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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
“The best luck always happens to people who don't need it.” - Robert Penn Warren, All The King's Men
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Warren tells the political saga of a Louisiana politician from the perspective of his top assistant. A terrific tale of power, corruption, greed, love, betrayal, and integrity, All The King's Men gives a startling and frank display of how much politics have never truly changed.
Though I usually detest the romantic plotlines in novels, the love story at the heart of this novel is compelling and heartbreaking, but one worth knowing. The tangential love stories aren't bad, either.
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Warren tells the political saga of a Louisiana politician from the perspective of his top assistant. A terrific tale of power, corruption, greed, love, betrayal, and integrity, All The King's Men gives a startling and frank display of how much politics have never truly changed.
Though I usually detest the romantic plotlines in novels, the love story at the heart of this novel is compelling and heartbreaking, but one worth knowing. The tangential love stories aren't bad, either.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a year, I lived in New Orleans and there I learned about Huey Long, the Depression-era Governor of Louisiana, nicknamed The King Fish. A friend of mine, a native Louisianan, once told me about Long, "I don't know anything about him. All I know is that if he were on the ballot today, he would still be elected."
That said, I thought this was going to be a very different book. Willie Stark is every bit the demagogue populist Huey Long was, but the novel is told from the point of view of a character who is under no illusion, Jack Burden. Stark is barely in the book at all, in fact. About a third of the book is taken up by Burden's reminiscences about young love and the antebellum South, for which I nearly didn't finish the book.
But I did, and that's why I have to say this book is fantastic. I don't think it's one of my favorites, but I can't help but admire it. The prose is rich and its meditative, philosophical style takes you away to this world where no one really knows what they're doing or why they're doing it. That must be what it's like to be reigned over.
That said, I thought this was going to be a very different book. Willie Stark is every bit the demagogue populist Huey Long was, but the novel is told from the point of view of a character who is under no illusion, Jack Burden. Stark is barely in the book at all, in fact. About a third of the book is taken up by Burden's reminiscences about young love and the antebellum South, for which I nearly didn't finish the book.
But I did, and that's why I have to say this book is fantastic. I don't think it's one of my favorites, but I can't help but admire it. The prose is rich and its meditative, philosophical style takes you away to this world where no one really knows what they're doing or why they're doing it. That must be what it's like to be reigned over.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All the Kings Men deserves a spot on any “best American Novels of all time” list. Memorable characters, beautiful prose, universal themes, the book lacks nothing.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As someone who doesn't usually read long, difficult, old books, I enjoyed this enough to read it twice--the first time when a teacher recommended it to me, and the second time when I decided to go out and buy it myself. I will say that I found the book better and easier to follow on the second reading, but this could be because my first reading was as a high schooler.
It is certainly not the easiest book to read (in terms of "reading level", for lack of a better term), and it tends to be incredibly wordy. I distinctly remember a single sentence that covered nearly an entire page. So if those are real turnoffs, maybe don't read this. However, I thought the writing style did a good job of characterizing the narrator, Jack Burden, as a thoughtful and philosophical person.
Speaking of Jack, it is largely his story. He is the right hand man to Willie Stark, the big bad politician in the blurb of the book. Willie is certainly at the heart of the story and a driving factor behind much, if not all, of what happens, but we see everything through Jack's eyes, and it is his thoughts and reactions to everything that we mainly get by reading.
I didn't find any of the characters likable, except perhaps Jack because I found him really interesting. But nobody is really supposed to be likable in this book. I mean, it's about politics.
And speaking about politics, I would usually think that they are a big turn-off for me since I like to escape into books. However, I did not mind the political content in this book, probably because I think it focused more on people, morals, and power rather than political ideologies.
Admittedly the book is a bit difficult to get into due to the fact that the timeline can be confusing, especially in the beginning. But the book gets better the further you get due to the heightening amount of drama and new revelations that occur.If you know anything about the real politician that inspired this book, you'll likely know how everything will end, but getting there is still quite a ride.
It is certainly not the easiest book to read (in terms of "reading level", for lack of a better term), and it tends to be incredibly wordy. I distinctly remember a single sentence that covered nearly an entire page. So if those are real turnoffs, maybe don't read this. However, I thought the writing style did a good job of characterizing the narrator, Jack Burden, as a thoughtful and philosophical person.
Speaking of Jack, it is largely his story. He is the right hand man to Willie Stark, the big bad politician in the blurb of the book. Willie is certainly at the heart of the story and a driving factor behind much, if not all, of what happens, but we see everything through Jack's eyes, and it is his thoughts and reactions to everything that we mainly get by reading.
I didn't find any of the characters likable, except perhaps Jack because I found him really interesting. But nobody is really supposed to be likable in this book. I mean, it's about politics.
And speaking about politics, I would usually think that they are a big turn-off for me since I like to escape into books. However, I did not mind the political content in this book, probably because I think it focused more on people, morals, and power rather than political ideologies.
Admittedly the book is a bit difficult to get into due to the fact that the timeline can be confusing, especially in the beginning. But the book gets better the further you get due to the heightening amount of drama and new revelations that occur.
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs