The Book Page

By Wayz

February 5, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

The Manchurian Candidate

By Tim

February 5, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men - It gets at home the process corrupts even the best men.

By Jeff

February 5, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this

I like some of the political ideas presented by Clancy in Without Remorse, Debt of Honor, and Executive Orders, though those are not ‘political’ novels. Come to think of it, Clear and Present Danger was as much a political thriller as a military techno-thriller. (Without much of the political decisions, most of the action in that book CAN NOT happen, at least as I remember it - it has been a WHILE since I read it!)

Same with Dale Brown’s Warrior Class and subsequent books. (Inlcuding the new non-Mclanahan series he is working on.)

As far as more truly ‘political’ novels: Vote of Intolerance by Josh McDowell was very influential early on. As was Frank Peretti’s The Prophet. Paul Robertson’s The Heir was very suspenseful. Bill Myers’ Eli will make you question the link between government and religion.

Now, crossing over into the movie realm, both The Contender and The American President are two of my all time favs.

By Anne

February 5, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this

The Manchurian Candidate was my absolute favorite, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird. Of course, you can’t leave out Lord of the Flies, Atlas Shrugged or Brave New World. All great books, some harder to read than others. I guess I should mention 1984 because that book really scared me the first time I read it…which was in middle school.

By Anne

February 5, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this

Jeff, you always bring up the best books! I really like all of Clancy’s novels and have just started reading The Heir. I’m going to check out Eli, since you’ve recommended it. I like just about all of Frank Peretti’s books as well.

By Eric

February 5, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

Several of the late Brian Moore’s novels are very good political thrillers. “The Color of Blood” and “No Other Life” have a good degree of sophistication about political and religious matters while being highly readable and entertaining.

By kerry

February 5, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this

I recently read The Race, Richard North Patterson, and found familiar themes: a rogue POTUS cnadidate, a fundamentalist and a career politician. Very good.

By Journ

February 5, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this

I really enjoyed a little known book called The Fourth K by Mario Puzo. A fictionalize nephew of JFK has been elected President and is faced with the unthinkable. Well, in 1990 it was unthinkable… today, quite possible. I don’t want to give it away, but something shocking (on the level of 9/11) happens. I still remember two lines from the book…

“The core of his mind cracked” and “the root of all evil comes from man’s desire to do good” That book gave me chills…

I think I will re-read it.

By Boxer

February 5, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this

Animal Farm is brilliant. Even before I knew the deepest symbolism, I loved it.

1984 isn’t as good to me overall. The first few chapters are fine and the last chapter is utterly fantastic, but the stuff in the middle seems to drag. He loved Big Brother, though, may be the greatest line ever to end a book.

Stephen King’s The Dead Zone has an interesting premise: Can an assassination ever be the right thing to do?

By chloe

February 5, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this

What about “All the President’s Men”

By Jeff

February 5, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this

Boxer:

I had forgotten about the political strife of Dead Zone! Thanks for reminding me! GREAT book! (And, for all those who are afraid of King because his books are somewhat scary, Zone is a pure political thriller with a medical/sci-fi twist.)

By Phil Kloer

February 5, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

Chloe: Nothing against “All the President’s Men,” but it’s non-fiction. Once we get into political non-fiction we get into patisanship, and I wanted this to be more about novels, which usually operate differently.

By Mary

February 5, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this

“Horton Hears a Who,” and “The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel.”

By Kate

February 5, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

Yes, Dr. Suess, that’s a good one, Mary. Another one is The Butter Battle Book.

By Steven

February 5, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

Orhan Pamuk’s Snow

By Noelle

February 5, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this

I don’t read a lot of fiction, but one I enjoyed a lot sprang to mind: “The Pelican Brief” by John Grisham. It’s often misclassified as a legal thriller because that’s his usual genre, but it’s really a political story.

I definitely need to go back and read some of the political classics I missed: “Seven Days in May,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Primary Colors,” and “All the King’s Men,” at minimum.

There are a lot of novels (particularly dystopian novels) that have a strong political basis but that I wouldn’t call “political.” “1984” is in that category, along with “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Brave New World,” “Farenheit 451,” and similar tales. They’re social stories with politics as a backdrop.

By Jeff

February 5, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this

Noelle:

I could be wrong on this one, but I remember Pelican more for the legal thriller aspect and don’t really remember any political thriller aspect. I read that one sometime back around late ES/ early MS though, so I could be wrong. (Something like 10-15 years ago.)

By Noelle

February 5, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this

Jeff: “The Pelican Brief” was a legal brief, written by a law student, that figured out who was behind the assassinations of two Supreme Court justices (a businessman with close ties to the President and his Chief of Staff). It’s full of political intrigue, without much in the legal realm beyond the brief itself. No courtrooms, no law firms — just the student trying to keep from getting killed, a reporter trying to protect her and get the story, and all the political fallout.

By blacksheep

February 5, 2008 4:13 PM | Link to this

All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.

By BPJ

February 5, 2008 4:37 PM | Link to this

I agree, All the King’s Men is as good as it gets - a book to reread.

Primary Colors was an excellent novel, and doesn’t need to stand on the resemblance to actual people. The reviews before it was known who wrote it were generally glowing; after the press learned it was by one of their own (Joe Klein), they seemed to want to take it down a notch. Jealous journalists with unpublished novels in a drawer?

Here’s an enjoyable comic political novel you may not have heard of: The Floating Island, by Garrett Epps. Fine satire of life in our nation’s capital, inspired by Swift.

By Stephanie

February 5, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

The great spy novelist Charles McCarry wrote “Shelley’s Heart,” which came out in the mid-1990s. It is a fascinating story about an increasingly partisan society, with far-left and far-right elements battling for control of the country when it is discovered that a secretive group manipulated the votes in an extremely close presidential election. The story is intriguing and well-written, and it is a great cautionalry tale about what happens when political differences are taken to the extreme.

By lawyerdaggett

February 5, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this

1984 hands down. It never grow old and never will.

By lawyerdaggett

February 5, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this

1984 hands down. It never grows old and never will.

By Anna Burke

February 6, 2008 1:00 AM | Link to this

For classics, “All the King’s Men” is def. the best. But for contemporary fiction, anything by Richard North Patterson. His latest, “The Race,” is an insightful look at how American politics works today. (Or maybe not… Go Obama!)