Thinking about books that remind me of our time. When I googled these titles, several of them have already appeared in headlines this week:
- Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here, 1935. A hypothetical takeover of America by fascists. Update: it's currently a best-seller at amazon.com.
- Philip Roth, The Plot Against America, 2004. A counter factual history of the era of FDR.
- Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros, 1959. Allegory of fascism as people of a town each become a rhinoceros.
- Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897. Original book can be read as allegorical as people become vampires. (Some films don't really have an allegorical side.)
- H.P.Lovecraft, stories about the takeover of human minds by dark forces. He feared Jews and minorities, and his horrors feature this fear. I blogged about it here: Embracing Lord Cthulhu
- Walter Wanger, producer: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," 1956. Allegory of fascism.
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| Update: Scene from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." |
