Books for...A Protest!

In honor of my attempts to be an informed citizen, my chronic stick-it-to-the-man-eosis, and my new obsession with HAIR, today’s books are all about social change, civil unrest, peace, war, and other things that get people all riled up. So counteract the summer brain cell depletion, pick up one of these sometimes inspiring, sometimes disturbing novels and get passionate – agree, disagree, whatever. If there’s one thing these books are sure to make a reader do, it’s feel something – you just can’t be exactly sure how you’ll feel about these controversial reads until you reach the back cover. (Apologies for the non-sequitor image. In the absence of a good photo of a hippie reading a book, I opted for the epitome in nerd glasses – something I’d protest in favor of!)

BOOKS TO READ…

…AT A PROTEST!

• THE READER by Bernhardt Schlink: Though I haven’t seen the movie, I count this book, originally written in German, as one of the most moving and question-inspiring books I’ve read in a long, long time. There are so many issues here: age and love, age and sex, guilt, circumstance, leadership, atrocity, secret, justice, and so many more. Told from the perspective of an older man, this book covers the affair he narrator had with a older woman when he was a young teen, and then her trial for heinous crimes years later when the narrator is a law student. The most compelling question this book asks of the reader: do we ever really know the people we love? Do we ever really know anyone?

• JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN by Dalton Trumbo: A smart, savvy book written about World War I for which the author was blacklisted and exiled to Mexico, this is close to the best anti-war argument I’ve ever heard. It was a pioneering exercise in the stream-of-consciousness style: if you like James Frey’s style, you will love Trumbo’s. It’s essentially about an extreme quadriplegic, but it is action filled, scary, and moving. Visceral, grim, heartfelt, and powerful, this book cuts no one any slack: even in the last action of the book, the book’s outlook on people is unflinchingly unsympathetic – but also unapologetically true.

• THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien: The genre is certainly over-done, but this is the best book about war I have ever read. And I do NOT like books about war. The tale of a group of Vietnam soldiers both during the war and after, this is what Apocalypse Now would be if it had the smarts and emotion to be a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Like a friendlier Hemingway with none such romantic sympathies, O’Brien crafts characters that will haunt the reader just like the emotional events he chronicles haunt his characters. A deep and important book – and for summer, a quite ambitious one.

• FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser: Before the craze of books and movies about food and its supposed origins, there was this book. Not a novel, as the movie based upon this non-fiction quasi-expose seems to imply, it is the immediate and emotional story of all that goes into the world of fast food: from the corporations to the undocumented workers, from the cattle cruelty to the science behind the flavors. It is both informative and disgusting, and be warned: I have honestly not eaten a meal at any of the “restaurants” mentioned in this book since I read it nearly four years ago. It’s that persuasive.

• LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold: I didn’t want to read this book at first. A girl who gets raped and murdered, I thought, no thank you. And it’s told from her perspective? When she’s DEAD? Not so much. But gave it a second chance, and it was well worth it: this is an innovative, artistic, and moving novel about youth, love, contentment, and family. Though I still have issues with one scene at the end, I love these characters, the sister Lindsay especially. This is a book to make you think certainly, a book that makes you question, but also a book that makes you laugh, cry, and believe. My favorite line, just one of lots of powerful language: “Our only kiss was like an accident: a beautiful gasoline rainbow.”

Thanks for picking up a book and making me believe in the world, friends! I hope you enjoy a few of my selections. As always, I’d love to hear from you. Peace! Next installment:

BOOKS TO READ…

…IN A FIELD!