You Should Have Left

A short story sold as a widely spaced 111-page book by Daniel Kehlmann. A writer, his wife and daughter move into an Alpine rental. The writer is having trouble delivering on a deadline and keeping his wife happy. He pops into town for supplies and the locals do the “oh, you’re in that house” routine. A kindly old lady gives him the creepy “Get Out” advice, but to no avail. Next comes problems with lighting, angles and spatial relationships. Now there’s no cell phone reception. Now the cell phones gone missing. The wife’s cheating? Who cares? They try to leave but can’t. The wife and kid may be able to. Wait a minute, is this a haunted house, another dimension, or is the writer losing his mind? Again, who cares? Skip this one.

The Plot Against America

Apologies…it’s been a while since we last posted. Obviously the Illumando continued to redefine literary criticism, but our humble scribe had a case of writer’s block so there is no record of those legendary thoughts.

We resume this vital scroll with Philip Roth’s seemingly prescient 2004 novel, The Plot Against America. And it was a delicious plot. Having returned to Roth a few years after discussing Portnoy’s Complaint, we found his pre-ejaculatory self to be as brilliant as the guy who ruined the chopped liver. If you follow what passes for political reporting these days, you might think Roth provided the blueprint for Russia, Russia, Russia half of the media wars. Perhaps his fiction was being imitated, or perhaps it’s not conspiracy theory, but all true…POTUS is a Russian asset. Da, Da, Daaaa! Whatever side you’re on, you are 100% correct and no one will fight with you because you have all the facts and the other guy is stupid. Everybody wins. Everybody loses.

The book? As counter factuals go, this one is riveting. The novel’s realities are believable, and Roth immerses the reader into the atmosphere of his 1940s Weequahic masterfully. We did feel that the ending was rushed. The narrative’s arc goes off a cliff with the entrance of the Lindbergh baby.

As we ran down the dramatis personae, it was Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf who stirred the most debate. The gut reaction was that he was just a sellout. There was some push back on that notion, after all, isn’t pacifism a legitimate position? Not to mention his rousing love of country and reluctance to spill the blood of American boys. Can he be viewed as a sympathetic character? One of our Jewish Illuminado brothers clarified that a Rabbi is charged with maintaining, if not enhancing, the Judaism of his congregants. Under that charge, it’s difficult to defend the compulsory export of said congregants to the Danville, Kentuckys of the world to bale hay, milk cows and eat bacon. Everyone has their role to play, and he doesn’t play his, ergo he is a useful idiot.

Aversion to, or disgust with today’s politics is a legitimate reason to avoid The Plot Against America, but take it from us, you’d be missing something. Enjoy.