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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Monday, March 08, 2021


Just Finished Reading: It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (FP: 1935) [381pp]

He was the town Liberal, the town intellectual, the town wise-ass and the town’s newspaper editor. Doremus Jessop was part laughed at, part ignored and, by a few, admired for his stand, his views. But this was an election year and the stakes were too high for Jessops kind of mocking humour. The big surprise came with the Democratic nomination. Roosevelt was out and in his place was Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip who promises to restore America’s place in the world, to ensure that it could defend itself against any other country that wanted to try its luck, and to tackle corruption, greedy bankers, the Communist media and anyone not pulling their weight in the countries great reconstruction. What was more he promised each citizen $5,000 whilst increasing defence spending and cutting taxes. Anyone who had the gall to question his maths was labelled a defeatist or worse. Jessop just laughed. No one, he said publically, could fall for such obvious nonsense. When President Windrip was subsequently elected in a landslide Jessop was convinced that his policies would fall flat and that he’d soon be forced back into the real world. When Congress voted against the first attempt to consolidate power purely in the Presidents hands they were declared traitors and arrested. Jessop was convinced that this was, finally, the end of Windrip. He had finally gone too far and his loyal supporters would surely now abandon him. But Jessop was wrong, and this was only the beginning….

I’d heard about this book for a while and picked it up on its republication in 2017 where it was labelled as ‘eerily prescient’ obviously referring to the recent rise of Trump. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Lewis certainly had a good feel for the process of the slide into authoritarianism mostly based on the rise of both Mussolini and (somewhat less so given the publication date) Hitler. I think he also nailed the reaction of both the liberal voices – expecting ‘common sense’ to prevail – and those of the more authoritarian bent who took notice and took advantage of events. I think the author also nailed the psychological make up of members of both sides and the whole evolution of the plot played out pretty much as I would’ve expected it to in real life. I imagine at the time of publication the author came in for a lot of scorn – the very idea that something like that could possibly happen in the freedom loving United States – as well as howls of protest. I also imagine that a significant number of readers where turning pages and nodding sagely, saying to themselves that it could indeed ‘happen here’.

The rise of and desire for authoritarian leaders or governments is not an Italian thing, a German thing or a Russian thing. Nor is it a European, Old World thing. It is, I’m afraid, a human thing. ‘It’ could happen anywhere even with the historical 20-20 vision of 20th century knowledge of where such things lead. Could it have happened in the US in the 1930’s? Possibly. Could it still happen….? Well, I think we all know the answer to that one. From my (as usual admittedly scant) knowledge of US politics, culture and history it does seem to me that there’s a distinct authoritarian desire in the American psyche. It probably dates from the Puritans and their deep seated fear that someone somewhere was having fun. There seems to be a harking back to some mythical age of order and obedience to and respect for authority that was supposedly lost in the 1960’s and 70’s. Unfortunately genies are notoriously difficult to entice back into their bottles. Of course this doesn’t stop authoritarians trying to do so. They’ll fail – of course – because both history and, more importantly, demographics are against them. I wonder how long it will take for that message to finally sink in. Personally I’m not holding my breath on that one. Definitely recommended for an interesting insight into part of the soul of America. More Lewis to come I think..    

8 comments:

Judy Krueger said...

Great review! I have read quite a bit of Lewis, but only books published after 1940. He is quite a writer.

James said...

While I enjoyed some of Lewis's great American novels like Main Street and Arrowsmith, I found this one disappointing with its overly broad satire that seemed somewhat simple-minded. However, the reality of our current President and his minions who hide in a capitol that is guarded by barbed wire fences and troops suggests that we may yet see something like Lewis's vision in our future.

mudpuddle said...

Lewis must have had a crystal ball... pretty smart guy... i've not read him much: another to go on the list.

CyberKitten said...

@ Judy: Thanks. I have around 6 weeks to 'ruminate' on each review and then splurge my thoughts onto a 'page'. That's too long I think. I really want to get it down to less than 4 weeks so I need to reduce my blacklog by quite a bit. Presently holding @ 12 books but I am endeavouring to read larger ones so maybe its starting to work? There's a few more of his works on my radar. Not sure when I'll get around to them though.

@ James: The two you mentioned are now on my 'interest' list. Not sure when I'll get around to them though. The fences and troops in DC were, I understand, put in place prior to the present incumbent taking office and are the result of the capitol riot on 6th Jan by the previous incumbents fan boys & girls... so you can hardly point the finger at Biden for that one. The only thing you could say is that he hasn't ordered them removed (yet) but I understand they're arguing presently on what, if anything, needs to be done about the apparent on-going threat(s)..... I guess we'll see.

@ Mudpuddle: I thought this was pretty good. It can certainly be read with '1984' and 'Brave New World' in that context. I'm going to try to read at least 5 classics this year (only 3 last year which isn't good) but they should be a pretty mixed bag in plans go to... plan.


James said...

Main Street, especially, is a classic and perhaps his best. Babbit and Elmer Gantry are two others that are narrated with broader and bolder strokes, yet are worthy of your consideration. Beginning at the end of the "Roaring Twenties" decade, Lewis's novels became weaker, and I can only recommend them to someone who is a completist.

There are those authors whose artistry never flags, sometimes with their quality increasing through their final works. In my reading, I would include Dickens, Mann, and the great Russians (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov) on that short list.

CyberKitten said...

@ James: I'm definitely becoming a fan of Dickens. I *loved* 'Tale of Two Cities' and picked up his entire collection a few years back and intend to work my way through them. I tried some Tolstoy ages ago but it didn't stick. I really need to circle back and give some of these writers a second, or third, chance.

Stephen said...

I don't think there's a distinct authoritarian desire in the American psyche...it used to be quite the opposite. That's what saved us from the Klan in the 1920s. They were the closest thing we ever had to a fascist movement, but the Klan's 'true Americanism' also meant as soon as one muckety-muck annoyed somone, they'd start a rival Klan chapter. As huge as the Klan was in the 1920s, it was just a catchall name for dozens and dozens of little organizations. Of course, decades of war and urbanization have made us more tolerant of the innate weakness humans have for Leaders. City people, by nature of their circumstances, are more readily tolerant of being led than rural people. They depend more on systems that have to be managed. there are more people in smaller places who need meditators, etc.

CyberKitten said...

@ Stephen: I think we'll need to agree to disagree on that.... [grin] I'll see if I can find anything in my travels to back up my thoughts a bit more. I could be wrong of course, not being from around there, but we'll see. It could just be an impression from various books & news shows.