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qatsiBook Review: The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth
A few months ago I was looking for the copy I knew we had of I, Claudius. As a side-effect I added several more books to my to-read list, of which this was one. I felt it would be better to read it prior to November's election. It turns out that in a time of global catastrophe, with a far-right US President who doesn't abide by accepted norms, the fiction to read is a tale of ... a time of global catastrophe, with a far-right US President who doesn't abide by accepted norms. This book was written in 2004, but it resonates disturbingly with the present.
But back to 1940, when Roth's novel begins. I like the device of Roth narrating autobiographically as a child; perhaps it allows for a different perspective, subconsciously allowing the reader to be indulgent of "big events", because everything is a big event for a child. Charles Lindbergh has been selected - almost by accident, it would seem - as the Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential election; on the Democratic side, FDR is seeking an unprecedented third term. Roth's family, based in a Jewish district of Newark, New Jersey, are uneasy about the state of things: Lindbergh campaigns on an isolationist platform, leaving war-torn Europe to its own devices, declining to condemn the Third Reich. The Jewish community is somewhat divided: a Rabbi offers support for Lindbergh, which the family predicts will secure his victory, the speech having "given permission" to the wider community to vote to prevent intervention.
Things decline quite rapidly following Lindbergh's victory. The family go on a tour of Washington DC where they find overt anti-Semitism to be common on the streets. (Here is a clear distinction from our time: the election of Trump in 2016 certainly didn't lead to any sort of euphoric unification among the American populace.) Roth's cousin vanishes overnight, to go to Canada and join the British to fight; his older brother goes to stay on a farm in Kentucky as part of an "absorption" programme. Public policies and announcements can be interpreted neutrally, but the family always fear for the worst, and time after time they are shown to have been right.
I remember at school discussing the rise of the Nazis in Germany, but never finding any convincing explanations. It simply wasn't rational. But not being rational does not mean it won't happen. The novel also highlights the dangers of any monoculture: the family is fearful to undergo any sort of integration, but the lack of integration is a factor in how prejudice gains momentum. Roth's novel is a compelling all-round portrayal of how easy it would be to slide into inhumanity.
A few months ago I was looking for the copy I knew we had of I, Claudius. As a side-effect I added several more books to my to-read list, of which this was one. I felt it would be better to read it prior to November's election. It turns out that in a time of global catastrophe, with a far-right US President who doesn't abide by accepted norms, the fiction to read is a tale of ... a time of global catastrophe, with a far-right US President who doesn't abide by accepted norms. This book was written in 2004, but it resonates disturbingly with the present.
But back to 1940, when Roth's novel begins. I like the device of Roth narrating autobiographically as a child; perhaps it allows for a different perspective, subconsciously allowing the reader to be indulgent of "big events", because everything is a big event for a child. Charles Lindbergh has been selected - almost by accident, it would seem - as the Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential election; on the Democratic side, FDR is seeking an unprecedented third term. Roth's family, based in a Jewish district of Newark, New Jersey, are uneasy about the state of things: Lindbergh campaigns on an isolationist platform, leaving war-torn Europe to its own devices, declining to condemn the Third Reich. The Jewish community is somewhat divided: a Rabbi offers support for Lindbergh, which the family predicts will secure his victory, the speech having "given permission" to the wider community to vote to prevent intervention.
Things decline quite rapidly following Lindbergh's victory. The family go on a tour of Washington DC where they find overt anti-Semitism to be common on the streets. (Here is a clear distinction from our time: the election of Trump in 2016 certainly didn't lead to any sort of euphoric unification among the American populace.) Roth's cousin vanishes overnight, to go to Canada and join the British to fight; his older brother goes to stay on a farm in Kentucky as part of an "absorption" programme. Public policies and announcements can be interpreted neutrally, but the family always fear for the worst, and time after time they are shown to have been right.
I remember at school discussing the rise of the Nazis in Germany, but never finding any convincing explanations. It simply wasn't rational. But not being rational does not mean it won't happen. The novel also highlights the dangers of any monoculture: the family is fearful to undergo any sort of integration, but the lack of integration is a factor in how prejudice gains momentum. Roth's novel is a compelling all-round portrayal of how easy it would be to slide into inhumanity.