Paul Mason’s latest book, How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance (The Week Bookshop £15.99), is published this week.
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon (1990)
A haunting and surreal story of betrayal, both in love and politics, set amid the ruins of the 1960s counterculture, the war on drugs and the rise of the US surveillance state. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
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Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman (1980)
Grossman was a journalist who saw both the Second World War and the Holocaust from the frontline. This masterpiece of 20th century literature was banned for explicitly comparing Nazi and Soviet dictatorships, and had to be smuggled out of the USSR on microfilm. Its author died believing that every copy of his book had been lost. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
The Red Virgin: Memoirs of Louise Michel (1886)
A schoolteacher turned barricade fighter in the Paris Commune, Michel was exiled to the Pacific island of New Caledonia, where she began to document the folklore of the indigenous peoples, and to support their revolt against French colonialism. My 2017 play, Divine Chaos of Starry Things, was a tribute to her indomitable spirit. University of Alabama Press £32.50
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (1939)
Of all the coal-mining novels, this is the one that captures best the intense solidarity of communities like the one my grandparents lived in, and how much they loved life despite its hardships. Today the Welsh valleys are, once again, green – but at massive social cost. Penguin £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
Istanbul, Istanbul by Burhan Sönmez (2016)
I covered the Gezi Park uprising in Istanbul in 2013. Sönmez’s novel tells the city’s story through the eyes of four victims of torture, who tell each other fables as they share a prison cell. In a world where torture is becoming the routine tool of political strongmen, Sönmez shows how ordinary people find the courage to resist. Telegram Books £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
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A crowded field of Democrats is filling up the California governor’s raceIn the Spotlight Over a dozen Democrats have declared their candidacy
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Nitazene is elusively raising opioid deathsThe explainer The drug is usually consumed accidentally
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Can medical debt hurt your credit?The explainer The short answer is yes, though it depends on the credit scoring mode
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Nick Clegg picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former deputy prime minister shares works by J.M. Coetzee, Marcel Theroux and Conrad Russell
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Park Avenue: New York family drama with a ‘staggeringly good’ castThe Week Recommends Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston have a ‘combative chemistry’ as a mother and daughter at a crossroads
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Jay Kelly: ‘deeply mischievous’ Hollywood satire starring George ClooneyThe Week Recommends Noah Baumbach’s smartly scripted Hollywood satire is packed with industry in-jokes
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Motherland: a ‘brilliantly executed’ feminist history of modern RussiaThe Week Recommends Moscow-born journalist Julia Ioffe examines the women of her country over the past century
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Music reviews: Rosalía and Mavis Staplesfeature “Lux” and “Sad and Beautiful World”
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6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
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Film reviews: ‘Jay Kelly’ and ‘Sentimental Value’Feature A movie star looks back on his flawed life and another difficult dad seeks to make amends
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6 homes on the Gulf CoastFeature Featuring an elegant townhouse in New Orleans’ French Quarter and contemporary coastal retreat in Texas
