Green Eggs and Ham ... a review
Amazon.com: Books: Green Eggs and Ham (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books): "Resistance is Futile... You will be Assimilated, February 8, 2004
Reviewer:Maddi Hausmann Sojourner 'madhaus' (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Green Eggs and Ham is more than a simple children's tale of the need to try new foods. It is a disturbing glimpse at the Cold War forces that made Eisenhower-era America the stifling society it was, a nightmare for the creative and intellectual classes.
It begins with an Everyman innocently reading in, we should presume, his own home. A stranger runs past him with a wooden sign announcing that he is Sam. Our protagonist recognizes he is the victim of a home invasion, but like so many restrained Updike males, is unable to voice his objection to his domestic tranquility being shattered, other than to utter a powerless plea that he doesn't care for this Sam character.
Sam, having taken the upper hand, moves beyond in-your-face picketing (note the clever denegration of peace activists by this introduction) and will now force our hero to eat some offensive looking victuals: meat clearly in the advanced stages of rot, and eggs to match. There is a suggestion that the spineless victim brought this upon himself by hiding from society, engaging in anti-American activity by reading books. The reader is left to ponder whether the victim is a Communist, or at the very least a vegetarian. For this reason, Sam, cleverly named to represent the consensus view of these United States, must prevail.
The victim's protests are many, his attempts at evasion numerous. Leaving the safety of his home only increases his discomfort; he is forced to endure the company of several possibly rabid mammals, all while Sam ke"
Amazon.com: Books: Green Eggs and Ham (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books): "Resistance is Futile... You will be Assimilated, February 8, 2004
Reviewer:Maddi Hausmann Sojourner 'madhaus' (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Green Eggs and Ham is more than a simple children's tale of the need to try new foods. It is a disturbing glimpse at the Cold War forces that made Eisenhower-era America the stifling society it was, a nightmare for the creative and intellectual classes.
It begins with an Everyman innocently reading in, we should presume, his own home. A stranger runs past him with a wooden sign announcing that he is Sam. Our protagonist recognizes he is the victim of a home invasion, but like so many restrained Updike males, is unable to voice his objection to his domestic tranquility being shattered, other than to utter a powerless plea that he doesn't care for this Sam character.
Sam, having taken the upper hand, moves beyond in-your-face picketing (note the clever denegration of peace activists by this introduction) and will now force our hero to eat some offensive looking victuals: meat clearly in the advanced stages of rot, and eggs to match. There is a suggestion that the spineless victim brought this upon himself by hiding from society, engaging in anti-American activity by reading books. The reader is left to ponder whether the victim is a Communist, or at the very least a vegetarian. For this reason, Sam, cleverly named to represent the consensus view of these United States, must prevail.
The victim's protests are many, his attempts at evasion numerous. Leaving the safety of his home only increases his discomfort; he is forced to endure the company of several possibly rabid mammals, all while Sam ke"
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