Baby Got Books

The Army of the Republic

The first thing that struck me about Stuart Archer Cohen’s The Army of the Republic was it’s Banksy-like artwork. The image captures a man in what appears to be a politically motivated act about to launch himself along a violent arc. As it turns out, it is an image that perfectly captures the essence of the words within its cover. The conflict between words and images turns out to be a central theme of the novel, so it’s an interesting choice on that level as well.

The Army of the Republic takes place in a dystopian United States that some would say didn’t seem all that unlikely just a few years ago. A right-wing administration operates under its own interpretation of the laws of the land. A judiciary stacked by the ruling party seems unlikely to enforce laws detrimental to the Administration. Questionable electronic voting returns threaten to eliminate the power of the ballot. National security interests serve as a smoke screen to all manner of shady dealings. The use of mercenary forces (think Blackwater/Xe) for hire by both the government and corporations ensures that the non-governmental security forces are effectively answerable to no one. Right-wing talk shows serve as an echo chamber for the Administration, reinforcing their message through repetition of sound bites and artfully edited images

Lando (not his real name) is a young a young idealist who has decided that enough is enough. He belongs to a secretive organization known as The Army of the Republic (AOR). The AOR aims to disrupt the information flow of the Administration and highlight the injustices of their corporate cronies by conducting high profile direct actions, which have recently come to include violence, destruction, and general mayhem. In other words, the AOR wants their own images on the evening news to counteract the story lines of corporate news services and the Administration’s talking points. As the AOR’s campaign begins to ramp up, support for their tactics and their cause begins to grow, and a showdown with the administration seems imminent. However, Lando’s view of the world (and justice) as black and white becomes clouded when his parents become engaged in the looming conflict – on opposite sides.

A fascinating part of this novel is the glimpse into the operations of how extreme shadow organizations of the left and right are organized and operate. Cohen also does an excellent job of highlighting the many ways that news and information become distorted on its way to consumers. (In a brief comic note, the news coverage of the action of a riot is called by what amounts to a play-by-play man and a color guy.) It’s enough to make a reader extremely paranoid. The novel stuck with me, and I had lots of questions floating around my head. Luckily the author was gracious enough to submit himself to an interview by the likes of us. Come back tomorrow to check out my interview with Stuart Archer Cohen.

Audio Bonus: The whole time I was reading this book, the soundtrack in my mind was playing the political punk songs of the late seventies and early eighties – songs by bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, etc. But the song that seemed to get at the ethos of this novel the most was this one:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Red Rockers – Guns of Revolution

Books, Fiction, Review | Tim | February 16, 2010 8:29 am

2 Comments

By Aimee, February 16, 2010 @ 5:35 pm

oh goodness this looks fantastic. The cover is brilliant – and glad the rest of the book lives up to it!

x
Aimee