okay i have just finished reading several books, mostly non mentionable disposable fiction and science which i won't go into here but i am still reading this years booker prize winner the hilarious and personably relevant 'the fickler question' which appears to tackle the question of being jewish in a contemporary age, it's an english woody allen with deeply philosophical and political questions that are as interesting as they are provocative. i read some of howard jacobsons books before and found him difficult and boring but here he has come of age, as a writer this novel is quite brilliant and although i have not finished it deserves the accolade bestowed upon it. it is however a challenging read, the reader is presented with various aspects of what it means to be jewish in england, and the diversity of thoughts around this very strange culture that seems to provoke everyones ire. i must admit i'd have written in a much more confronting style, certainly my experience has been some what more brutal than the one in the book, but it is very apt the messages are written in jocobsons style, as more people will read him and not be so reactionary. i don't know where the novel will end, but it is certainly a great novel and very relevant.