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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Not a big fan of biographies, but the way Chernow delves into the psychological depths of J.D. Rockefeller's mind, with his seamless story-telling, I must say he kept me hooked.
It is strange, this book, although non-fiction, doesn't feel real! How can a single person climb such a ladder, and personify such a strong force that shaped American Society— and possibly the world as a whole? Maybe it was the age, or his unmatched cunningness, perhaps both?
Rockefeller emblems both worst and the best of Capitalism. Through his corporate greed, and unruly acquisitive instinct, he controlled over 90% of American Oil, but again, he gave away a huge portion from his earnings to charities. Building American's first medical research institute, he donated significantly to eliminate Yellow fever, hookworms, and other infectious diseases in the U.S. Likewise, he also founded Chicago University, which now holds an unparalleled reputation in research and various academic programs. His charities, such as his life, are wide and all-encompassing.
Personally, for me, his private life & values hold greater interest than his outlandish financial gains. Rockefeller was a man who strongly abide by his principles, held many little idiosyncrasies.
He was a man who never smoked nor drank, never shouted, was deeply religious and embodied an stoic calmness, and yet he was poor at introspection and couldn't scrutinize his own moral lapses. Like many other great men, he found philosophies to justify behavior who some found to be a manifestation of evil.
Chernow in the end says that Rockefeller had left a contradictory legacy, and it is true. As of today, some people still hail Rockefeller as a man who built America, while some chide him as a robber baron who amassed a fortune out of loyal, hard-working workers.
In the end, what a delight it was to read about the life and adventure of J.D. Rockefeller. Would definitely love to peruse through other biographies of Chernow—could it be of George Washington?
It is strange, this book, although non-fiction, doesn't feel real! How can a single person climb such a ladder, and personify such a strong force that shaped American Society— and possibly the world as a whole? Maybe it was the age, or his unmatched cunningness, perhaps both?
Rockefeller emblems both worst and the best of Capitalism. Through his corporate greed, and unruly acquisitive instinct, he controlled over 90% of American Oil, but again, he gave away a huge portion from his earnings to charities. Building American's first medical research institute, he donated significantly to eliminate Yellow fever, hookworms, and other infectious diseases in the U.S. Likewise, he also founded Chicago University, which now holds an unparalleled reputation in research and various academic programs. His charities, such as his life, are wide and all-encompassing.
Personally, for me, his private life & values hold greater interest than his outlandish financial gains. Rockefeller was a man who strongly abide by his principles, held many little idiosyncrasies.
He was a man who never smoked nor drank, never shouted, was deeply religious and embodied an stoic calmness, and yet he was poor at introspection and couldn't scrutinize his own moral lapses. Like many other great men, he found philosophies to justify behavior who some found to be a manifestation of evil.
Chernow in the end says that Rockefeller had left a contradictory legacy, and it is true. As of today, some people still hail Rockefeller as a man who built America, while some chide him as a robber baron who amassed a fortune out of loyal, hard-working workers.
In the end, what a delight it was to read about the life and adventure of J.D. Rockefeller. Would definitely love to peruse through other biographies of Chernow—could it be of George Washington?
Wow this guy sucked way more than I thought. Even knowing going in that he was a garbage bag of early capitalism and bizarre christian elitism I was still surprised.
An amazing in-depth biography of Rockefeller and Standard Oil. Only short on a star because it was such a monster to get through. So much detail in this behemoth!
I wish I had something more substantial to say about an 800+ page book, and maybe my experience was marred by reading it on a day I woke up at 4:30 and was filled with flight delays/cancellations/missed connections, but I found I just...didn't really care? Rockefeller was a womanizing jerk in his personal life and I have less and less tolerance for that sort of thing the older I get (not that I had a particularly high starting point to begin with - I just find it pathetic and gross and reading about it to be majorly offputting). I struggled to find him all that impressive, which meant that although the writing is excellent, I didn't care about the titular character which kind of matters when it comes to this sort of book (lol).
VERY detailed history of John D. Rockefeller, but I wanted more depth into his business tactics and less of his conservative life at home.
slow-paced
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I preferred the portions focusing on Rockefeller’s character over the descriptions of business practices or analyses of the morality of them. Chernow is great at bringing his subjects to life and I now feel like I know John D. Rockefeller, Junior, Ida Tarbell, and many more of his surrounding cast.
Admittedly, I knew nothing about Rockefeller about this personally before I started other than he was a robber baron, he created Standard Oil, and he became the richest man in America at the time. This biography was at least a flattering and humanizing tale of a... extremely prudent family that displayed too much virtue to a fault and no introspection at all.
He was shrewd, that's for sure, and he did love his children. It's a shame he gave them all anxiety complexes because of his tight-fisted accounting, austerity, and temperance issues. Very cool that he was the one who created Spelman College, and his philanthropy was prodigious. Goes to show that he was more multifaceted in his life than his critics made him out to be.
He was shrewd, that's for sure, and he did love his children. It's a shame he gave them all anxiety complexes because of his tight-fisted accounting, austerity, and temperance issues. Very cool that he was the one who created Spelman College, and his philanthropy was prodigious. Goes to show that he was more multifaceted in his life than his critics made him out to be.
This is the first book that I read by Ron Chernow that set me on the path to reading all his books. No regrets.