Man learns about bigotry and interpretation

El libro te cuenta una historia personal de un hombre al que, por cierto motivo, lo empiezan a considerar como judío sin serlo. En un momento en el cual el antisemitismo estaba en auge en Estado Unidos, es un contratiempo crucial para el protagonista ya que su vida cambia de la noche a la mañana. No solo en el trabajo, sino con sus amigos, vecinos e incluso con su propia familia.

Creo que es una gran novela. A mi me ha marcado, ya que te habla de lo frágiles que son las relaciones sociales y lo que cada persona hace, o es capaz de hacer, por mantener una posición social o una reputación, aunque sea a costa de tirar a la basura y machacar emocionalmente (y socialmente) a una persona que considera amiga o, cuanto menos, no tiene nada en contra de la misma.

En resumen, creo que es una buena descripción y análisis de la sociedad donde nos movemos.

¿Qué ves cuando me ves?

interesting examination of anti-semitism and prejudice, wth a main character who is easy to hate but it is interesting to see him change and learn as the novel progresses and his anxieties are realised.

damn. certainly controversial. I’ll have to sit with my thoughts a few more days before I come to a complete conclusion of my thoughts. Definitely a thought-provoking novel.

I came across this novel in a used bookstore and thought the premise sounded fascinating, especially since I've been a fan of Miller's dramatic works. The story follows Lawrence Newman after he awakes in the middle of the night to hearing a screaming woman being assaulted. But since the woman is a minority, he largely seems to pay it no mind. The bachelor enjoys a home in a white Christian neighborhood and works in New York City and is largely successful until his eyesight gets the best of him and he's forced to get glasses. His glasses, as he feared, make him appear more Jewish in the race-obsessed world of the World War II 1940s. What follows is Lawrence's demise as those around him increasingly suspect him to be a Jew and he becomes subjected to the same cruel realities that he perpetuated just months before.

Miller's tale is a classic tale of what it's like to live in another man's shoes but also well layered with reflection by Lawrence as he comes to weigh the meaning behind the white supremacist view and how easily it insinuates itself into the minds of the privileged. Originally published in 1945, there is so much about this book that resonates with the world today that it could have easily been written as today with only slight adjustments.