The Plot Against America
I just finished this book. I borrowed it from a friend and I could not put it down. I got right into the historical setting of the piece and with the plight of the characters against terrible odds. It was suspenseful and engaging. I may need to put it on my Christmas list so I’ll have a copy when I give my friend’s copy back.
Roth, Phillip. 2005.The Plot Against America Vintage. ISBN: 1400079497
The Plot Against America is a fictional work which follows an alternative history of the United States in the 1940’s. We are told the tale the from the point of view of the young Phil Roth, who watches the destruction of his family, neighbourhood and country. In the alternative history, America elects Charles Lindberg President over FDR and the slow deliberate march towards Fascism, neutrality, and the destruction of the American Jew begins.
The scary thing (after you’ve suspended your disbelief that such a thing could come to pass) is how easily America slips into the grip of the fascists. How patriotism, love of country and sense of duty are turned towards absolute evil.
It was a great read. The suspense is magnified through the lens of a young Jewish boys’s experience of his family’s hardships. We think to ourselves that “it could never happen here.” This book shows in chilling steps how it could.
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Hi Ric,
I also recently read this book and found it really gripping. I thought the characters were really well-developed - the brother who goes to the farm and rejects his parent’s concerns about Lindbergh and the Rabbi who “sells out” and defends Lindbergh.
I thought Roth did an amazing job at keeping the reader (me) wondering, “are these parents a little overly sensitive and imagining things, or is there a true threat here?”
Just found your blog and I love to read so I look forward to hearing more.
Part of the suspense for me was my own belief of it not being able to happen in America. Roth does well playing with that and heightening it with the fears of the young Phil as the “American Pogrom” begins.