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bookstolivewith's reviews
327 reviews
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
5.0
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All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren is undoubtedly one of the best American novels, encompassing the fictional rise and fall of Southern politician Willie Talos as told by one of his right-hand men, Jack Burden, who is wrapped up in almost every bad and good decision that Talos makes. (P.S. Willie may be Stark instead of Talos depending on what edition you have.)
It’s an incredibly difficult book to review, especially given its length (at over 600 pages of dense writing, it took me over a month to read) and all the complex concepts held within its pages, but I definitely loved reading it! There’s just too much to touch on to do it real justice here — I’d love to take a class dedicated solely to this book and really pick it apart!
Talos was inspired by the real-life Louisiana politician Huey Long, a Southern tyrant who wanted to give FDR a run for his money, and a figure that has been a curiosity and enigma to historians for years — including me! I first learned about Long during college and was fascinated by him, so I knew I had to read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on him as soon as I found out about it.
This novel is obviously incredibly well-written, told in the style of Faulkner, with all the fun aspects that entails. In fact, if you’re a Faulkner fan, this book is definitely for you— but if you’re not a Faulkner fan, you may struggle, I won’t lie!
All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren is undoubtedly one of the best American novels, encompassing the fictional rise and fall of Southern politician Willie Talos as told by one of his right-hand men, Jack Burden, who is wrapped up in almost every bad and good decision that Talos makes. (P.S. Willie may be Stark instead of Talos depending on what edition you have.)
It’s an incredibly difficult book to review, especially given its length (at over 600 pages of dense writing, it took me over a month to read) and all the complex concepts held within its pages, but I definitely loved reading it! There’s just too much to touch on to do it real justice here — I’d love to take a class dedicated solely to this book and really pick it apart!
Talos was inspired by the real-life Louisiana politician Huey Long, a Southern tyrant who wanted to give FDR a run for his money, and a figure that has been a curiosity and enigma to historians for years — including me! I first learned about Long during college and was fascinated by him, so I knew I had to read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on him as soon as I found out about it.
This novel is obviously incredibly well-written, told in the style of Faulkner, with all the fun aspects that entails. In fact, if you’re a Faulkner fan, this book is definitely for you— but if you’re not a Faulkner fan, you may struggle, I won’t lie!