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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
This man KILLED himself
informative
slow-paced
Enjoyed what I read of it. Had to DNF as it got too confusing for me.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Alexander Hamilton. I first heard about the show "Hamilton", a hip-hop musical based on a biography on NPR. I said, I have to learn more about this musical and I have to read the biography. I haven't really read too much about the founding fathers and the Revolutionary War era. To date, I've read historical non-fiction about the Civil War and the Progressive Era. Now, after reading Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton", I'll have to expand my reading to our nation's formation and early history. An excellent book. Dense, well researched and riveting. I never knew too much about Hamilton. Yes, he's on the ten dollar bill. And yes, he was assassinated by Aaron Burr. After reading this book, I feel that Treasury should keep him on the 10 and kick Jackson off the 20 for a woman. While a flawed character, Hamilton's legacy suffers from the fact that his detractors, Jefferson and Madison, out lived him and steadily denigrated his character and legacy to their own advantage. I have lost respect for Jefferson. I can see the that the seeds of the Civil War were sown in the War of independence, and the subsequent development of the nation (Three-Fifths Compromise) as well as the struggle between states rights, strict constructionism and a strong executive and central government. We deplore the current status of politics and governance, and say we have to back away from our current squalid state of affairs. But our current state of the body politic pales in comparison with the blood sport of politics in the late 18th and early 19th century. I dare say Herr Drumpf would pale in significance to the campaign skills of our founding fathers. Chernow's book is not only an excellent biography of Alexander Hamilton, but it explains a lot about how our country came into being. Read this book.
Helpful biography of Hamilton since it's one of the only ones, but veers into the realm of opinion and there were some inconsistencies with dates and the "characterization" of Hamilton. I think Chernow's biases show through often in what subjects he dwells on and the tone of his writing about certain events and people. He certainly did put a lot of work into researching and writing this book but I think having other biographers writing and editing it with him would have been a benefit.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4 stars bc hey, very impressive, but oh my god, so long. most things take no more than a week and a half and this was 2 1/2 weeks, which included me getting in some reading outside of my standard daily reading time frame
ANYWAY definitely interesting as a big fan of the musical to get a fuller (and more accurate) picture, though sometimes i could've done without the biographical info on some of the people around him, like his political opponents (obvs telling me about people like eliza and angelica was much more relevant), like i get that it provides a clearer picture, but i just didn't feel it was entirely necessary to know that much about john adams or whoever lol
onto the little notes i took throughout:
hey, let's not fucking call sally hemings jefferson's mistress because that, you know, implies consent, which is decidedly not a thing when she's enslaved by him
very idealistic of hamilton to think rich rulers will care about the common good lmao how much has that proven to be not true
"when hamilton first met jefferson in 1790, he did not see him as quite the revered figure that we do today." y'all see jefferson as revered?
really feels like we can blame hamilton for some of the current hellscape, especially re: our financial system. also GOD, when people talk about how our country has never been so divided, like it was always like this, we just have social media influencing it instead of newspapers
speaking of, when he would write ~anonymous~ things in the newspapers and talk about how great hamilton is, that was so embarrassing. reminds me of "kylo ren is shredded" lol
jefferson thought old age fucked up washington's mind, dude, you're eleven years younger, if he's old, you're not that far off
i feel iffy about the portrayal of maria, like maybe she was a shit person and she and her husband were manipulating him, but it feels a little weird when you find out she's 23. i know back then 23 meant being well into adulthood but to me it's like, oh god that's so young, that's not a master manipulator to me
and on that note: "there never was any mischief but had a priest or a woman at the bottom" okay alexander how much mischief have YOU been part of huh
why is burr talking about his love life in such like....explicit terms in letters to his daughter
"i shall be glad to see colonel burr, but please tell him that a portrait of alexander hamilton always hangs in my study where all may see it" that was pretty iconic of him, that should've been in the musical
a couple other things that should've been in the musical: hamilton saying "sleep warm, little judge, and get well" that was?? i don't want to talk about him like a fictional character, but like. it was such cute wording. and hamilton, an orphan, holding another orphan in his arms, the night before he died, my god. and the seven kids all lined up at his deathbed wow wow wow
also lin manuel miranda having burr say the line "this man will not make an orphan of my daughter" when theodosia was an adult whereas hamilton had his wife and seven kids that were KIDS. like i love the musical still for sure, but it does paint a lot of things...very differently. not like i was looking to it for historical accuracy or anything, but i'm just like oh, you took quite a few liberties huh, lin
anyway this was very well done of course, like you can see how much work was done to create a comprehensive work, so even though i struggled through a bit, i do have to give the author that
ANYWAY definitely interesting as a big fan of the musical to get a fuller (and more accurate) picture, though sometimes i could've done without the biographical info on some of the people around him, like his political opponents (obvs telling me about people like eliza and angelica was much more relevant), like i get that it provides a clearer picture, but i just didn't feel it was entirely necessary to know that much about john adams or whoever lol
onto the little notes i took throughout:
hey, let's not fucking call sally hemings jefferson's mistress because that, you know, implies consent, which is decidedly not a thing when she's enslaved by him
very idealistic of hamilton to think rich rulers will care about the common good lmao how much has that proven to be not true
"when hamilton first met jefferson in 1790, he did not see him as quite the revered figure that we do today." y'all see jefferson as revered?
really feels like we can blame hamilton for some of the current hellscape, especially re: our financial system. also GOD, when people talk about how our country has never been so divided, like it was always like this, we just have social media influencing it instead of newspapers
speaking of, when he would write ~anonymous~ things in the newspapers and talk about how great hamilton is, that was so embarrassing. reminds me of "kylo ren is shredded" lol
jefferson thought old age fucked up washington's mind, dude, you're eleven years younger, if he's old, you're not that far off
i feel iffy about the portrayal of maria, like maybe she was a shit person and she and her husband were manipulating him, but it feels a little weird when you find out she's 23. i know back then 23 meant being well into adulthood but to me it's like, oh god that's so young, that's not a master manipulator to me
and on that note: "there never was any mischief but had a priest or a woman at the bottom" okay alexander how much mischief have YOU been part of huh
why is burr talking about his love life in such like....explicit terms in letters to his daughter
"i shall be glad to see colonel burr, but please tell him that a portrait of alexander hamilton always hangs in my study where all may see it" that was pretty iconic of him, that should've been in the musical
a couple other things that should've been in the musical: hamilton saying "sleep warm, little judge, and get well" that was?? i don't want to talk about him like a fictional character, but like. it was such cute wording. and hamilton, an orphan, holding another orphan in his arms, the night before he died, my god. and the seven kids all lined up at his deathbed wow wow wow
also lin manuel miranda having burr say the line "this man will not make an orphan of my daughter" when theodosia was an adult whereas hamilton had his wife and seven kids that were KIDS. like i love the musical still for sure, but it does paint a lot of things...very differently. not like i was looking to it for historical accuracy or anything, but i'm just like oh, you took quite a few liberties huh, lin
anyway this was very well done of course, like you can see how much work was done to create a comprehensive work, so even though i struggled through a bit, i do have to give the author that
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I know this is the definitive work on Hamilton - but boy do you have to slug through Chernow’s writing. This reads like a textbook, I prefer when my historical non-fiction does not. Still worth the time invested but definitely not for the faint of heart!
This, the definitive popular biography of its subject, strikes me as required reading simply from a cultural literacy perspective.
That said, Hamilton's life passed through stages of greater and lesser interest to this particular reader. While I found passages on the man's early life and wartime history fascinating, I bogged down in its descriptions of his financial accomplishments on behalf of the country.
Still, I rate this book as worth the time of those interested in American history or popular culture.
That said, Hamilton's life passed through stages of greater and lesser interest to this particular reader. While I found passages on the man's early life and wartime history fascinating, I bogged down in its descriptions of his financial accomplishments on behalf of the country.
Still, I rate this book as worth the time of those interested in American history or popular culture.