Reading: Aleksandar Hemon

The Lazarus Project takes place in two complete timeframes. The first, in 1908, where the story is of a foreigner trying to fit in. "The young man says nothing; He doesn't want them to know he is a foreigner." (pg 4) However, because of his silence (and his probable visual differences), a shop owner and his wife draw discomfort from his presence. His name is Lazarus Averbuch, but I know that only from looking at the back cover, as his name is left a mystery within the pages. His story is of interest because of what happens to him when he goes to visit the home of Chief Shippy.

He walks up to the Chief's house at promptly at 9:00 because his attendant told him, "Teresa advises him that iti is much too early [when he first visits] and that Chief Shippy never wishes to see anybody before nine." (pg 1) She immediately assumes negativity from Lazarus simply because she cannot place his accent. When he arrives at 9, from what seems purely out of fear and assumptive suspicion, Chief Shippy concludes that Lazarus must have a gun and in confusion, murders the man, the Chief's own driver and Henry, a visitor in the home. The Papers report the triple homicide as that of the "Anarchist" [Lazarus] likely due to Shippy's quick thinking and self-defense.

The second story is that of Brik, a Bosnian immigrant who at first is visiting Bosnia for their Independence Day. The connection between these two stories is presented on page 15, "I am hoping to write about a Jewish immigrant shot by the Chicago police a hundred years ago." It is odd that Brik's story is in first person, Brik as the narrator and the story of Lazarus is in third person by a possibly "non-psychic" 3rd person, where actions are told rather than thoughts. I am going to assume the story of the past is actually the story as written by Brik, which would provide a very interesting twist as his own plot thickens, discovering more of this quite obvious cover-up.

-Mark