The Iron Heel | 
"Congress and the Senate were empty pretences, farces. Public questions were gravely debated and passed upon according to the old forms, while in reality all that was done to give the stamp of constitutional procedure to the mandate of the Oligarchy."
-Jack London, "The Iron Heel"
#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern
It might be time to re-read this... ??
This LitHub article quotes from the book: "The incumbents refused to get out. It was very simple. They merely charged illegality in the elections and wrapped up the whole situation in the interminable red tape of the law." Sounds familiar! ?
https://lithub.com/how-jack-london-foresaw-the-anti-democratic-future-with-the-i...
The world is ours, we are its lords, and ours it shall remain. As for the host of labor, it has been in the dirt since history began and it shall remain so long as I and mine and those that come after us have the power. There is the word. It is the king of words - Power. Not God, not Mammon, but Power. Pour it over your tongue till it tingles with it. Power. (1910. The USA)
bailedI‘ve been listening to this one for the last few days when walking as much as possible across my empty city - until we‘re not longer allowed to.
The book is a kind of socialist essay and it is absolutely not the right book at the moment in which it is hard to concentrate on anything. So I am bailing and start looking for an easier audiobook. #1001books
This socialist novel is very different from the Jack London stories with which I‘m familiar. I‘ve been listening to it the last few days on my walks.
#Reading1001 #TBRTakedown June 2019
#1001books #Hoopla #audiobook #audiowalk
Gotta love Serial's celebratory graphics.
I read this in the early '90s, so I'm a bit sketchy on details, but I'm wondering if London's vision of a USA crushed under the iron heel of fascism might be a little bit prescient? Also, #burnedbythenazis
#bannedbooks
I'm starting #2018 with the Serial Reader app. I love this app so much! Classics in small doses is such a good idea.
With all these #LitsyPenPals, I'm really going to have to be better about checking my mail.
Thank you @quirkyreader for the book and card. I've not heard of the book, but it sounds great! And of course I love the Harry Potter bookmark.
And I also got a sweet thank you note from @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks - albeit totally unnecessary. Thank YOU for organizing #LitsyPaysItForward.
pickI'm having trouble ranking this, as it was uneven. There were some frighteningly prescient passages, and some quotable bits, but overall it was too preachy for my taste. London's imagination also failed to update technology any making telegraphs and hot air balloons the epitome of high tech. Considered the first modern dystopian novel, it is worth reading once. #resist
Even though this was written in 1906, it's scarily appropriate for our current political situation. The duly elected Governor of my state almost had this happen, and it was weeks after the election before the incumbent, with bad grace, conceded. #resist
I tend to have multiple books going at once, but this is my eBook #currentread. #riotgrams @Liberty
So very relevant today it hurts...
so-soThis was a weird read--a "story" written by a woman heavily involved in the rebellion against a 20th century American dystopian society. Having been written over 100 years ago, the technology is very dated. The Iron Heel sounds like a society Trump would appreciate, making it timely. #1001books read number 160.
Ever the geographer, I had to see if this is a real place. Chauvet Road is there--as is London Ranch Road. Turns out Jack London bought a ranch in this area 2 years before this book was published. He added more acres over the years. Now there's even a Jack London State Historic Park. Also, I want to go there.
Trending today in #SerialReader: the author of Call of the Wild pens the grim story of oligarchic tyranny in the future U.S. The narrative is first-person, seen through the eyes of a woman: Avis Everhard.
Written in 1908, The Iron Heel is one of the first modern dystopian novels and a forerunner of scifi stories to come.
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