Cover Is Intriguing - Reading is Captivating
Written: Oct 18 '03 (Updated Oct 19 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: captivating, humorous moments, writing style one can enjoy
Cons: one-sided picture of era, writer does not expand on his own person enough
The Bottom Line: History should be known so its embarrassing moments will never be repeated. This book is a well-written personal account of the blacklist and its absurdity.
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| djork's Full Review: Walter Bernstein - Inside Out: A Memoir of the Bla... |
This is a personal account of era of McCarthyism written by Walter Bernstein, a screenwriter supporting Communist party who got blacklisted for 8 years during the time of the Cold War. Born in Brooklyn in 1919, he graduated from Dartmouth and began his writing carrier writing for G.I. weekly "Yank" during World War II. After the war, he continued writing for magazines and then switched to screenplays for Hollywood TV productions. He was blacklisted in 1951.
Some history: After the end of World War II in mid-1940s, many countries around the globe found themselves drawn into another conflict - the Cold War - which was a fierce competition for economic and military supremacy between US and USSR. This race had many consequences, one of which was the growing paranoia on both sides amongst the leaders and general populace that spies and informers might be present within their country, stealing discoveries and sabotaging the industry. The man who came to symbolize this paranoid in United States was Senator Joseph McCarthy, and the organization - The House of Un-American Activities (HUAC) established in 1938. In late 1940s, HUAC decided to investigate who has been naughty and who nice among those who worked for the Hollywood. They visited a couple of people, asked questions, and some gave information on their friends. Among the people they named, there were others who gave more information on other people, although the majority claimed the 1st Amendment gave them the right not to speak. There was just one catch, however. Those who didn't talk, were kept on a Blacklist, and those who did - were erased from it. Once someone was put on a blacklist, he or she lost work and salary. Meanwhile these people had to pay rent, eat, and support their families. They had to continue living somehow, so they would borrow money, use "fonts" to sell their work, and seek help from any friends they had left. The pressure and humiliation was too much for some. The blacklist listed over 300 people at its peak.
Walter Bernstein suddenly finds himself on the list as well - and now no one would accept his work no matter how brilliant it is. In the book he describes his childhood, his work at the Yank, and his political views and his support of the Communist party, though he never joined it. He described the lives of numerous other people his life revolved around. One of the cons of this book is that there are so many names mentioned that it is easy to lose track of them all. Some get mentioned a number of times further into the book, others do not so they don't have to be remembered, but we simply do not know which are which. His main project in writing is to show the inhumanity of the era and its injustice. He tries to show how useless it all was, how many people were made to suffer without much reason. They never though of sabotage and even if they did, they could never cause real harm being employed by Hollywood. So the questions posed are why they were given a cold shoulder by US government, why they were punished for holding political views separate from majority of US citizens.
His writing is very personal and human and his personality that shines through is rather lively. His sense of humor is mainly witty, though he uses sarcasm very well too. The text of the book flows as you read it. It has logical organization, transitions well, and sounds as if you are talking to Bernstein himself. Which would be a nice way to spend time, considering that as a man of media communications he had superior verbal skills and was charismatic and intelligent.
The book is often attacked that it is limited in its scope - it speaks mainly of Hollywood world and people who deal with media production. But it must not be forgotten that this is a memoir, and the man writes here about his life and what he knows most about the Blacklist came out of his affiliation with Hollywood. It is not meant to be a historical reprise of entire era, but a personal account describing how it personally affected the author and many other individuals.
After giving an introduction, the best I can do is suggest to visit Amazon.com to get a glimpse of the style of writing. There, after finding the book you can click on its image on the first page to get a glimpse of what's inside. It would be useless for me to go quoting the book or giving too much details. If historical writing that reads like a novel interests you, and you liked what you read on the Amazon, then it might be very well worth reading this book. It is sold as a paperback of 320 pages, and is rather small, so it can be carried around and read almost anywhere - on a bus, in subway, strolling in a park, or in a gym exercising.
There is also a movie made according to this same book with Woody Allen in 1995 called "The Front", which can be watched in addition to the book. The movie is so-so I thought, but if you like Woody Allen than it can be enjoyable. This movie he did not write and did not direct, so it is special in that way for him to star in it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
djork
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Location: south CA, USA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
College student in sciences; traveled some; love coffee, cats, plants, trips, music, and the net
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