Reading saves your world.
by Jack Gilroy
Global Academic Publishing at Binghamton University
Paperback, 320 pages, October 2002
ISBN: 1-58684-233-1, $ 14.00
American literature is blessed with a number of great novels about young men searching for meaning in their lives, struggling because their personal values force them into conflict with the mass-values of their culture. The most famous of these include Martin Eden, by Jack London, depicting London's sympathies with the socialist movement; and Studs Lonigan, by James T. Farrell, about a street-smart teenager who learns too late that he cannot a retain a teenaged mind after he grows up. The newest book in this genre, written by teacher and activist Jack Gilroy, explores the themes of non-violence and social justice, and deserves a place on the bookshelf among the very best of these already established in the field.
One of the reasons that these kinds of books are so satisfying is because they represent what novelist John Gardner has called "moral fiction." Great books, according to Gardner, are not great merely due to literary style or stylistic innovations, or because they epitomize the nihilistic world-views so popular with professor-critics. Gardner writes: "True art is moral: it seeks to improve life, not debase it." ...
The best art, Gardner argues, gives us heroes and heroines to imitate, eternal truths to ponder, and a vision that inspires readers to affirm and revere life. "Art instructs," says Gardner. "Why, one may wonder, would anyone wish to deny a thing so obvious?" ... Absolute Flanigan, a pleasure to read, is a book that tweaks our consciences, and teaches while it entertains.
The year is 1942, World War II is tearing up the world, and Peter Flanigan — an untypical 18-year-old high-school senior — has a problem. Peter is honest, hard-working, non-violent, moral: a young man who wants to find out what is right, then act decisively on his beliefs.
What is Flanigan's problem? ... The government is conducting a war that Flanigan does not believe in, and most American citizens unthinkingly support that war. Peter's inner and outer conflicts are deftly interwoven with his real-world education about the history of social injustices and non-violence, including reformers, movements, and books. We learn about the struggles of the Blacks, the Native Americans; the Jews murdered at Babi Yar. In glimpses we meet Gandhi, Christ, Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, Eugene Debs. Flanigan explores the history of violence in Christianity, and the many courageous rebels who oppose violence the only effective way that it can be opposed: non-violently.
America is looking for its heroes in the sports stadiums, when the real heroes are the Gandhis, the Thoreaus, the Berrigans, the Days, the Maurins and the Gilroys.
There will one day be a war that will end all wars; Violence today will bring us security and happiness tomorrow. For anyone who questions the truth of these two concepts, Absolute Flanigan provides a powerful starting-point to reflect, to discuss, and ultimately to work for a world of justice, social progress, economic prosperity, equality for all sexes and races, and lasting peace.
Author Jack Gilroy's website is located at http://www.jackgilroy.com
Booklovers Review is Copyright © 2005 by Michael Pastore. Copyright to each review is owned by the individual reviewer.
