A friend suggested a book title saying it was a short, and a culturally relevant read. I was bogged down in the book I was reading so thought…well yes… short and relevant works for me.
Be forewarned if you choose to read this book. It is absolutely short and relevant, but it is also a scary look at what is unfolding before us with this current administration.
Indirectly it leads to reminding you to rediscover what might bring connection in this culture of disconnection. Even amidst the mess, something inside me aches for connection, but I wonder if that is possible and what might my role be?
It would be easy to assume the problem is ‘out there’. But when I confront the harder truth, I see that I am witness to my own failings. I’ve withdrawn further and further as things got uncomfortable. Sure I have written to senators and congressmen, I have participated in a couple of demonstrations and I have read endlessly, but did any on of those truly reach that ears that needed to hear?
We live in a culture that’s increasingly connected digitally but more fractured emotionally. Social media feeds us a constant highlight reel. In recent months I had to stop social media completely. I found I was drowning in an unhealthy emotional spiral. I am surrounded by friends and family caught in the same spiral. To save myself I have limited the amount of news I process daily.
The basic premise of the book is how racism destroys a lifelong friendship; a short and devastating epistolary. It is fiction; the exchange of letters between two friends, an art dealer living in San Francisco and his business partner who has moved back to Berlin, Germany. It takes place over the years 1932 to 1934. How can the story find relevance to us today?
The early letters are full of warmth and deep affection between the two men, two friends. But the longer Martin is in Germany, under the growing influence of Hitler and his ideology, his tone changes to cold nationalism and he eventually rejects Max out of fear and bigotry.
Is that what is happening in our world today? Are we in the midst of this cult behavior? Is there a possibility of light shining out of the obscure dark and gloom?
I will spare you the details of the book as it is truly worth reading/listening to. But with every twist, I pondered my own role in today’s world. How can I respond?
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