher as a stand-in for the German Führer, or, as the novel's characters refer to him – ‘You-Know-Who'.

You-Know-Who - Although Hitler isn't an actual character in the novel, the Führer casts his shadow (thus the cover of the book – bold black and red with white trim). Indeed, the mentality of Nazism infects a number of characters.

The first 350 pages take place in Basel when Xavier is a 16-year old student, the next 50 pages continues with teenage Xavier in Amsterdam and the last 50 pages is a fast-forward, covering the subsequent 20 years of Xavier's life wherein his worldview of beauty and becoming the Jewish messiah plays itself out in unexpected and brutal ways. Such a meaty, thought-provoking novel, a book that would make an excellent choice for anybody wishing to ponder a number of challenging perennial and contemporary philosophical topics. Highly recommended.


Basel, Switzerland - Setting for the major portion of the novel