Author winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2011.
Sarah Broadhurst's view...
A stunning work, a literary
giant and a thrilling read. The reactions of the Jewish population of
Newark on the election of Charles Lindberg, known to be a Nazi
sympathiser, is portrayed in a masterly fashion. There is a summary of
historical facts at the end for those who are confused; I needed it.
Comparison: Norman Mailer, John Updike.
Similar this month: Tom Wolfe.
This review is provided by bookgroup.info.
Philip Roth just gets better. This, his latest novel, is a stunning achievement.
In THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, Roth poses a terrifying, yet perfectly plausible, ‘what if..’: What if Charles Lindbergh, suave aviator hero and proto-fascist, had become President of the United States in 1941?
Roth constructs a chilling scenario where America not only fails to engage in World War II and prevent Hitler’s march across Europe, but allows its government to implement anti-Semitic programmes that are sending it on the road towards a ‘final solution’ for the Jewish population.
The story is told in the voice of Philip Roth, nine-year-old second generation American Jew, living in Newark, New Jersey. The perspective of the young boy is not only completely convincing – his limited understanding, his undeserved guilt, his admiration for less than worthy heroes – but it also creates an empathetic viewpoint for the terrible events that shape the lives of his family and friends. The story is engrossing, Roth’s characterisation is, as always, deft – Philip’s father, brother, cousin, uncle are all too plausible in their fallibility – and the effortless brilliance of some of the passages is breath-taking.
My only reservation about the book is that it is written about an era, twenty three years before the Jim Crow laws were repealed, when segregation – in schools, restaurants, cinemas, buses - was not only commonplace but was legal. By ignoring this fundamental aspect of American social history, and writing it from a purely Jewish standpoint, Roth leaves a gaping hole in the narrative of an otherwise fantastic novel.
Written in the context of the ‘soft fascism’ of the Bush regime and the erosion of civil liberties in the UK, the novel serves to remind us of how fragile racial tolerance can be and how we should guard against a complacence that allows discrimination, legal or otherwise, in our multi-cultural societies.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
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'He captures better than anyone the collision of public and private, the intrusion of history into the skin, the pores of every individual alive' Guardian
'Though on the morning after the election disbelief prevailed, especially among the pollsters, by the next everybody seemed to understand everything...'
When celebrity aviator, Charles A. Lindbergh, wins the 1940 presidential election on the slogan of 'America First', fear invades every Jewish household. Not only has Lindbergh blamed the Jews for pushing America towards war with Germany, he has negotiated an 'understanding' with the Nazis promising peace between the two nations.
Growing up in the 'ghetto' of Newark, Philip Roth recounts his childhood caught in the stranglehold of this counterfactual nightmare. As America sinks into its own dark metamorphosis and Jewish families are torn apart, fear and uncertainty spread.
Who really is President Lindbergh?
And to what end has he hijacked America?
**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY**
The Plot Against America features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Plot Against America is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Plot Against America was written by Philip Roth and published by Vintage an imprint of Random House
The Plot Against America has 400 pages
