recommendation please: novel that is progressive without being blatant

[rainy]

I'm in a neighborhood book group. I'm wondering if anyone here has any suggestions about great books, novels, that may have a progressive slant without being blatant as most members are republicans.
Can anyone help?

[LSK]

1. 1984

Maybe a little blatant. :rofl:

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. But the Republicans can take is as a warning against communism

In fact, the problem is that they might take it as a warning only against communism, in which case it won't help educate them much. Perhaps ti could help subconsciously.

[moonlady0623]

2. The Fifth Sacred Thing

by Starhawk.....presented as a futuristic novel, it would certainly give ample food for conversation!

[ClassWarrior]

3. The Constant Gardener.

NGU.

[LiberalHeart]

4. The Monkey Wrench Gang

[sweetheart]

5. "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau

That is not too blatant, and rather original transcendentalist american to boot.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/WALDEN/hdt02.html

[CrispyQ]

6. "We the People: A Call to Take Back America" by Thom Hartmann

This is a great refresher on civics. It's written in a comic book style, so it's a quick read. It covers topics such as consent of the governed, the Commons, corporate personhood, election fraud. There are two excerpts on this site:

http://www.we-the-people-book.com/main/free_excerpt.htm


on edit: my right wing mother finds Thom Hartmann to be "very reasonable." ~gasp!! Any of Thom's books are good, but another good one would be "What Would Jefferson Do?"
http://www.amazon.com/What-Would-Jefferson-Do-Democracy/dp/1400052092/sr=8-1/qid=1159396941/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3159725-6152769?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Robbien]

7. Go with Thom Hartman--What is happening to the middle class

"Middle Class" was, until recently, a description that most Americans felt described them. We all felt we were middle class if we had a steady income, a decent home, and a shot at an even better life. But today, as Thom Hartmann helps us understand, the middle class reality is slipping away. As author Paul Loeb has written, Hartmann's new book, Screwed, "explores why, showing how this is no accidental process, but rather the product of conscious political choices, choices we can change with enough courage and commitment. Like all of Thom's great work it helps show us the way forward."

http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/305

[Lex]

8. Generally, what kinds of books has your group read in the past?

Just to get a flavor of what your group normally reads.

[rainy]

12. we read novels that have gotten to paperback. the usual top

novels on the NYT.

[Lex]

16. The Kite Runner or Blacklist (Paretsky) or The Secret Life of Bees

would be three suggestions that might fit the bill for you.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. Being There

[Journeyman]

10. "Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow. . .

set at the turn of the 20th century, it is a novel about the future America, the bicentennial America in which it was published, it's problems and challenges, and the means by which we may address their resolution. It is a determinedly pro-peace novel (as opposed to anti-war), and offers insights and solutions for issues as vast as poverty and idle wealth, as intractable as racism and political corruption -- all without preaching, all without heavy-handed polemics. The key to understanding it lies in knowing whose story is being told, and what the wonder is in baseball.

[Sir Jeffrey]

11. I really thought "Looking Backward" was good...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Backward

It is old, but it puts to rest the idea that pre-FDR days were something worth returning to.

[Momgonepostal]

13. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

I don't know that I'd label it particularly political, but it chronicles a very poor family, who work their tails off. It puts a very human and sympathetic face on the poor, with a few jabs at the type of people who look down on them for being lazy. I think it's one of the best books I've ever read. Here's a description:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780060736262&itm=1

[Lex]

17. I read this and then next read Willa Cather's O Pioneers!

One about a family struggling to make it in the big city at the turn of the century, the other about a family struggling to make it in the American West at approximately the same time. Quite a juxtapostion but thought-provoking.

Anyway, I loved them both and I don't know why I hadn't read them in high school or college.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. Sister Carrie

Theodor Dreiser...

Rainy... Clyde Edgerton

Joe... Larry Brown

On edit... Huckleberry Finn
You can't get much more progressive.

[tech3149]

15. Have you read any Homer Hickam?

He authored Rocket Boys (the story for the "October Skys" movie) and quite a few others after retiring from NASA. My favorite is "Back to the Moon". It's sort of sci-fi, heavy on the science, with great charachter developement and some great emotional hooks. Another might be Dean Koontz "Dark Rivers of the Heart" that reflects the dark side of government that we are seeing today. In a more historical vein, Jeff Biggers "The United States of Appalachia" that details the social and cultural contribution of the "mountain people" that are so often derided as inbred backwoods people. You could also go with almost anything from Thom Hartmann.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

18. Got to meet him a few times...

He does signings and talks at a local indie bookstore where I live. Great guy.

[tech3149]

23. I envy you Tom

I was blown away by his writing and we had some email conversations and I'll agree.

[Arkham House]

19. It Can't Happen Here

[CrispyQ]

26. Yes!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[loyalsister]

20. For satire and humor....

Tom Robbins gives great commentary on American culture AND the religious right.
Another Roadside Attraction> Your group has to be really open-minded for this! It's an interesting tale of mobster monks and a guy who steals a mummy.
Skinny Legs and All> An Arab and a Jew who own a restaurant together!
Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas> He gets into the stock market and health care.
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates> A guy lives in a Convent located on the border of Iraq and Syria where the nuns have been excommunicated from the Vatican for advocating birth control.

[Hamlette]

21. Life of Pi, anything my Ian McEwan,

Like Atonement, Enduring Love, (not overtly political, great discussion material) A Delicate Balance, God of Small Things, Lord of the Flies, Unbearable Lightness of Being, anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez especially Love in the time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude,
anything by Isabel Allende, The Corrections,

I'm sure I've missed the best...but got to get back to work!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

22. "Animal Farm" George Orwell

"The Wizard of Oz" L. Frank Baum

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Ken Kesey.