I've actually started on 1632 and, in fact, hit a snag. Stalled out.
And here's why.
While it's true enough that this isn't a right-wing book, per se, in the crushing contempt the protagonist feels for his new brother-in-law's parents, but . . .
It's a very populist book.
Now, populism can be a postive trait in a political movement. Unions are a populist movement. But populism can be divisive, overly-concerned with masculinity, and anti-intellectual. Don't forget that fascism was a populist movement (though how populist a movement can be when it calls for government-corporate collusion to set and implement state policy is another topic altogether).
You can immediately see the populist stirrings not only in the protagonist and his friends' reactions to their sudden change in time (what the hell happened? get the guns!), but also in the racial makeup of the initial characters introduced. Which is to say, the only good minorities are the ones that are both street-smart and 'lifted themselves up by their boostraps', whatever the hell that means. While I don't want to say token or model minority, it's not like it's that far of a leap.
So: going to try to finish 1632. I think that my main problem with the story so far isn't all of that, but that the protagonist just doesn't sing to me so far the way a good protagonist should.
-murmur
And here's why.
While it's true enough that this isn't a right-wing book, per se, in the crushing contempt the protagonist feels for his new brother-in-law's parents, but . . .
It's a very populist book.
Now, populism can be a postive trait in a political movement. Unions are a populist movement. But populism can be divisive, overly-concerned with masculinity, and anti-intellectual. Don't forget that fascism was a populist movement (though how populist a movement can be when it calls for government-corporate collusion to set and implement state policy is another topic altogether).
You can immediately see the populist stirrings not only in the protagonist and his friends' reactions to their sudden change in time (what the hell happened? get the guns!), but also in the racial makeup of the initial characters introduced. Which is to say, the only good minorities are the ones that are both street-smart and 'lifted themselves up by their boostraps', whatever the hell that means. While I don't want to say token or model minority, it's not like it's that far of a leap.
So: going to try to finish 1632. I think that my main problem with the story so far isn't all of that, but that the protagonist just doesn't sing to me so far the way a good protagonist should.
-murmur