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The Final Solution
 
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The Final Solution (Hardcover)

by Michael Chabon (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd; First Edition edition (7 Feb 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007196024
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007196029
  • Product Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 385,588 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #20 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > C > Chabon, Michael

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Product Description

Review
"On par with the best, most tightly written sections of Chabon's last novel, the marvelous The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay...exceptional." New York Times Book Review "One of the best-written American novels published this fall...an experiment by a master." The New York Sun "A profound pleasure." New York Magazine "Chabon writes with plummy luxury...the language is luscious enough to lap up." The Washington Post "Delightful...and deceptively profound...Chabon shows his greatness." The Courier-Journal Praise for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: 'An adventure story that keeps you up until 4am with the bedside lamp on, eager to learn if the Escapist, and Chabon himself, can free the enslaved and lead them home.' Observer 'Proof of the abiding power of complex, serious, engaged, but above all entertaining story-telling.' TLS 'A novel of towering achievement.' New York Times 'Absolutely gosh-wow, super-colossal.' Washington Post Praise for Wonder Boys: 'The natural exuberance and extravagance of Chabon's writing is matched by dazzling wit.' Sunday Telegraph 'Wonder Boys is a superb creation, a raucously comic yet deeply lyrical work.' Sunday Times

Andrew Roberts, New Statesman
'Chabon gives the reader a tantalising taste of what he's capable of'

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Final Solution
44% buy the item featured on this page:
The Final Solution 3.9 out of 5 stars (8)
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a novel, not a short story., 19 Jun 2006
By MaryAnne "dubai-reader" (Dubai United Arab Emirates) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Final Solution (Paperback)
Although highly recommended by a friend, this book didn't quite hit the mark for me. It seemed to lack purpose and the ending was kind of cute, but not satisfying.
The story revolves around Linus,a young Jewish refugee and his close companion, a grey parrot. When the parrot is stolen, the plight of the lonely young boy touches a spot in an old, retired, detective's heart, and he agrees to search for the bird.
I loved the idea of the parrot who spouted endless lists of apparently random numbers and the old man, an ageing Sherlock Holmes in his retirement cottage. But there didn't seem to be a lot else.
It was an easy read, but would have benefitted from being longer so we could really get involved with the characters.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing detective novel, 13 Feb 2006
By kimbofo (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Final Solution (Paperback)
The disappearance of a young boy's African grey parrot forms the centrepiece of this intriguingly old-fashioned detective novel by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Chabon.

Set in 1944 war-time England, the bird, Bruno, speaks German, spouting numbers one to nine in no particular order for hours at a time. Could he be revealing a classified enemy code or revealing the number of a secret Swiss bank account?

When someone is killed and the parrot is nowhere to be found, a once famous but now elderly police detective comes out of retirement to help track him down.

Has the bird been stolen by a money-hungry bird trader? Or an analyst seeking to decipher the numbers spoken "in a soft, oddly breathy voice, with the slightest hint of a lisp".

The old man's investigation - which is inspired by his affection for the young boy, a mute escapee from Nazi Germany left bereft without his feathered friend - covers the Chalk Downs of rural Sussex to the bombed out city streets of war torn London. Along the way various clues - and dead ends - are explored until a satisfactory and delightfully elegant solution to the case is finally discovered.

This thoroughly English detective story owes much to Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. It is clever, witty and touching. Each sentence is beautifully crafted so that not one word is wasted or out of place. A quick, entertaining read, it will have you turning to the start again to see whether you can spot all the various clues that you might have missed. I loved it.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars excellent Holmesian pastiche, 3 Mar 2006
By A. Craig "Amanda Craig" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Final Solution (Paperback)
It's clever to combine the flourishing sub-genre of Holmesiamn pastiche with the Holocaust, and Chabon makes a good fist of it. The retired beekeeeper is now utterly forgotten and painfully ancient (Chabon describes the ravages of time wonderfully) but the mystery about the parrot who speaks long sequences of numbers is less satisfying. More a long short story or novella, it will leave some readers frustrated. Having said which, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars One complaint only - It's too short
Chabon's style is eclectic to say the least, and yet this has his voice stamped all over it. It's quirky, imaginative, and despite a fragile sadness which permeates the book,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
Every sentance in this short book has been lovingly crafted - it is short but a joy to read and very clever. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2006 by Misty

4.0 out of 5 stars Finale
It takes an immense amount of either skill or arrogance to attempt a Sherlock Holmes "final case." And of the two, it seems that Pulitzer-winning Michael Chabon has the former... Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2006 by E. A Solinas

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, but a little disappointing.
This is an appealing idea, and an intriguing mystery at first, but it suffers from an unconvincing resolution: the solution comes too quickly, and too simply, making it... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2006

4.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet "final"
It takes an immense amount of either skill or arrogance to attempt a Sherlock Holmes "final case. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2005 by E. A Solinas

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