Edgar's politics

[rhomnud]

A wealthy owner of a building and construction company has similar political opinions as the author? What are the chances? On the other hand it's just fiction and the protagonist's political opinions apparently didn't change despite other severe psychological and emotional issues resulting from an accident.

[JohnDalglish]

A wealthy owner of a building and construction company has similar political opinions as the author? What are the chances?
On the other hand it's just fiction

Hi,

The chances that he might have the same intelligent political opinions as a wealthy author?

About 50/50 I'd say.

Glad you noticed that it's 'just' fiction!

Oh, and welcome to the MB, and keep posting (although something tells me that .....)

Long days and pleasant nights

[aptpupil]

Hey, authors have been using fiction to promote their political agendas since time immemorial, my friend, and I see nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

Have you never read Orwell's "Animal Farm", a thinly veiled allegory on the evil of Communism.

It's an art form. :cool2:

[aliciasimon]

I read Animal Farm because it was political. I picked up Duma Key because I wanted to be entertained. I wasn't expecting the political statements. I was looking forward to reading this book but now I'm just annoyed.

[smerdyakov]

I personally didn't find the political opinions too heavy-handed. I would keep reading, regardless -- don't let something that petty deter you from being entertained by the story.

[randallFlaggfan1]

I didn't pick up on anything political.

[BallroomDancer]

Hey, rhomnud. I had the same thoughts when I was reading. I doubt there are many people who have made millions in the construction business who have such liberal views. I am sure there must be some. But not many. However, I long ago accepted that King is standing far left of me, and I just laugh at the political innuendos. If I were a famous author, I would probably throw in some of my own opinions. Don't think I could help it, really.

[rhomnud]

No problem with using fiction to promote politics, I do it myself all the time. I was just saying the politics didn't seem to fit the character.

[boogerb53]

What? What politics? Did I read the wrong book? I thought it was a story about a man who suffered a terrible tradgedy, met a good friend, picked up a very strange talent and learned to live with his ghosts...What am I missing....seriously....

[wally wonder]

I didn't pick up on anything political.

same here...i'm trying to recall anything political from edgar...wasn't he too busy...painting and such?...or did he have some opinion about developers to be or not to be on duma key?...if that, if i remember correctly, it seemed out-of-character...anyone who does business in america and is successful at it deserves a pat on the back for putting up with/overcoming the bullshite the government in its many forms dumps on us...and i think that bull-shite about inspectors getting some grease is asinine at best....rules are easy to comply with...it's when they change the rules midstream when they become onerous.

[frisbee]

No problem with using fiction to promote politics, I do it myself all the time. I was just saying the politics didn't seem to fit the character.

It is a misconception that wealthy businessmen are conservative. I think they ought to be, but often they are not. The democratic party gets just as much money from wealthy businessmen as the republicans do.

[Doc Wilson]

I agree that its unlikely Edgar would be a lefty but damned if I recall anything about his politics. Which is odd because I'm usually sensitive to that sort of thing.

[~Ally~]

I am either really dumb--no comment--or being British means I truly don't notice all these so called political leanings of characters y'all keep yammering on about in various threads. And thank God I don't notice them as I would hate to find myself often missing out on great stories just because my political views may have been offended. This is something I truly don't understand. These are stories/words of fiction you are looking at, simple as that. I think sometimes people can over analyse things until they create something that either doesn't exist, or they miss the point totally. Read and enjoy I say.

*This party political broadcast was brought to you by Ally...the independant party.*

[Doc Wilson]

No problem with using fiction to promote politics, I do it myself all the time. I was just saying the politics didn't seem to fit the character.

It is a misconception that wealthy businessmen are conservative. I think they ought to be, but often they are not. The democratic party gets just as much money from wealthy businessmen as the republicans do.

Rich democratic donors tend to be from the arts or entertainment industries, not businessmen per se. I have a theory about why that is so, but i won't bother going into it here.

But there are plenty of exceptions to any rule so I wouldn't make much of a deal out of edgar being a lefty. It could happen.

[rhomnud]

A couple of scenes.... In one scene Edgar remembers his father-in-law... a Republican and then the description of the guy went downhill from there . I believe Edgar even remembered a time when they almost got in a fight because the father-in-law called him a CommieCrat or some such name - And this supposedly happened BEFORE Edgar's accident which resulted in the anger management problems. In another scene, Edgar does some reading about the Iraq war and of course repeats the then-popular anti-war talking points. There may have been scenes but I forget now - after the first couple, I started tuning them out as not Edgar talking but Stephen. My point is not that main characters shouldn't have political opinions but that such opinions seemed unexpected from characters who are self-reliant enough to make it on their own in the private sector.... on the hand (and there's always another hand), a guy like Stephen who was speaking through Edgar is a guy who was self-reliant enough to make it on his own in the private sector. I just thought it was interesting but it distracted me from the story.

[Carb-Orator]

It really wasn't "in your face" politics in this book, in my mind. The story was so entertaining and different that I must glazed right over any political message. I do hate the "in your face" stuff and if it distracted me enough, I would have been a little ticked too. I understand having politics in a book to give insight into the individual characters, but I think the writer needs to be aware of pushing politics onto people. People read for entertainment purposes and if I want a political message, then I'll turn on the TV, radio or look at billboards. Don't we get overrun by political messages everywhere we turn, and isn't reading an escape?? I'm more referring to Under the Dome, because I felt the political messages in that book were, by far and more irritating, than Duma Key.

[wally wonder]

A couple of scenes.... In one scene Edgar remembers his father-in-law... a Republican and then the description of the guy went downhill from there . I believe Edgar even remembered a time when they almost got in a fight because the father-in-law called him a CommieCrat or some such name - And this supposedly happened BEFORE Edgar's accident which resulted in the anger management problems. In another scene, Edgar does some reading about the Iraq war and of course repeats the then-popular anti-war talking points. There may have been scenes but I forget now - after the first couple, I started tuning them out as not Edgar talking but Stephen. My point is not that main characters shouldn't have political opinions but that such opinions seemed unexpected from characters who are self-reliant enough to make it on their own in the private sector.... on the hand (and there's always another hand), a guy like Stephen who was speaking through Edgar is a guy who was self-reliant enough to make it on his own in the private sector. I just thought it was interesting but it distracted me from the story.

okay, yeah, i think i remember something like that now...and probably what is happening in this country is that the fashionable news is working...say for example if you looked at what happened after pearl harbor...there were lines of people at recruiting stations....whereas after 9/11, we heard all this chatter about not jumping to conclusions, blah blah blah...not related, but i caught that guy from iran, i won't even try to spell his name....but he is hung up on american westerns/cowboys....somebody ought to give him an update....

...and what carb said about utd...what i find amusing is that the consensus, if such an animal exists, is something ado about bad ole christianity...global facking warming...and i thought it was a hoot that the climate-gate fiasco comes out around the same time...but that, like barrack, the magic negroe's summit in d.c., that farce a month before the vote, i was able to see the same kind of failure to communicate as there is worldwide...someone states a fact and it's in one ear and out the other'n...when i read utd, i read it as a control issue and there's no shortages of soapbox orators trying to weigh in on the matter...but so many see it as speaking to christianity, whereas control isn't limited to any one locale....neither one of the stories distracted me...i probably chuckled at the quotes underlined....chuckled cause i saw myself spouting off like gar in tommyknockers, or edgar, or any other number of characters i've come across like me...

[xkittyx]

I don't remember any political stuff... but it's been since the book came out that I read it.

[EMHeld]

I always thought Cell was the more political/social commentary of his recent books (well, I haven't read Under the Dome, which certainly is supposed to be a commentary). Edgar's views here were somewhat boilerplate aged Vietnam-gen views (stereotyped as anti-establishment/The Man) and hardly offensive to me, a registered (R). I actually though King was more restrained here than in other books of the last ten or so years.

[JRM]

The politics weren't distracting in this book, imo; Under the Dome gets that job done.