Dem
47
GOP
53
Here is the question we put before readers last week:
C.J. in Boulder, CO, asks: I've been reading Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano, which carries certain shades of how things might evolve with AI. So the question is, what novel(s) best capture where we are as a society today?
And here some of the answers we got in response:
K.G. in Columbus, OH: Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, written in 1996, but set a few decades later, best represents where we are now, I think. The entire novel deals with the loss of human connection and the erosion of the social contract caused mainly by our addiction to screens. The title (aside from being a Hamlet reference) refers to the name of a viral (literally) video used by foreign enemies—in this case Quebecois Separatists—to destroy the country from within.
Weighing in at 982 pages, with 96 pages of footnotes, the novel contains many prescient, even spooky, details. Just to name one, on page 382, a former celebrity, Johhny Gentle, upsets "Hillary R.C" to become president. One of his first acts is to antagonize Canada and Mexico by suggesting that their respective leaders now be referred to as "secretaries," in an attempt to make them "some sort of post-millennial American protectorates." (384).
S.K. in Adirondacks, NY: Based on Republican rhetoric: The Iron Heel, by Jack London.
This line, in particular, resonates when I think about Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the incoming cabinet:
The weakness in their position lies in that they are merely business men. They are not philosophers. They are not biologists nor sociologists. If they were, of course, all would be well. A business man who was also a biologist and a sociologist would know, approximately, the right thing to do for humanity. But, outside the realm of business, these men are stupid. They know only business. They do not know mankind nor society, and yet they set themselves up as arbiters of the fates of the hungry millions and all the other millions thrown in. History, some day, will have an excruciating laugh at their expense.
J.S. in Wada, The Netherlands: The obvious novel, or maybe novella, or maybe short story, that captures today's society to me is Cyril M. Kornbluth's The Marching Morons.
It's all there; a ruthless con man (with a back ground in real estate) is thrown into a future in which the insatiable quest for instant gratification über alles has run its inevitable course.
The con man gets recruited by a secret oligarchy, and though he thinks he's serving his down agenda he's in fact toting their water. He carries out a horrible depopulation program, and (this is where credibility starts wearing thin) then gets discarded himself.
Convicted felon Trump, with a mind pretty much as if held in cryostatic stasis since the '50s, revered as the Second Coming by mobs with gold fish levels of memory and intelligence, fulfilling a small oligarchy's every little wish, resulting in mass-level human extermination. Nailed it!
S.S.-L. in Battle Creek, MI: The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbs. I really do believe misanthropy is how a large portion of the country sees the world. Less cynical answer? Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, about the people in power first numbing, then destroying critical thought. And an honorable mention: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
B.K.J. in San Diego, CA: With its storyline of hostility toward knowledge and information, the senses-dulling of constant video-screen Irritainment embedded in our homes, and (central to the story) the script-flipping change in the principal job of firefighters, Fahrenheit 451 seems a far-too-appropriate nominee. Guess that makes Bradbury a sort of post-war prophet...
M.B. in Menlo Park, CA: A 1968 novel that correctly predicted much of where we are today is John Brunner's acclaimed Stand on Zanzibar. Looking ahead to 2010, Brunner correctly predicted a world population of 7 billion, a European collective union, the rise of China, legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, mass shooters (known as "muckers"), genetic engineering, an all-knowing supercomputer named Shalmaneser, wearable technologies, video calls, and Viagra, among many other things. There's even a popular leader named President Obomi!
S.K. in Bethesda, MD: I love this question, because I have returned to a habit of reading novels from a wide range of periods and genres since the beginning of the pandemic, and am struck by how many aspects of our time are captured in every type of literature from every time. Dickens, Tolstoy, Faulkner, Updike, Kingsolver, Franzen and Ferrante (and many others) all deal with the hostility of the less educated, poor and/or rural populations for the educated urban elite—and highlight how the downtrodden will act against their own interests rather than align themselves with the elites, even to the point of aligning themselves with strongmen and charlatans.
I'd recommend Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead, which transports Dicken's David Copperfield to Appalachia. Also Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, the third book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet (most of the action of the third book takes place during the late 60's in Italy) is particularly focused on the struggles of the working class and their ambivalence toward education and the educated elite leftists who take up their cause—as well as their grudging respect for corrupt strongmen (an undercurrent throughout the series). On a different, but relevant, topic, Ben Lerner's The Topeka School nails how Donald Trump, knowingly or not, uses the practically unbeatable debate tactic of "spreading"—flooding the zone with so much nonsense that no one can sort out the truth. Science fiction is a fertile ground as well - Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower series, as one of many examples, combines environmental disaster with the rise of an authoritarian promising to Make America Great Again (it was written in 1993!). Although these themes are depressingly familiar, it is somewhat reassuring that these issues have been around forever and exist everywhere, and somehow we've always survived to continue making progress, eventually.
D.M. in Wimberley, TX: The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. California is burning. Climate change is out of control. A demagogue chants Make America Great Again. Written in 1993, takes place in 2024.
T.W. in Colorado Springs, CO: While the main plot of David Brin's Earth is much wider in scope, there are interesting subplots regarding AI, social media, and continuous digital surveillance.
J.W. in Newton, MA: One of the most prescient novels I've read is Don DeLillo's Mao II, published in 1991. One of DeLillo's major themes is that spectacular acts of terrorism are the emerging dominant art form of the world. Mao II foreshadows the world that Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush gave us. Without bin Laden's performative terrorism and W's bumbling, inhumane response, we wouldn't have a convicted felon about to do his best to end the American experiment.
B.S. in Huntington Beach, CA: 1984, by George Orwell.
- Denial of objective reality: The Climate Hoax
- Doublespeak: Alternative facts
- Changing of alliances on a whim: Support for Russia, North Korea and China
- Intimidation of the media: Threats against journalists and various and sundry harassment lawsuits against media outlets
- Loss of personal freedoms and liberty: The Patriot Acts; the Dobbs decision, etc.
K.C. in McKinleyville, CA: We are (and perhaps have been for some time) in the midst of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
A group of oligarchs (the pigs) take everything the people (the animals) have worked for. No one retires, and everyone is urged to work harder, otherwise an unseen nemesis will take it all away. To top it all off, the animals' rights are stripped away little by little, but they hardly notice since no one can read and no one can remember.
This book used to be required reading in school. As a former educator, I wonder if reading any book is required in today's classroom...
Here is the question for next week:
D.S. in Layton, UT, asks: What movies should be revisited to prepare for Trump: The Sequel.
Submit your answers to comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "Film Noir"!