Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel

    Written by Nathan Englander

    Narrated by Arthur Morey

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From its unforgettable opening scene in the darkness of a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina's Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won't accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence-and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear.

    Nathan Englander's first novel is a timeless story of fathers and sons. In a world turned upside down, where the past and the future, the nature of truth itself, all take shape according to a corrupt government's whims, one man-one spectacularly hopeless man-fights to overcome his history and his name, and, if for only once in his life, to put things right. The Ministry of Special Cases, like Englander's stories before it, is a celebration of our humanity, in all its weakness, and-despite that-hope.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 24, 2007
    ISBN9780739341940
    Unavailable
    The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel

    More audiobooks from Nathan Englander

    Related to The Ministry of Special Cases

    Related audiobooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Michael Wood On…

      May 12, 2022

      Watching with horror the destruction of Mariupol in Ukraine – the obliteration of a city of more than 400,000 people – my mind went to other cities, other times. More than 30 years ago, in the aftermath of the war with Iran, I went to southern Iraq,

      3 min read

    • Article

      Books Of The Month

      Nov 11, 2022

      By Anthony Anaxagorou Featuring the same kaleidoscopic imagery and expansive reach that characterised Anaxagorou’s debut, Heritage Aesthetics grapples with the way colonial history haunts the present, shaping institutional racism in Britain, as well

      2 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On…

      Nov 24, 2022

      Michael Wood On…
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Dark Emu Story: The Legacy – And Controversy – of Bruce Pascoe’s Groundbreaking Book

      Jul 18, 2023

      In the decade since Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu was published, it has become a bestseller, a seminal historical text and a launchpad for controversy. The book reframed the colonial lens through which Australia understood its Indigenous history, whic

      3 min read

    • Article

      Spring Book Reviews

      Aug 30, 2018

      by Mark Laurie of South Seas Books, Port Elliot by Stephen Orr Published by Wakefield Press ISBN 9781743055748 $27.95 Stephen Orr has compiled a series of short, true stories of our confrontation with the country’s arid centre and the conflicts betwe

      4 min read

    • Article

      Enough To Go On

      Sep 19, 2021

      Enough To Go On
      2 min read

    • Article

      Cursed Lives

      Jan 20, 2022

      The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World by Malcolm Gaskill >Allen Lane, 336 pages, £20 In February 1651, in the little settler town of Springfield, Massachusetts, Jonathan Taylor woke in terror in the middle of the night. “Snakes!” h

      2 min read

    • Article

      Books & co

      Nov 11, 2022

      by Rachael English This novel, inspired by true events, tells the story of a mother’s sacrifice to save her child from starvation in the Irish Famine. Young mother Bridget Moloney had faced the heartwrenching experience of leaving her baby daughter

      5 min read

    • Article

      Must-Read Poetry: March 2019

      Mar 4, 2019

      For several reasons, there is only one thing I demand from my own lines, or from any poetry I love—I want to read it and to have a sense of having lived. The post Must-Read Poetry: March 2019 appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Nov 25, 2021

      Letters
      4 min read

    • Article

      Books Of The Month

      Feb 4, 2022

      The Memory Monster by Yishai Sarid, translated by Yardenne Greenspan “This is where the illusion we call humankind was erased,” a guide to Holocaust sites tells the visitors on his tour. He is so steeped in its history that he has become corrupted b

      2 min read

    • Article

      Also On The Bookshelf

      Jun 11, 2020

      by AN Wilson (Atlantic, 368 pages, £17.99) In June 1870, part way through penning The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the 58-year-old Charles Dickens died. AN Wilson’s new biography begins back to front, taking the author’s final moments as a jumping off po

      2 min read

    • Article

      Never Let It Go

      Aug 1, 2016

      In 1993, during the Bosnian war, the American journalist David Rieff went to Belgrade to interview a leading Serbian politician. “As I was leaving his office,” Rieff writes in his new book, In Praise of Forgetting, “one of his young aides pressed a f

      3 min read

    • Article

      Unsolved Mysteries

      Apr 11, 2024

      Unsolved Mysteries
      3 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Sep 4, 2018

      I have no hesitation in saying that I have ever considered the [Electoral College] as the most dangerous blot in our Constitution, and one which some unlucky chance will some day hit. —Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Hay, August 17, 1823 He who

      3 min read

    • Article

      Children Make Us Gods

      Jan 27, 2020

      Children Make Us Gods
      4 min read

    • Article

      Diane Armstrong

      Apr 8, 2024

      Diane Armstrong
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Countrywoman’s Notes

      May 11, 2022

      THIS morning, two letters arrived in the post. The writer in the first is offering me a ‘personal treasure’: a collection of COUNTRY LIFE that dates back to 1980. I have to admit this is not the first such offer that’s come my way. Over the years, I’

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Great War Ghost Hoax

      Sep 2, 2021

      The Great War Ghost Hoax
      8 min read

    Reviews for The Ministry of Special Cases

    3.5/5

    226 ratings18 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Is this Englander's Holocaust novel? Sometimes a subject has been covered so often that one needs a filter to look at it afresh. The rise of the military regime in Argentina could be that filter, as a middle-aged Jewish couple in Buenos Aires try to hold their ground amidst the elimination of civil rights and the arbitrary cruelty of those in charge. As the angst in this novel was increasingly getting to me, I did wonder whether the author had found a new way to convey the impact of the "Nacht und Nebel" tactics of the Nazis. This is not standard Englander, and is not a masterpiece, as the book clearly has some flaws (the first 100 pages were a bit tough to get through). But the atmosphere and the female character will stay with me for a long time.
    • 4/5
      Nathan Englander’s scathing indictment of the military dictatorship in place in Argentina in the mid-1970s is told through the tale of one family’s harrowing experience. Kaddish Poznan and his wife Lillian live a quiet life with their college-age son, Pato. Kaddish has a hard time providing for his family and he and Pato have a contentious father-son relationship. Lillian, in the meantime, is waiting for Kaddish to come home for the first time ever, having made things right. She’s lived with so much disappointment but now she knows that part of her life is done. That is, until the worst possible thing happens and tears their little family apart. What an education this book provided about a period in history that I knew nothing about---Argentina’s Dirty Wars between 1976 and 1983, when the disappearance of young people occurred on a regular basis and torture and murder happen commonly, leaving family members the only one option: haunting the halls of the Ministry of Special Cases, searching for justice.Englander’s prose sings and keeps the very dark narrative humming along. At the time of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, things were different in Argentina:“A beggar sat in a doorway. In this neighborhood he looked twice as poor. Kaddish fished for change but had passed before he came up with something small. He walked on and spent the money on a “Clarin,” scanning the front page and shaking his head. Everything is coming apart around them and his newspaper runs a picture of an Uncle Sam up on stilts; the Yankees always happy to throw a party for themselves. The only thing Argentina will have to celebrate on its two hundredth anniversary is the miracle of turning back the clocks. The Stone Age would reach Buenos Aires before the future did, of this Kaddish was sure.” (Page 33)Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      The Ministry of Special Cases is an amazing and heart-breaking tale set during the Argentinean Dirty War of the mid 1970’s. Kaddish Poznan is an outcast Jew. A ner-do-well who makes a bit of money by chiseling the names off of tombstones by Jewish residents of Argentina who are desperate to hide their Jewish origins. Kaddish is married to the beautiful, intelligent and proud Lillian, who takes care of her little family and provides the stability that Kaddish is unable to.The horror of the Dirty War comes home when Kaddish and Lillian’s college age son Pato is taken by the Junta and ‘disappeared’. The full horror of what it means to be disappeared by one’s own government slowly unfolds as Kaddish and Lillian desperately search for their son. At every turn the government denies that Pato was ever taken. Finally Kaddish uncovers the full horror that the Argentinean Junta visits upon its own people, in particular the youth of the country and just what it means when a citizen is erased from existence.The Ministry of Special Cases is both horrifying and moving as it tries to explain what happened to thousands of these ‘disappeared’ Argentineans. And even more horrifying is how an entire country can ignore its own government as it cannibalizes it’s own future.
    • 4/5
      A profoundly depressing and harrowing story set in 1970s Argentina where people are disappearing, never to be seen again, and the authorities are denying that anything is wrong. The novel follows Jewish couple Kaddish and Lillian as they search for their nineteen year old son, and as the months go by the desperation sets in. It is a stifling experience, page after page in their company as they head up blind alleys and come up against bureaucracy time and time again, but in terms of involving the reader in their desperate struggle it does its job. Sad though the story is, there is a curious levity to the earlier sections. Just as hysteria can lurk at the edge of shock or sadness, a bizarre series of events sees Kaddish accept a nose job in payment for a spot of grave desecration. Possibly the worst literary deal since Jack swopped his cow for a handful of magic beans, and nothing if not original.Not a book I would say I ‘enjoyed’, but it’s well written and I feel far better informed about a series of historical events about which I previously knew next to nothing.
    • 4/5
      Gorgeous, sad, touching story about a family living in Argentina during the time of "the disappearances". Beautifully written & engrossing.
    • 4/5
      Not a happy story but based on what I have read, it is an accurate description of the time. I read this book because I read an interview that Englander did with Colum McCann(Let the Great World Spin). Didn't know it would be about Buenos Aires and wouldn't you know it, I am going to Buenos Aires at the end of the week for 6 months. It will help me as I spend time getting to understand the culture of Argentina. An important book for people to read.
    • 5/5
      Am writing this some months after reading the book: it is excellent.Englander managed to write a story that is not his own, about a culture that is not his own and he is utterly persuasive and compelling. One of the most striking features of the book is the way he manages to evoke absence. A masterpiece.
    • 4/5
      In Argentina, the government was known for taking children and then not admitting they ever existed. This is the story of a family whose son disappeared and the dynamics before and after the kidnapping. It goes very deep into the characters and it is very human. The book really affected me. I definitely recommend it.
    • 4/5
      A beautifully sad novel about a Jewish family in Buenos Aires during The Dirty War. I can't say enough about the lovely prose that almost sings in a kind of lilting Yiddish/Spanish that makes the heartbreaking sadness of the thing almost bearable. But it still does crush you. Prepare to want to (and have to) savor it. It's not a one-sitting read.
    • 2/5
      The Ministry of Special Cases is quite possibly one of the most depressing books I have ever read, i'm definitely glad that experience is over. Family of three in Buenos Aires (Lillian, Kaddish and Pato), young man goes missing. Rest of the book comprises the parents futile and ever more desperate attempts to get him back. The book has value in that it is clearly a vivid portrait of a terrible time in Argentine history. Very sad.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book, set in the Peron years in Argentina. It speaks beautifully of the way small people soldier on in the face of incomprehensible events, and is eloquent, too, on the nature of hope and disappointment. I would recommend the British Faber edition for the beautiful jacket design, including a wonderful woodcut "author photo"
    • 4/5
      Americans are familiar with the legend of Juan Peron's glamorous first wife, Eva (aka Evita). Less well known in the largely parochial U.S. is the "dirty war" that began under Peron's second wife and successor as president of Argentina, Isabel (Isabelita). In Englander's well crafted novel, a classic generational conflict between father and son abruptly ends when the son is arrested by state police and vanishes from all official records. As his parents -- at first together, then estranged from one another -- attempt to locate the missing boy, we are led through a Kafkaesque nightmarish world of bureaucrats, high level hustlers, self-righteous religious leaders and, finally, official murders. This is a satisfying but chilling read with echoes of our own world: When Lillian, the mother of the missing child, tells a government bureaucrat, "Every last one of you will end up in hell for this," the man replies, "This country is at war. There are things that are done to ensure victory. Right things. When the country is safe, the victors will choose their own fates. And I don't think, as compensation, we will choose for ourselves hell. We'll choose better for ourselves. Something nice."
    • 5/5
      This is a multi-faceted tale. part journalistic tale of the dissappearances in Buenos Aires in the 1970's, part sarcastic tale of the jewish diaspora and the failed marriage of Kaddish ,,un hijo de puta and Lillian his more middle class jewish wife who decided to marry for dreams rather than practicalities and ended up with the great dissappointment of reality.Englander is a fine writer who can juggle many balls at once, combining a Kafkaesque tale of the bureaucratic nightmares a militiary dictatorship befalls on its citizens, how the ruling class and generals laud hightail over the proletariat ,and the middle class managers and priesthood who stand by in silent collaboration. This is told alongside the more intimate picture of a failed marriage and the painful relationship Kaddish has with his intellectual son Pato. Throw in a tongue in cheek picture of the jews of Argentina and one has a fascinating and different story, well told and fast moving.
    • 4/5
      I had high expectations for this book since I loved Englander's collection of short stories, but I'm afraid I have mixed feelings about it in the end. The story itself was wonderful and fascinating, but in the end, it ran a bit long. There were many moments when I felt like the author should have taken more careful time with editing or getting to the point, and truthfully this might have been a stronger book if it were something like two thirds its length. At the same time, the plot/story carried the book and still made it an enjoyable read as it went--it just didn't move quite as quickly as I think it could/should have. Also, I would have liked a bit more to the characters; I found myself wanting to know more about each of the main characters to see them as truly real people, but I never quite got enough. In the end, if you liked his short stories, or novels that will force you to think and/or consider at length the implications of what you're reading, I'd suggest this novel. Looking back, I think I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't already read the short stories and expected so much....
    • 5/5
      Lillian and Kaddish Poznan live with their 19-year-old son Pato in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1970’s. Kaddish makes a living by rubbing out names on Jewish gravestones. He lives his life in a way to distance himself from his Jewishness. Both parents have a sense of fear and attempt to fortify their personal security when suddenly police come to their home to remove their son. In their search for their disappeared son, the parents find that most acquaintances fearfully withdraw any alliance they have to Pato. Both friends and the government beaurocracy combine to become one forceful labyrinth into which the parents delve differently in an effort to retrieve their son. This book presents what seems at first a humorous look at a serious problem - that of the disappeared Jews in Argentina’s "dirty war". As the story progresses, the reader leans that the situation is not quite as funny as it first seems. Although I know some reviewers disapprove of the light-hearted approach with which this book was written, I think that the black humor only makes this book more readable. I love the funny characters who reinforce a sense of poignancy in their desperate attempt to limit their vulnerability in an especially precarious time for Jews in Argentina’s history. Englander’s taut construction of the story, thoughtful approach to a heart-breaking situation, and outrageous material makes me think of him as a Jewish John Irving!
    • 4/5
      The book is written rather densely at the beginning, sometimes hard to understand, but ligthens after a while, and becomes quite easy to read. I had no particular interest in the topic and feel I have learned very little more about it. The difference between the father (he thinks the disappeared son is dead) and mother (she thinks he's alive) is interesting, but there is no real ending to the book.Slightly disappointing, but still an interesting read.
    • 5/5
      Set during the years of the Argentine dirty war this novel follows the pereginations of Lillian and Kaddish Poznan desperately searching for their teenage son Pato (Pablo) who arrested after a night out at a concert is released into his fathers' care only to be re-arrested several hours later. As Jews they are all suspect but Pato as an university student and would be liberal intellectual is doubly suspect. Lillian and Kaddish--each in their own way go about trying to find him but are stonewalled by a government covering up its own atrocities against anyone it considers an enemy. Drawn from the real events of that time Englander does a fine job of keeping this his first novel from descending merely into pathos. The tragic certainly outweighs the comic but there are humorous aspects to his characterization especially of the hapless Kaddish. To go further all of his characterizations are very finely drawn and well thought out. Some scenes may verge on the absurd but there is always a reality underpinning everything. Beyond that this is extremely well concieved and written--one wonders if Englander who has astounded me with this will ever be able to surpass it. If he does watch out. I can't say that I was bored even once with this. This could be a great writer. Anyway I would very highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      The Generals still haven't paid for their crimes. Perhaps books like this one will spur justice (though likely it will come too late, as in the case of Chile's Pinochet).