Fiction Writing Reflects The Times

One of my favorite college courses was one I took one summer at UCLA.  It was a political science course, that integrated art, science, music and literature into the political and social climate of the times.  I have thought about that course many times over the past 50 years.  I wish I could remember who the professor was.  His course had a profound impact on me.

Now, 50 years later, I am taking a literature course through Brandeis University.  The course is titled, American Bestsellers.  It attempts to do what my UCLA professor did 50 years ago.  He will help us discover how the social and political thinking of the times influences what is written, and how some of that writing can influence politics.

The first book we will discuss is The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.  The book is about the deplorable conditions of the meat packing industry in Chicago at the turn of the century.  No doubt this book did much to change law in this industry.  I read the book in college, probably for a sociology class, but I will reread it before our Brandeis discussion.  It will be interesting to see how I view it 50 years later. 

Other books that we will be discussing include Uncle Tom's Cabin, To Kill a Mockingbird,Gone With the Wind and Huckleberry Finn.  All of these books delve into racial inequality in some form another.  It's not surprising that here we are, 100 years + after some of these books were written, and society is still grappling with the same issues.  It's hard to look at a best seller list today without finding books about racial inequity.  One recent book that comes to mind is The Help, a bestseller just a few years ago.

I love this Brandeis study group.  It really gets me thinking.  There are so many smart women in the group, with interesting opinions to share.I find it fascinating to read and reflect on how current social and political attitudes influence our literature.  Happy reading, all.