It Can't Happen Here

De: Sinclair Lewis

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

First published in 1935, when Americans were still largely oblivious to the rise of Hitler in Europe, this prescient novel tells a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and offers an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America.

Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, is dismayed to find that many of the people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state.

©1935 Sinclair Lewis. © renewed 1963 by Michael Lewis (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Cautionary Tale

This book seriously scared the crap out of me. Given the political climate in America today, and the rise of nationalism, demagoguery and the suppression and vilification of the free press, the vision of this story was chilling. I stopped several times throughout and had to re-check again what year this was written. While the language and slang is clearly dated and the lack of technology places it in a clearly different era, this is a strong cautionary tale for today. Grover Gardner's dispassionate delivery of sometimes gruesome events is unnerving at times, and I suppose it was meant to be. Should be required reading for every American voter. #pastmeetspresent #familiardystopia #americanpolitics #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Read this book now

The entire first half of this book mirrors exactly what is going on today in America. The surprising thing is that it was written in 1935.

It’s happening here...

I bought this book right around the 2016 election but I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it until now. This is an important listen because it strikes at the heart of liberal thinking. “It can’t happen here” we say, but the first third of the book has already happened here. We elected a demagogue who has no respect for the free press, Constitution, or democratic transparency, and Buzz Windrip is a perfect stand in for the current president.

While this book is semi-satirical in nature, it hits on truths that we need to wake up and see. After the book progressed past our current situation, I was saying to myself “this can’t happen here.” But now I ask myself, “can it?”

Again, this a work of satirical fiction, but it’s an important listen so we don’t follow the path of Sinclair’s totalitarian future.

an interesting listen but needs a trigger warning

it took me a long time to get into this. the first half of the book was pretty boring in my opinion, filled with lots of exposition and extra details. When it finally gets good, it really holds your attention but there are descriptions of torture and multiple references to r@pe. The ending was a bit confusing too, but it's scary how close we are to some of the things in the book actually happening. hopefully it can be a warning for everyone who reads it.

It's Happening Here

I listened to this book because of the climate within our country. Funny how history repeats its self. I found the comparison of the period this book was written in, to our current state of America.

We thought it couldn't happen here

When we don't learn from the mistakes of our past they come back to haunt us. Be vigilant and remember we are in this together.

prophetic!

amazing look at the cost of not paying attention to the crazy fringes that seem amusing.

Minutemen at the Capitol Building

Minutemen at the Capitol Building might imply that I am taking about January 6th, when insurrectionists in trivium hats invoked 1776 and called for overthrowing the U.S. government. I am not. I am reviewing It Can’t Happen Here. Written in 1935, Sinclair Lewis saw the lurking threat to democracy from NAZI Germany mirrored in authoritarian leaders here. Specifically, Lewis was concerned about Huey Long and rushed to write this great book. Lewis’ Long-type character, Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, after he elected President, invites his private army of minuteman-clad soldiers to arrest his political opponents. Former President Trump asked his attorney general to arrest Joe Biden before the 2020 election.

Huey Long was assassinated in 1935, just as It Can’t Happen Here was going to press. However, his style of dangerous populist machinations continue to haunt us. Robert Penn Warren’s charming and scary hero, Willie Stark, in All the King’s Men is also modeled on Huey Long.

One common theme in authoritarianism is a faux-populism, faking that they cared about the common man. That trend is evidenced by Long, his fictional offspring, George Wallace, and Donald Trump, who called himself a ‘blue collar billionaire’. With a 400 million dollar inheritance, he isn’t blue collar, nor is he a billionaire. Lying is part of the authoritarian package.

Foreshadowing of a Fascist Future.

you'll be amazed at the parallels between that and now the world over. I enthusiasticly recommend this book and the performance by the reader is wonderful

The hell it can't

Ripped from the headlines, only 80+ years in advance. But a Doremus Jessup can never die.