Recommendations of the Month

Dear readers,

It seems that every week I report back saying that life has been stressful and the time to read and reflect is near non-existent. I’m afraid this week has been much of the same. More sleep deprivation, more colds, accumulated tiredness. I was going to write a full review of Robert Hugh Benson’s The Lord of the World as my post for this week, but instead, I thought I’d combine a briefer version of that with a paired-down version of my monthly recommendations. I am hoping (eventually) to film a video review of Benson’s novel, but that will probably have to wait until the final week of June. For those of you who are paid subscribers, I also have another film club review coming up later this month, so stay tuned for that.

The past month and a half has definitely been about quality over quantity in my household. So while I normally try to recommend a host of examples of great storytelling (and generally great writing), this time I am skipping non-fiction books and essays, as well as poetry. Instead, I have one novel and one tv show to tell you about, both of which I really love.

Novel: Benson’s The Lord of the World (1907)

The premise of this novel is hard to explain without giving too much away. It’s normally described as dystopian fiction, the lesser-known cousin to other 20th-century dystopian novels like Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World. It is that in the sense that it envisions a much-changed future British society (and in ways that I personally find much more disturbing than either Orwell’s or Huxley’s imagined future worlds), but it’s perhaps best described as eschatological literature. The story mostly follows three characters: Oliver Brand, an English politician; his wife Mabel; and Percy Franklin, a Catholic priest. The world envisioned by Benson is one in which a majority of the population has adopted a kind of secular humanism as their ‘religion’; all other faith traditions have basically disappeared, with the exception of a small minority of Catholics, most of whom live in Rome. On paper, the fall of organised religion should have made society more civilised, and in some ways it looks like it is.

But in fact, it turns out, people can’t live without faith, and the replacement of Christianity (as well as other religions) with humanism is bringing on a whole host of new issues and injustices. For example, with groups like Dignity in Dying constantly pushing for the legalisation of euthanasia in the UK, Benson’s vision of a British society where assisted dying is not only legal, but completely normalised, is poignantly prescient. I won’t say any more for fear of giving away too much. It’s not a perfect novel (and I had some issues with the over-emphasis on the role of the papacy within the Catholic church), but it’s one that shook me to my core. Not a happy and definitely not a light read either, but an extremely engaging one, and a story that ultimately gave me hope. My husband and I read it out loud to each other, and it definitely lends itself to that!

TV Show: Stranger Things (2016-present)

I’m honestly kind of astonished that I’ve managed to go almost a year posting on Substack without mentioning Stranger Things. If that strikes you as odd (I do talk about Jane Austen most of the time, and that’s not exactly similar storytelling to the Duffer brothers’) or if you feel zero interest in a super nerdy, supernatural 80s nostalgia show, I get it. But I urge you to give it another go. There are four seasons of Stranger Things currently out, and production seems to be underway for the fifth and final season to come out next year (I will cry when the last episode is released!). I have very fond memories of watching it for the first time right after my son was born, mostly in the middle of the night. Then I got my skeptical husband interested, and he was surprised at how much he enjoyed it. I rewatched all four seasons this past month, and I love it even more. I think it took everyone by surprise (probably the Duffer brothers included) back in 2016 when this show became so popular, because on paper, it’s so niche. It pays homage to SO much 80s pop culture that part of the enjoyment is definitely lost if the references fly over your head. It also blends elements of horror and the supernatural, which I know many people actively dislike (myself included, most of the time).

But, the character development and the portrayal of friendship on the show make it accessible to a much wider audience. And that is the key. In season one, the protagonists are four twelve-year-old kids living in a quiet town in the Midwest (in Indiana no less, where I lived for a whole year!). In subsequent seasons, more and more characters join them on their quest to fight the evil that is threatening their town. With the exception of season three, which is my least favourite and I think the least accomplished one from a technical standpoint, it really doesn’t feel like an 80s trope pastiche; the references are there, but they’re weaved in unobtrusively. And, as much as Stranger Things is ‘horror’ and ‘sci-fi’ and ‘fantasy’ all mixed together, at its core it’s really about these four kids, their friendship, and how difficult (and beautiful) it is to grow up. It’s a coming of age story, just with monsters and an evil parallel world. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that in seasons one, two, and four the plot is masterfully executed. If you give it a chance, I guarantee you’ll be on the edge of your seat, unable to stop watching.

Have you watched or read anything this past month that you’d recommend to our community here on Literary Convert? Let me know in the comments!