http://www.babygotbooks.com/2005/07/25/speaking-of-plot-against-america/ Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:16:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.babygotbooks.com/2005/07/25/speaking-of-plot-against-america/comment-page-1/#comment-456 Baby Got Books » Blog Archive » The Commuter Catch-up Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:00:23 +0000 http://www.babygotbooks.com/2005/07/25/speaking-of-plot-against-america/#comment-456 [...] I think (?) this has been reviewed before but as a quick recap - this book recreates history by envisioning that Charles Lindbergh wins the U.S. presidential election in 1940 and brings his anti-semitic and isolationist views to the forefront of American politics. Roth tells the story from the point of view of an adolescent Jewish boy living in New Jersey. The book’s redeeming quality was that it was told from a young boy’s, Philip Roth, perspective. What I enjoyed about the book was all the angst Philip went through trying to maintain familial relationships with his mother, father, brother and “war-hero” cousin. One review that I read said that Roth should have kept the book as an adolescent Jewish coming of age story and I agree. The lengthy discourse on the Lindbergh politics and all the players involved in this fictional history really didn’t interest me because I know that it was completely made-up and therefore hard for me to envision. I think though that the struggles that Philip had in determining what his beliefs were and how this affected his relationships were and still are relevant without the made up history part. Overall - a decent read and I definitely predict - future movie….a la Human Stain. [Since you asked, there have been two previous posts on the book (here and here) and another on the subject matter (here), ed.] [...] [...] I think (?) this has been reviewed before but as a quick recap – this book recreates history by envisioning that Charles Lindbergh wins the U.S. presidential election in 1940 and brings his anti-semitic and isolationist views to the forefront of American politics. Roth tells the story from the point of view of an adolescent Jewish boy living in New Jersey. The book’s redeeming quality was that it was told from a young boy’s, Philip Roth, perspective. What I enjoyed about the book was all the angst Philip went through trying to maintain familial relationships with his mother, father, brother and “war-hero” cousin. One review that I read said that Roth should have kept the book as an adolescent Jewish coming of age story and I agree. The lengthy discourse on the Lindbergh politics and all the players involved in this fictional history really didn’t interest me because I know that it was completely made-up and therefore hard for me to envision. I think though that the struggles that Philip had in determining what his beliefs were and how this affected his relationships were and still are relevant without the made up history part. Overall – a decent read and I definitely predict – future movie….a la Human Stain. [Since you asked, there have been two previous posts on the book (here and here) and another on the subject matter (here), ed.] [...]

]]>