996. The Plot Against America

The Plot Against America
Philip Roth
2004

Around 400 pages

At long last, we have finished the Roth novels on this List. I have a strange relationship with Philip Roth. On the one hand, he seems like a dick, and writes unpleasant novels. But I have never found him quite as grueling as some of the other recurring characters on this blog, like Thomas Pynchon or James Joyce. Here's my official ranking:

1. The Breast (yeah, I know it's weird choice)

2. The Human Stain

3. The Plot Against America

4. American Pastoral

5. Portnoy's Complaint

6. Operation Shylock

7. Sabbath's Theater

So we're not leaving on a bad note with this one. Ever wonder what the world would look like if Charles Lindbergh had defeated Roosevelt in the 1940 election? I certainly hadn't. I wasn't even aware that Lindbergh was suspected of being a Nazi sympathizer, I only knew him as an aviator whose child was murdered. Anyway, we follow the Roth family during the Lindbergh administration where anti-semitism is more widely accepted than ever.

We all know how quickly things escalate when an anti-semitic government takes charge. Roth did a good job of presenting a logical series of events and capturing how all this prejudice is brewing just below the surface, waiting for a time where it's socially acceptable to unleash hell. But I also thought it was a pretty dry story, with an anti-climatic ending.

So long, Roth, you were a brilliant and insufferable man, who probably could have been kinder to his wives.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into an HBO miniseries in 2020.

UP NEXT: The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble