The Plot Against America

To begin, I'd like to offer one piece of advice: be thoughtful about bringing hardbound books to the beach. Expect (especially if it's windy) that sand will get between pages and everywhere else.

Anyway, I read the new(ish) Philip Roth on a camping trip. It was so idyllic - and in some ways very middle-America too - that it made for an interesting backdrop while reading a dystopia of the 1940s. Overall I was extremely impressed by the novel, and enjoyed it much much more than the other book of his that I've read, Sabbath's Theater. Roth is convincing as a 7 year old version of himself, and touching too. The grand arc of the plot is a little weak though. Provided, yes it seems fantastical (but no more so than some of what's happened in recent American history), but I was able to suspend my disbelief until the last two chapters. Then everything lost coherence. I think this was Roth's intention, but still, it left me confused and unsettled. (Again, pretty sure this is intentional, but I still would have liked a little more closure. Oh well.)