Although it took me almost eleven years to get around to it, there was never any doubt I'd return to Jill Lepore. And what a return it has been.
Lepore's This America: The Case for the Nation is the best book of its kind I've read since 2017 when I consumed Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny soon after its release. Both books are sobering but hopeful and both authors are first rate scholars, astute cultural critics, and compelling writers. And though you can finish either in under a few hours - each is an extended essay in book form - as soon as you finish, I suspect you'll want to reread immediately. I've returned to On Tyranny several times over the last nine years, have already reread This America once and plan to do so a second time before meeting a reading soulmate for a discussion about it next week. Over the coming years, I'm confident I'll return to Lepore's book just as frequently as I have Snyder's. What was the last book you finished that you couldn't wait to return to?
"Patriotism is animated by love, nationalism by hatred."
"The nation is often wrong. But so long as protest is possible, it can always be righted."
"Writing national history creates plenty of problems. But not writing national history creates more problems, and those problems are worse."
How do you know which books will have staying power for you? When a book compels me to write down sentence after sentence - as This America did - I know that book will be with me for a long time.
Adding Lepore to my TBR now. It took me until this year to read On Tyranny, and now I cannot find my copy to write a quote here! Your title of the blog today was a topic of discussion at my book club on Wednesday--what book have you read that stayed with you? Probably my favorite part of the evening discussion :)
ReplyDeleteMarisa; Thanks for the comment; Lepore is a keeper. And how wild that your club recently discussed this exact topic!
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