Rating: 
Summary: Not Just a Great Biography, But a Work of Art
Review: Edmund Morris's "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is a magnificent biography, perhaps the best I've ever read. In it, Morris follows the life of Theodore Roosevelt from his birth in a New York City brownstone in 1858 to his assumption of the U.S. Presidency in 1901. The book is the first of three volumes Morris plans to write on Roosevelt, the second of which --"Theodore Rex" -- was released last year.In more than 700 pages of text in this book, there is hardly a dull page. The main reason for this, of course, is TR's fascinating, energetic life. He was -- in no particular order -- an amateur naturalist of note, a decorated soldier, an historian, a rancher in the Badlands, a government officer pushing for reform in the civil service, Police Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a state assemblyman, New York's Governor, and finally Vice President. It would be difficult to write a dull book about such a man. But Morris deserves some credit as well. I've read several other biographies of Roosevelt, and while many of them are quite good -- even great -- this is the best. I believe Morris's style as well as his control of the material is the best explanation for this. Much of the writing is beautiful. Even Morris doesn't approach it in his other books. But here Morris shows a poet's gift for metaphor and simile. In explaining how reserved, emotionally stunted men like Henry Adams, Thomas Reed, and Henry Cabot Lodge put up socially with the rambunctious Roosevelt, Morris writes they "...grew dependent upon [Roosevelt's] warmth, as lizards crave the sun." There are numerous examples like this in the book. While "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" should probably be described as a political or historical biography, one doesn't need to have the slightest interest in either to enjoy it. Roosevelt's own ambition and energy, the circumstances of his life, and Morris's writing will drive anyone's interest.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in years!
Review: This is a tremendous book about a tremendous human being. It reads like a great novel, and yet it's a meticulously researched biography about a fascinating man. Really breathes life into TR and what made him tick. I couldn't put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: More Than a Mere Icon
Review: I used to wonder how Teddy Roosevelt managed to get his face on Mt. Rushmore. It seemed an odd contrast having the wise, iconic busts of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln accompanied by... a Teddy. The former were all mythical figures striding mightily across the pages of elementary school civics books; the latter was a bespectacled, grinning, pugilistic cartoon character. Everything I knew and felt about this man could be distilled into one seemingly idiotic word: "Bully!" I could only conclude his presence on Rushmore was the result of some kind of political payback, not merit. Then Edmund Morris opened my eyes. With his two books, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, and Theodore Rex, Morris taught me who it was that laid the foundation for American greatness in the Twentieth Century. This thorough and utterly enjoyable two-volume biography takes the reader from Roosevelt's precocious boyhood, through a frenetic political career, to the very pinnacle of world power. Each coherent, well-researched page seems to vibrate, as though Morris has somehow managed to imbibe them with the very energy that allowed Roosevelt to usher his nation to the status of superpower. Yes, Roosevelt more than earned his place among the greats in the American political pantheon. The only significant drawback to reading this excellent work, is the empty feeling it gave me when comparing Roosevelt to more recent White House occupants.
Rating:
Summary: even better than Theodore Rex
Review: I read this book after just having finished the second volume, Theodore Rex. Maybe it's my lack of interest in politics, but I really enjoyed this volume more than the second. Maybe it's just that Teddy's early life is the stuff legends are made of -- a sickly, pale, weak kid who through his own efforts (bodybuilding) becomes one of the most athletic and fearsome outdoorsman of all time -- his tramps in the wilderness are legendary. Plus, the volume details his Harvard days and his love life, two subjects of interest to just about anyone. The story of his short but passionate marriage to his first wife and then his second marriage after her death makes up a good part of this volume. The second volume focuses on Roosevelt's presidency, while this volume focuses on his childhood, love of the outdoors, rise to political power and family life. For me, the subjects of this first volume made this a quick and memorable read.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a classic!
Review: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a classic of its genre. This book and the sequel, Theodore Rex, are some of the most intricately detailed, yet most entertaining, histories of anything ever written. I find no flaws with this classic whatsoever; the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award this book received were well deserved.
Rating:
Summary: You Are There!
Review: This entertaining biography does a wonderful job evoking the compelling and contradictory character of Teddy Roosevelt. Indeed, the book sometimes reads as if Edmund Morris is a novelist, not a biographer, since he is able to communicate nuance and character as much as historical events. In large measure, this is possible because Morris is a fine writer and because Roosevelt wrote tens of thousands of letters in his lifetime, which give this biographer a clear and empathetic glimpse into Teddy's mind. Here's a sample of this interplay, with Morris describing the young man Roosevelt approaching his new house, Sagamore Hill. "As Roosevelt drew nearer, its newness and rawness became more apparent. The mustard-colored shingles had not yet mellowed, and the green trim clashed with florid brick and garish displays of stained glass. However, flowers were clustering around the piazza, last year's lawn's had come up thick and velvety, and spring rains had washed away the last traces of construction dirt. Roosevelt might be excused a surge of proprietary emotion." Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Whirlwind Chronicle
Review: Theodore Roosevelt must be a biographer's dream. The youngest President is US history, he embodied a truckload of contradictory characteristics, all of them to the extreme, attacked every problem with protean energy and a learned and sometimes vicious wit, and was thoughtful enough to write everything down for posterity. It's hard to imagine that an uninteresting bio of this man is possible. Morris' book, however, is an exemplary one. Morris has conjured with the traditional, outsize TR elements, creating a massive chronicle borne of years of research that reads like a grand historical novel. Intimate, sympathetic and constantly dramatic, the book not only recreates a remarkably vivid TR, but paints the wide world around with equal panache. From privledged NYC to the wilds of Montana, Harvard Square to San Juan Heights, turn of the century America leaps to sparkling life around this most magnetic of figures. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt reads like a whirlwind, consistently entertaining and enlightening. To anyone with the slightest interest in the man or the period, it is unmissable.
Rating:
Summary: Delightfully entertaining
Review: While perusing The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt the reader is left to wonder if Teddy Roosevelt was really that fascinating or if Edmund Morris is just that good of a writer. The facts in this book lay out a strong case in favor of "The Colonel," as he preferred to be called after the Spanish-American War and his famous charge up San Juan Hill. From his sickly, asthmatic youth as a globetrotting child naturalist through his years as a legislator and politician and later cowboy adventurer, Roosevelt lived a life of almost fictional proportions.
What makes Morris' book so good is his ability to make the more mundane aspects of his early success in the New York State legislature as intriguing as the capture of the trio of horse thieves lead by "Redhead Finnegan" in the Badlands of South Dakota.
Too often, histories of famous people fail to delineate the capacities that made them so interesting. Roosevelt's eccentricities were also his endearing qualities and Morris does an excellent job of describing them so that we see them in that light.
If I have any reservations with this book, and they are minor, one is that Morris proves once again, that the United States and England (or in his case, South Africa) are two countries separated by a common language. Unless you're a professor of the Queen's English, many of Morris' descriptions will send the reader to the dictionary. Short of that, it's hard to fault this outstanding book.
Rating:
Summary: Great story of a spectacularly complex man
Review: When "Theodore Rex" came out a few weeks ago, I was tempted. But I thought I ought to read Morris' first volume before tackling the second. Wow, do I ever feel rewarded! This is an incredible story of an amazingly gifted man. Theodore Roosevelt truly embodied the complexity, opportunity and vibrancy of America at the turn of the century. Morris captures Roosevelt in such a way that he literally seems to leap off the pages. Even if you normally shy away from historical works, I urge you to take this one on. It'll be the quickest and most enjoyable 800 pages you've ever devoured in your life. TR's story will stick with you for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrait of a remarkable person.
Review: A well researched and very well written biography of the "most interesting man to become president." The rise of Theodore Roosevelt is all the more fascinating due to its speed and inevitability. He is presented more as a force of nature. Author, naturalist, politician, rancher, soldier, historian: he was highly regarded in each of these categories. All the more enticing is the fact that, after almost 800 pages, he has yet to become president.
|
