You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by nicaelafox
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
5.0
Originally, I had seen the book Theodore Rex being read by one of the characters/actors on the TV show Nashville, and that is what spurred my interest to read that book. Since Theodore Rex began in 1901, I read about a chapter until I realized that it was the second book in a trilogy by Edmund Morris. I searched online resources until I managed to find The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt available as an audiobook. I was not disappointed with this book either!
I learned so much about TR. I had a small working knowledge of this president, such as he had helped preserve our national parks, his Rough Riders, the phrase "speak softly, but carry a big stick," as well as him stepping in as President following the McKinley assassination in 1901. What I hadn't realized was just how much influence he had in New York State, that he had made an attempt for being Mayor, and even that he had been deputy sheriff in Dakota territory....well, there was just so much about TR I learned about from this book.
The one thing I was left wondering about him, and I saw mentioned in some others' reviews is how there was little mention about his relationships with his wives, except for when something life-threatening occurred. That would have been an area that the author could have provided more background on, in my opinion. It is obvious that Morris had access to TR's personal papers--oh that is something else I learned about this exceptional man too; what a voracious reader as well as writer Roosevelt was!
If you decide to listen to the audiobook like I did, be ready for a very long listen--over 26 hours worth--and possibly several renewals/borrows. I liked how the narrator would often try to speak as how TR did, such as the way Roosevelt would over pronounce some letters in his speeches for diction and emphasis (I believe it was the Ps and Ds). The other thing I came away from with this book was the ability through Morris' telling of what this larger-than-life man looked like: how his teeth and glasses seemed to stand out so prominently. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed the varied vocabulary used in the text. It expanded my knowledge considerably, but it also helped me go back in time, in a way, when many of these terms and phrases would have been quite commonly a part of everyday conversation. It carried over into some of my current work sometimes subconsciously that my writing had expanded because of what I listened to for about five weeks.
I definitely plan to read or most likely listen to the second book, Theodore Rex, come next year in January.
I learned so much about TR. I had a small working knowledge of this president, such as he had helped preserve our national parks, his Rough Riders, the phrase "speak softly, but carry a big stick," as well as him stepping in as President following the McKinley assassination in 1901. What I hadn't realized was just how much influence he had in New York State, that he had made an attempt for being Mayor, and even that he had been deputy sheriff in Dakota territory....well, there was just so much about TR I learned about from this book.
The one thing I was left wondering about him, and I saw mentioned in some others' reviews is how there was little mention about his relationships with his wives, except for when something life-threatening occurred. That would have been an area that the author could have provided more background on, in my opinion. It is obvious that Morris had access to TR's personal papers--oh that is something else I learned about this exceptional man too; what a voracious reader as well as writer Roosevelt was!
If you decide to listen to the audiobook like I did, be ready for a very long listen--over 26 hours worth--and possibly several renewals/borrows. I liked how the narrator would often try to speak as how TR did, such as the way Roosevelt would over pronounce some letters in his speeches for diction and emphasis (I believe it was the Ps and Ds). The other thing I came away from with this book was the ability through Morris' telling of what this larger-than-life man looked like: how his teeth and glasses seemed to stand out so prominently. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed the varied vocabulary used in the text. It expanded my knowledge considerably, but it also helped me go back in time, in a way, when many of these terms and phrases would have been quite commonly a part of everyday conversation. It carried over into some of my current work sometimes subconsciously that my writing had expanded because of what I listened to for about five weeks.
I definitely plan to read or most likely listen to the second book, Theodore Rex, come next year in January.