The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth; 8/10

Read by Ron Silver.

This book was surprising in a number of ways. I was aware of the plot, and aware that the premise had previously been mostly or partially used by Philip Dick in a novel called The Man in the High Castle. I was aware that the author, Philip Roth, is regarded as perhaps the finest literary talent of his generation, though this may not be one of the foremost works propping up that reputation. And my mother both recommended and lent me the book, which has put the kiss of death on the reading of nearly every book that has received either treatment (which is to say that for reasons surpassing my understanding I never, ever read things my mother recommends. Not out of choice, it just doesn't happen?).

This book was so intricate. The characters are built so painstakingly, the world they live in developed so finely, with such attention to detail. I remember, perhaps best of all, the narrator/main character's description of his stamp collection. It is a little thing about a character that ties so much of the work together into a package that feels completely real. And the realism was the best part of this book.

I have read four or five alternate history novels in the last few years now, and they have all been winners. Maybe I should be trying more of them. The alternate history in this one, however, is less of a military outcome than a social and political one, which is to say that it doesn't describe an alternate universe in which America lost WWII (the Man in the High Castle) but rather one in which it followed the same road to fascism and ethnic purity seen in Germany, Italy, and elsewhere, with one of the foremost American fascists, Charles Lindbergh, at the helm.

This did not in any way touch a sci-fi vein, but it touched a historical one that really impressed me, and overall it just reverberated. It has stuck with me quite well, and I recommend it unequivocally.

If you can get ahold of the audio, Ron Silver did an excellent job. He was perfectly suited to the source material, and I believe added significantly to the experience over what I think I'd have gotten from the print on its own.