It's twenty years since Robert Harris wrote the gripping and chilling Fatherland (UK link), in which Adolf Hitler won the war. The special edition has a revealing new introduction with the author detailing how he struggled to get the mind game 'right'. But he did. Buried in the book a band called The Beatles is still playing but secretly under the stifling regime.
Jeff Walker (UK link) imagines what might have happened if The Beatles had broken up and had continued their solo careers. As they did and do of course. But if they had also collaborated in packaging their solo efforts into albums still under The Beatles brand. Contrived? Messy? You'll be amazed. You'll see well know songs in different contexts and create some surprisingly fresh play-lists. A clever and well played-out mind game.
Over the weekend, play a mind-game or two. What might I do differently? How could I? What if? The key is always the interaction of the imaginative start (Hitler does win the war) and the relentless attention to detail (photocopiers have been 'invented' earlier but are strictly controlled to avoid dissemination of propaganda). Imagination+concrete detail=whole new world. Which in your case you might want to take further and make real. Background music for your deliberations? John Lennon, of course
