While reading fiction, have you noticed politically-charged themes?

[CornField]

I'm going to admit something to everyone: I'm a book geek. Three hundred pages are nothing... one night if they are well written. I also have this affinity for women detective novels (Patricia Cornwell, Edna Buchanan, Janet Evanovich, Kathy Reichs, etc.)

What I've discovered, especially in the books written post-9/11, is the appearance of new little politically-charged themes. Typically they are not the main plot, but added in as sub-plots. For example, in one of the Reichs' books, Tempe Brennan (a forensic anthropologist) goes off on a tangent about stem cell research.

I guess I'm curious if those themes have always appeared in mainstream literature and I didn't really take notice of them or if this is new happening. Thoughts?

[Owlet]

1. It's a more politically-charged environment

I don't suppose fiction writers are any more immune to it than the restg of us. You can see the same phenomenon in novels set back in the late 30's. Funny..we now call those 'pre-war' years. Hmmm..

[Florida_Geek]

2. I have stopped reading Tom Chancy and others RW writers

when they get off topic and start on the pro-life shit, I close the book.