Below are my top 4 political fiction novels, with a partial copy of 1 review at Amazon for each one (2 books are now available combined into 1 book, because 1 is so short). Please feel free to post your personal favorites, so I can add to my future reading list: - - 1. George Orwells 1984 and Animal Farm novels (combined into 1 book for the 50-year anniversary edition): It comes with a fine introduction by today's leading Orwell enthusiast, Christopher Hitchens [For Animal Farms] 80-odd pages, you may as well pick up [both] in the same volume Orwell was a man of the left who understood something that many [others on the left] did not [in 1948]; that what had arisen in the Soviet Union was a regime unprecedented in its horror...Orwell's books paralleled actual events in the USSR with chilling accuracy [including] the rewriting of the past to reaffirm the infallibility of the Party, the sudden reorienting of national propaganda to suit the latest twist of foreign policy, and the complete elimination of all references to those decreed never to have existed. - - 2. John Irvings The Cider House Rules: It amazes me how Irving can broach topics like adoption, abortion, love, faithfulness, etc. with such empathy and balance. This is the only discussion I've ever encountered of abortion, pro or con, that zeroed in on the core issue, then explored both sides of it in such an enlightening manner. And although abortion is a major theme in this novel this book is about rules. It doesn't matter whether you're liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between. Irving will make you think, and give you a chance to question and refine some of your own views. - - 3. John le Carres The Constant Gardener: Le Carre exposes the reality behind the masks worn by so many of the [characters] Tessa begins to emerge as something much greater than anyone ever gave her credit for being. [Her husband] Justin faces his own shortcomings when it comes to dealing with the bigger issues of our time. And in this discovery, he finds himself coming up short in comparison to Tessa, who never ran or shirked her role in battling the truly nasty, vile things facing Africa Le Carre spares neither the UN, his own government nor the people on the ground, supposedly trying to help bring Africa into the 21st century. The role of the giant pharmaceutical companies is mercilessly depicted The insights into people, the depiction of the UN aid effort, and why it often fails to reach the people needing it most make this a timely and absorbing read.
