With Newt’s success in South Carolina yesterday, I started thinking about his old science fiction novel 1945.
I bought it shortly after it came out. It was one of the year’s best sellers but, according to WLW, was the number one title in books returned for store credit (unable to find proof of that). The saleswoman gave me a disgusted snort when I paid for it. You’d think with people buying Penthouse and Atlas Shrugged, she would keep her opinions to herself but she must have had a thing for Newt.
It’s hard to separate the book from the author (actually co-author). It’s deeply researched but terribly written. You’d think Newt would be able to describe a love scene but women are presented like aliens, as if the book had been written by a 15-year-old boy who lived with his father in a lighthouse and only saw glimpses of females through a telescope.
What killed Newt’s chances of having the book taken seriously is that Robert Harris’ Fatherland came out about the same time. I wasn’t as wild about Fatherland as many reviewers but it was superior to 1945 in just about every way. The action of 1945 is stronger and the setting is the U.S. (if that’s a draw for you) but that’s about all you say for it. Harris’ characters run towards stereotypes but even the worst of them is better than anything Newt can muster up. Harris’ research probably wasn’t that much better than Newt’s but it’s focused while Newt’s is much broader. Harris comes across as far more credible. The dialogue, especially with women, isn’t a contest. Harris might not be a literary master of dialogue but he comes out that way in comparison.
Overall my verdict on 1945 is the same as voting for Newtie–a few shiny points but I’d recommend against it.
I have a soft spot for alternate history so I liked it. I actually talked to the co-author Bill Forstchen once through e-mail. He said that Newt Gingrich doesn’t really write any of his fiction books. Just slaps his name on them.
By: Ron on January 22, 2012
at 6:25 pm
To be fair William Shatner and JFK had their books ghostwritten for them but at least they delivered (not that Tekwars was a great series but it was all you could expect from the subject). It serves him right–if he had just written about having affairs instead of actually having them, his numbers would be higher.
By: Mark on January 23, 2012
at 1:57 pm