A book I'm reading: "The Plot Against America"
 

Really good book and spooky. Here is the Amazon.com overview of http://www.amazon.com/Plot-Against-America-Novel/dp/0618509283.

Here's a blurb on it:

"During his long career, Roth has shown himself a master at creating fictional doppelgängers. In this stunning novel, he creates a mesmerizing alternate world as well, in which Charles A. Lindbergh defeats FDR in the 1940 presidential election, and Philip, his parents and his brother weather the storm in Newark, N.J. Incorporating Lindbergh's actual radio address in which he accused the British and the Jews of trying to force America into a foreign war, Roth builds an eerily logical narrative that shows how isolationists in and out of government, emboldened by Lindbergh's blatant anti-Semitism (he invites von Ribbentrop to the White House, etc.), enact new laws and create an atmosphere of religious hatred that culminates in nationwide pogroms.Historical figures such as Walter Winchell, Fiorello La Guardia and Henry Ford inhabit this chillingly plausible fiction, which is as suspenseful as the best thrillers and illustrates how easily people can be persuaded by self-interest to abandon morality. The novel is, in addition, a moving family drama, in which Philip's fiercely ethical father, Herman, finds himself unable to protect his loved ones, and a family schism develops between those who understand the eventual outcome of Lindbergh's policies and those who are co-opted into abetting their own potential destruction. Many episodes are touching and hilarious: young Philip experiences the usual fears and misapprehensions of a pre-adolescent; locks himself into a neighbor's bathroom; gets into dangerous mischief with a friend; watches his cousin masturbating with no comprehension of the act. In the balance of personal, domestic and national events, the novel is one of Roth's most deft creations, and if the lollapalooza of an ending is bizarre with its revisionist theory about the motives behind Lindbergh's anti-Semitism, it's the subtext about what can happen when government limits religious liberties in the name of the national interest that gives the novel moral authority. Roth's writing has never been so direct and accessible while retaining its stylistic precision and acute insights into human foibles and follies. "

Just my thumbs up for some good beach reading material...

Where is Ameria?;)

It's situated between Anada and Mexio :)

I read it too. I love stories about Jewish families in the major cities before the war. I almost envy their sense of community and shared experience, even though underneath the stories is usually crushing poverty and prejudice.

If you like The Polt Against America you should check out some books by Herman Wouk. The Winds of War and War and Rememberance also touch on World War II and the Jewish experience, and are fabulous stories well told. I re-read both yearly.

But the book of his I like best is Inside Outside. It is a lightly fictionalized story of Wouk's growing up in Brooklyn in the 20s and 30s. The first couple of chapters are a little slow because he flashes back and forth between him as an adult remembering the story and the story itself. But in a couple of chapters you're fully drawn in to a wonderful world populated by an endless stream of unforgetable relatives and neighbors. There's a girl involved by the end of the book and he ends the story with the start of WWII. What a fantastic read.

The Plot Against America is a much more serious book. It is a good morality play reminding us how easy it is for a country to go down the slipery slope from intolerance to outright evil.

And if you're into Herman Wouk, try Leon Uris. He tells stories of the war, typically starting his family heritage stories from about 1860 in Poland, or Russia, or similar, and ending up with everyone making the trek to The Promised Land. His character development is excellent, and his historical background is fantastic, though he sometimes errs on the side of dry writing in order to get good history.

The one I'm reading now is about a retired US Marine turned journalist/author who talks a group of Israeli paratroopers into letting him join them on the jump into Mitla Pass in the 6 day war. But in order to fully explain who he is, Uris starts in 1860 in a shtetl in Poland, and in 1880 in a little Jewish taylor's shop in Cork, and carries the history forward.

+1 for The Plot Against America.

I read it a few years ago when it was first published, and thought it was among Roth's best, which is some heady territory.




Tim

Yes, fantastic book! Nathan Zuckerman (Roth's alter ego) was father was definitely the tragic hero in this.

It's funny about these so-called American heroes like Lindberg, Henry Ford, even FDR, and how really the Jewish society was not just something to dismiss, but in some cases to eliminate.

BTW: when's the last time anyone here has been in an Automat? Their concept is now so distant, "Automat" comes up as an error on the spell checker.

My son is into planes, especially classic piston engined planes, and we are from Minnesota, so the Lindberg connection is strong. But even before reading The Plot Against America I made it a point to explain to him how Lindberg was a groundbreaking pilot but believed in some bad things that our family does not approve of. I'm proud to say he understands the issues of prejudice and anti-semitism (as much as a 12 year old can) and separates Lucky Lindy the flier from Charles Lindberg the person. He does not have any Spirit of St. Louis models and has never even asked for a poster.

Leon Uris? Thanks for the tip. I will certainly check him out.