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Summary: All The King's Men stylistically inferior only to Moby-Dick
Review: ATKP is, stylistically, one of the three best books I've ever read. The passage about a woman's special laugh, only laughed "when something has touched the quick of her being," "which hasn't got a damn thing to do with her name and address," "a great impersonal sincerity" is the most beautiful thing written since Melville's chapter "The Whiteness of the Whale." A tragedy in the tradition of Macbeth and Ahab, written with the impeccable ear for language of Mark Twain and the deeply felt sorrow for humanity of Thomas Hardy
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Summary: Classic of Southern Genre
Review: Will long stand as a classic of the "good ole' boy" south. From asphalt politics to segregation, a rich, deep view of the hey-days of the old south
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Summary: Forget Primary Colours, Read This!
Review: The book that gave the format and narrative structure to 'Primary Colours'. This novel is far superior. Written powerfully and beautifully with a wry humour and a unforgettable gallery of characters, Penn Warren reveals the heart of American politics in a book that all should read. As good as the best works of Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner
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Summary: The "Citizen Kane" of American novels
Review: Most Americans today would think the title of this book is a misprint for "All the President's Men", the Watergate book. What they don't realise is that the Watergate book was attempting to evoke the political cynicism and corruption so brilliantly portrayed by this classic novel. Robert Penn Warren, who went from writing novels to focus almost exclusively on poetry, becoming the nation's poet laureate, produced a beautifully written, deeply insightful analysis of the evil potential of American politics. The book is a great American literary classic. What "Citizen Kane" achieves in cinema, "All the King's Men" achieves in literature
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Summary: The Great American Novel
Review: Most of my life I have heard people talk about "the great American novel" and how they were either looking for it or were planning on writing it some day. If you are one of those people, you are wasting your time. The Great American Novel was written in 1946 and people will be reading this thing 500 years from now. Robert Penn Warren was essentially a poet, the first Poet Laureate of the United States, in fact. If you have not read any of his poems, you are in for a treat. His prose works are actually secondary in his great oevre, though many would have a hard time believing that after reading All the King's Men. Actually, the poetry is there, embedded in the crackling prose, almost mystically entwined in the magical descriptions and staccato dialogue. When Faulkner read this book, he was amazed and declared it one of the finest pieces of fiction he had ever encountered. It's easy to see why. If you have ever been deterred from dipping into literary fiction because you were afraid you would get bored, you needn't worry about this story. Once you get past the first chapter, the velocity of the plot development takes over and you ride the rapids to their swirling conclusion. There's no getting off this ride once you're strapped in. About half way through this tumult of American civilization, I consciously made myself slow down. I refused to read more than ten pages a day because I knew once I had finished this grand spectacle of artistry, I would probably never come across another American novel quite this well written. So far, and I'm 53 years old, this has proven to be true.
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Summary: a focus on the edition
Review: there are two newish paperbacks out in print right now. one is this edition featuring the classic novel we've loved for fifty years, the other is the restored edition- notably returning willie's last name to talos from stark and other changes. one interesting change is an addition of an opening chapter an editor, wisely in my opinion, convinced warren to axe. THIS edition is the one i would advise purchasing for those who are new to the novel and unfamiliar with 1930s history and politics. warren's biographer joseph blotner writes a fantastic introduction to this classic american work, putting history and politics skillfully in context and setting the reader up for a broader understanding. the introduction is short, only four pages, but is worth the read.
check out other review for summaries and articulations of why this book is completely wonderful.
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Summary: Above mere books as olympians are above mere athletes
Review: One feels after reading this book like one has lived an entire extra lifetime and now must get back to one's own life, though wiser and a little more world weary. Somehow it feels out of place to list this among other "books", like it's been misclassified or misslabled. This isn't a book, it's rare genius hitting on all cylinders -- a spark from the shattered vessel of the deeper truths of life.
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Summary: All The King's Men
Review: I've never left a review for a book before but this is one of the greatest books I've ever read. This is a must read, as is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
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Summary: A Work of Political Genius
Review: Robert Penn Warren does an incredible job making a novel of this magnitude flow. He jumps around in time and still keeps the reader enjoying his novel. It is truly one of the best political masterpieces of all time. Many people hate political books, but this one is interesting enough to hold anyone's attention and at the same time teach you something.
Warren based this novel on the life of Governor/Senator Huey Long from Louisiana. Many of the occurrences in Willies life coincided with the occurrences in Huey Long's life. This is impressive on Warren's part because it shows just how much thought and research he had to put into this novel to come up with the facts and ideas.
All The King's Men is narrated by a young and naïve Jack Burden, the protagonist. He is from a well-known family in Burden's Landing (named after his ancestors) and who believe that no one can be held accountable for what occurs because of your actions. Throughout the novel Warren shows how Jack slowly matures while dealing with the tough lessons of life and making decisions for yourself. An awakening occurs when his boss, Willie Talos, the governor, tells Jack to dig up dirt on Judge Irwin. The things that he finds cause him to look back and reevaluate his own life and change his beliefs.
Willie Talos's story takes place simultaneously to Jack's. He starts off as a poor farm boy who just wants to do good for others, but is corrupted by the spotlight of fame when he becomes governor. As he continues on his political journey the one thing that he despised most, the corruptness of politicians begins to become him. He used his power to command others around and blackmail them into doing what he wanted. He gains support by being projected as a common man.
These two stories are simultaneously occurring and because of this you see many similar characteristics between Jack and Willie. They are both trying to flee their past. Willie does not want to be the man that others took advantage of, but a strong and powerful man that no one can tell what to do. Jack no longer wants to be the naïve boy that grew up in Burden's Landing, but a man that can claim that he did something important on his own. While Jack matures through his experience, Willie has hardly any spiritual growth that occurs until it is too late. While Willie sheds his idealism for the power politicians gain and corruptness that soon follows, Jack keeps it and continues to sees the world through completely different eyes. Their personalities clash more than once although they work well together and keep the novel interesting.
I would highly recommend this novel to anyone. Do not let the size (it is a long one) stop you from reading it. It is not hard to follow and keeps your attention. Every time you start to put it down Warren brings up a new point and you get involved again. This is one of those books that you just cannot put down. I really enjoyed All The King's Men and will probably read it again to catch the things I missed the first time.
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Summary: Song of South
Review: I've read this book many times. It is bittersweet meditation on human weakness, loss, and learning the way of the world. The depth of this book is such that different themes resonate at different points of your life, like a dark gem. Penn Warren's evocation of the changeful, aching, moments of life is nothing short of masterful.
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