Who gives a shit about a political novel? Every so often I think, “I should be writing something political.” Something that intersects with the real world in a certain way that lays out political ideas. A ladder has three rungs, corresponding to the development of a man’s thoughts: the lowest is Aesthetics — as a child and teenager he figures out what is Good in music, art, movies, literature. What has an affect on him, develops his taste. Then he ascends one rung to Ethics: what is Good behavior for the individual. These can be hard lessons and take a long time. Lots of mistakes. But he should be tending toward an understanding of what is Good. The third and top rung to climb is Politics: what is Good behavior between people. How can behavior be organized in groups and systems to seek the Good in life. How can authority be established and laws and principles that progress (or react to progress) for the group.
There's a lot to unpack here, Jesse. I don't mind a novel with a message, as long as it's not "on the nose", then I feel I'm being preached to and my eyes glaze over, indeed. Which is why, for me, the books that strike a political chord are often set in a world that is not our own, or not exactly our world. 1984, Handmaid's Tale, or Fahrenheit 451 hit fascism hard because they ask us to take a jump into what might be (and often seems to be now... not when the books were written). I'll go even further: I cringe when I read a political line in a book that is not political. It makes me feel like the author tries to be relevant or current and it comes across as a throwaway and fake. Give me John Le Carré instead who shows cynicism and duplicity through people, not ponderous ideological screeds.
There's a lot to unpack here, Jesse. I don't mind a novel with a message, as long as it's not "on the nose", then I feel I'm being preached to and my eyes glaze over, indeed. Which is why, for me, the books that strike a political chord are often set in a world that is not our own, or not exactly our world. 1984, Handmaid's Tale, or Fahrenheit 451 hit fascism hard because they ask us to take a jump into what might be (and often seems to be now... not when the books were written). I'll go even further: I cringe when I read a political line in a book that is not political. It makes me feel like the author tries to be relevant or current and it comes across as a throwaway and fake. Give me John Le Carré instead who shows cynicism and duplicity through people, not ponderous ideological screeds.