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The New Jew Canon: The Plot Against America |
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| The ultimate guide to the books every Jew needs to own | ||
 by Neal Karlen, August 11, 2008 |
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Title:
The Plot Against America
Author:
Philip Roth
Description:
Only a fool, or a Ph.d, would even attempt to name a short list of essential “Jewish” books (maybe I’m just bitter; it’s been several centuries and I’m still working on my masters thesis). In any case, I’m already in big trouble, because I’m one of those sad cases who has trouble reading anything written before 1955. Especially if it is over 300 pages.
So even though reading Jewish books is essential to my wellbeing, I’ve somehow managed to narrow my own field by approximately 2,950 years. What can I say, except that these books have been essential to me? (Meantime, for info about those approximately 2,950 missing years, go to Zachary Baker’s bibliography a couple years ago of the 1000 best Jewish books; or The Schoken Guide to Jewish Boggs, edited by Barry W. Holtz (1992).
It is not incisive commentary to say Philip Roth, like David Mamet, has been a sexist pig dog in his past. He has been. It has also been suggested that Roth, in the sunset of his career, must be juicing himself on the literary equivalent of steroids. What but a performance-enhancing elixir could explain Roth's inspired twilight work such as American Pastoral and Everyman? Yet The Plot Against America will be the Roth novel most remembered and re-read, as he details what happens to a Newark Jewish neighborhood when Charles Lindbergh is elected President in 1940.
Recommended By:
Neal Karlen is a long-time contributor to The New York Times. He was an
Associate Editor at Newsweek and Contributing Editor for Rolling Stone.
He has authored many books, including the recently published The Story
of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews (William
Morrow, 2008).
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The New Jew Canon is a long-term project that seeks to canonize essential Jewish (and some Non-Jewish) reads as recommended by extraordinary rabbis, experts, and cultural leaders. Suggestions are welcome via comments or tips. For more New Jew Canon recommendations, visit Jewcy's New Jew Canon Listmania.
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Pants Wearer
Is it that Portnoy's Complaint is so "Catskills generation?" Or that Operation Shylock is too "freaky deaky?"
Because The Plot Against America always seemed to me to be Roth's John Grisham novel: haunting and mesmerizing for the first 380 pages, and then a total copout in the last 36. He had me sucked in, I was ready for the alternative universe Holocaust right here in the Land of the Free. And then whaddayaknow? Everything turns out A-OK.
Weak. Ass.
Anonymous
Ugh. "Plot" was just an old dude doing the Jewish paranoia thing. What about "Human Stain," for chrissake?
Harry Palmer
I thought it was a fascinating book. The character development was superb and the sense of growing menace and helplessness illustrated the sense of perpetual 'otherness' and outsider status of Jews throughout history.
The ending might have been a bit too convienent, but overall it worked and, in my opinion, was a triumph.
Harry Palmer
Oh yes, The Human Stain was a delicious book.
Such bitterly humourous irony confronting the agonies of choices made to avoid persecution earlier in the 20th Century and ending with the flip side of the coin in todays development of liberal fascism under the label of Political Correctnes.
911allo
The last book of the Bible, the Revelation (or the Apocalypse) 2:9 and 3:9 should be read by Jews who don't recognize Jesus and the New Testament. It's only 2 paragraphs.
Every Jew should also read "The Protocols of Zion", of course. An old copy is always more reliable, with a new copy one needs to jump any introduction that blames Jews and seems antisemite since Zionist are said to be false Jews.
"The 13th Tribe" is a must for the same theory.
For videos (I love history ) I recommend "The Money Masters" on Google video and "Forbidden Knowledge: Jack Otto" in 6 pieces of 10 minutes.
All these documents and videos confirm one another and are confirmed in every day news about our crazy world. The Protocols of Zion and the Bible say exactly the same thing!
I invte you to see my vblog on Youtube.