At some point or another, everyone has played the “What If…?” game. The rules are simple: do something unassuming or trivial (i.e. leave your car window down over night) which leads to an unexpected action (i.e. a squirrel gets into the car while looking for a place to sleep) resulting in tragic consequences (i.e. the squirrel takes the car out for a joyride and wraps it around a telephone pole, the car is ruined, the squirrel runs away before the police show up… laughing, I might add). This string of events leaves one to wonder “What if…?” (i.e. what if I hadn’t left that bag of mixed nuts in the backseat?).
Such is the realm of “alternative history” books, albeit on a much grander scale. They all start out with a “what if” question that tweaks reality so that it is still recognizable yet a little off kilter. Think of the camera angle that was used when showing the villains in the old Batman TV show. It’s kind of like looking at the world from that perspective.
What if the Aztecs not only fought off the Spanish, but ended up colonizing Europe? What if England was the explored, not the explorer? What if Charles Lindberg won the presidency instead of FDR? What if Jewish refugees were given land in Alaska after World War II?
What if I had looked through the listing of literary events a week earlier and noticed Michael Chabon, author of the Yiddish Policemen’s Union, was speaking in San Francisco today at 12:30 PM. What if you were reading this at 9:00 AM rather than 3:30 PM? What if I told you he’ll be speaking tomorrow in Walnut Creek?
Such is the realm of “alternative history” books, albeit on a much grander scale. They all start out with a “what if” question that tweaks reality so that it is still recognizable yet a little off kilter. Think of the camera angle that was used when showing the villains in the old Batman TV show. It’s kind of like looking at the world from that perspective.
What if the Aztecs not only fought off the Spanish, but ended up colonizing Europe? What if England was the explored, not the explorer? What if Charles Lindberg won the presidency instead of FDR? What if Jewish refugees were given land in Alaska after World War II?
What if I had looked through the listing of literary events a week earlier and noticed Michael Chabon, author of the Yiddish Policemen’s Union, was speaking in San Francisco today at 12:30 PM. What if you were reading this at 9:00 AM rather than 3:30 PM? What if I told you he’ll be speaking tomorrow in Walnut Creek?
Okay, so maybe those last ones aren't really history altering questions, but they are worth thinking about all the same.
posted by -jw-
