"It Can't Happen Here"

[Wolfman 11]

by Sinclair Lewis

I'm reading it with an increasing sense of alarm, and the title is growing more and more urgent with each chapter. Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees Bush and his merry band of cronies as the Buzz Windrip & Co. of 2000. I'm only on Chapter 9, but I already dont like where its going. I'll probably finish it in the next couple of days. I hope a lot of people are reading this book right now. Somehow I don't think that it will be promoted or advertised in any way by any major media outlets.

[realisticphish]

1. fantastic book

loved every page. but also VERY scary. because, the title alone is what a lot of people, EVEN DUERS, are saying about the draft.

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. Incredible book, read it years ago...

here is an HTML version if anyone can't find it
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/l/lewis/sinclair/happen/

BTW, S. Lewis was the first American writer to recieve a Nobel for literature, and he was awarded a Pulitzer, but declined it supposedly because "his novels did not portray America" in the best light (oh, yeah, like Joe Pulitzer gave a shit about that!)


Everyone should read it.

Review from a few years back, obviously pre-*
http://www.motherbird.com/Can%27tHap.htm

[politicat]

3. And if you haven't read it, your next stop is "The Jungle", with Fast Food

Nation for dessert.

Other things haven't come that far, or have come full circle, too.

Pcat

[miss_kitty]

4. I thought this was a Frank Zappa/Suzy Creamcheese thread

[bobbieinok]

5. read it the first year in grad school at the same time I was

taking classes on Germany in the 19th Century and Germany in the 20th century.

Very scary.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Read it ca. 10 years ago, during midnight shift. Same effect as if I were

a kid watching monster movies in the dark. I still have "bug-eyes" from that book.

[CornField]

7. I've heard many people allude to 1984, but I think this is a better

correlation. There's just so much in It Can't Happen Here that's already happening here. LOL!

Here's one of my favorite correlation quotes from the book:

"Remember our war hysteria, when we called sauerkraut ‘Liberty cabbage’ and somebody actually proposed calling German measles, ‘Liberty measles?’ and wartime censorship of honest papers?" ~ page 21