Politics | Book Chatter

Red Pill
By Hari Kunzru
Vintage, 2021, 304pp.

The Short of It:

Kind of a mind trip.

The Rest of It:

“After receiving a prestigious writing fellowship in Germany, the narrator of Red Pill arrives in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and struggles to accomplish anything at all. Instead of working on the book he has proposed to write, he takes long walks and binge-watches Blue Lives,a violent cop show that becomes weirdly compelling in its bleak, Darwinian view of life. He soon begins to wonder if his writing has any value at all.” ~ from the publisher

I am not going to mince words, Red Pill was really hard to get into. It meandered and seemed somewhat dreamlike, to me. Our protagonist is, in my opinion, living the dream getting to do what he supposedly loves, writing, but he’s unfocused and unmotivated and on the verge of going astray.

Relegated to an open office concept to do his work in, he finds himself completely unable to write anything. So, he wanders. Past grave sites, believing that happiness cannot be found on earth. He meets Anton. A very eccentric guy and also the creator of Blue Lives, the violent show that our narrator is obsessed with. After a night of drinking and going from one place to another, our narrator is convinced that Anton is red-pilling his viewers to brainwash them with his alt-right views.

Reality? Fabricated? As I reader, I am not quite sure but our narrator loses his mind. Or maybe his mind was gone all along?

This book came out in 2021 but there are a few passages that I screenshot because they speak directly to those of us concerned about a select few reaping the benefits of what should belong to many.

Paragraph from Red Pill talking about the elite.

The times we are living in now, most definitely benefit the HAVES, not the have nots. Every now and then, as I was cruising along in this book, a truth bomb would drop and I’d be like, oh… yeah. Wow. Red Pill is that type of read. It’s not “in your face”, much more subtle. You will have to dig a little to find meaning.

Did I like it? Honestly, at 60% in I decided to let it go. I wasn’t enjoying it but since it’s a book club pick, I pushed through and then it began to pique my interest. So no, I didn’t love it but as a discussion book, there is plenty to discuss.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Animal Farm
By George Orwell
Berkley, 9780452277502, June 1996, 128 pp.

The Short of It:

History repeats itself.

The Rest of It:

This is probably my third time reading Animal Farm. Why? I don’t know. I seem to be the kind of reader who chooses to read topical books as they relate to real world situations. I read about the plague during the COVID shutdowns. Why not read about tyranny while living through what we are living through now?

In the event that there is anyone reading this who hasn’t read Animal Farm, I will provide a brief synopsis.

A farm full of animals grow tired of the poor care and treatment they receive from their human farmer. They rise up in rebellion and run him off his land.

Leaders emerge. Mainly, Napoleon, a pig who rises up and resembles Stalin. Promises are made. The animals at first idolize him until he begins to draw a select few into his circle. Those select few begin to wield more power. Slowly.

Over time, the wonderful feelings they all shared at being equals and working toward a common goal dissipate and they are left questioning what the truth really is.

Lies. Promises. Propaganda. The changing of rules. Leaders telling you that you heard it wrong or didn’t understand it the first time.

Sound familiar? Orwell was ahead of his time. History repeats itself. Animal Farm is classified as satire. True. In my opinion it’s also a cautionary tale and in this current political climate, it hits right on the nose.

What happens to these animals, the well-meaning “do-ers” breaks my heart. Them being animals, does it soften the blow? Nope. Not one bit. We all want better lives. We want to be able to put food on the table. Raise families to know there is good out there. Call me what you want, but I am a Christian and THIS Christian chooses to love and not hate.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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