Rating: 
Summary: A modern-day classic...
Review: The first Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Penn Warren created his life-long masterpiece with "All The King's Men" (1946). Drawing upon his first-hand experience in Europe as Germany and Italy invaded their neighbors and Spain fought a bloody civil war, the author makes his best attempt to showcase the ill effects of demagoguery and the fine line Americans tread between freedom and totalitarianism. Set in the 1930s, "All The King's Men" follows the exploits of Willie Stark - a master politician and an expert in class warfare and corruption, who transforms from an idealistic man of the people into a creature driven by an insatiable lust for power. Readers would do well to learn more about the life story of Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. In the depths of the depression, he managed to become Governor and Senator of Louisiana (at the same time!!!), and he built a private army that rivaled the state militia and the national guard. Effectively, he became dictator of Louisiana before his assassination cut short his ambitions. With his eye on the White House, Long posed a true threat to FDR and the American republic, and his life serves as much of the basis for Warren's novel. "All The King's Men" is viewed through the eyes of Jack Burden, one of Stark's aides - a man still possessed of idealism, but paralyzed from action. From an insider's point-of-view, the reader witnesses the rise and fall of Louisiana's "man of the people". It has been said that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". If so, "All The King's Men" should be red in the face. The book's themes and ideas have been mimicked numerous times, most recently in 1996's best-selling novel "Primary Colors", a roman a clef with Jack Stanton (Bill Clinton) in place of Willie Stark (Huey Long). One of the finest novels of the last century, lovers of literature can't afford to miss "All The King's Men". Britt Gillette
Rating:
Summary: As close to perfect as literature gets.
Review: Never in my reading experience have narrative and stream-of-consciousness so thoroughly complemented one another in one work. I was loaned this book before I began some business travel alone and I am tempted to say that Jack Burden is the best travel companion I have ever had.
When a reading of a work of prose by itself almost explains the fact that its author was a poet laureate, you know you have been treated to a masterpiece. Passages like an early one wherein Jack describes the feeling of watching Willie about to give a speech (which Willie begins by saying that is exactly what he is not going to do) and likens it to finding an envelope and not wanting to open but having to because "the end of man" is to know what is in that envelope even though the "sad little foetus which is you in the dark which is you too" doesn't want to know. And a later sequence when Jack explains why he went west (the short answer is because "that's what we do", but Jack/Warren says it much better). These and many others are almost all the reason I need to read at all.
I went to a bookstore (sorry, Amazon, could not wait even a day) and bought two copies so I could give back the one I was loaned, keep one to read and loan to people, and give one to a friend to be determined. That's how much I loved this.
I have not read the version that was originally published. I may decide to some day out of curiosity or I may not. But I know I will read this version several more times in my life.
Rating:
Summary: All the kings horses all the kings men would read this again
Review: Within the confines of a bookstore one is often overwhelmed with the numerous topics and choices available to them. A solution to this problem, if a reader is interested in an engaging, magnificently written piece of literature, then take a few steps and find All The Kings Men by Robert Warren Penn.
The theme is one of uncanny importance and relevancy to this stage in American lives despite the fact it was written in 1946. The story is told in the first person, the narrator is Jack Burden; a right hand man to the leading political figure in the story, the "Boss." Interestingly, the "Boss" is based on the real life story of Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana.
The story encompasses Jack Burdens revival from a involuntary life, as well as the metamorphosis of Willie Stark's, the "Boss", idealistic political views to the lust for power and fame. Robert Warren Penn won a Pulitzer Prize for this book, and within the last few months I can not recall a book that would equal it in quality and purpose. Penn utilizes his characters to develop and provide insight on the issues of forgiveness, power, and corruption, and the consequences of leadership.
Within a bookstore there are many choices, and many possibilities to choose from, but in the busy lives of the average person today why waste the time just pick up a copy of All the Kings Men by Robert Warren Penn today.
Rating:
Summary: It may take awhile but...
Review: It may take awhile to read this but it is worth it. I have read it twice-the second time was even better. There is so much to this novel that just makes it complete. You learn to love the characters and feel like you know them. One word of advice would be to not give up on it- and read it slowly so you don't miss anything!
Rating:
Summary: All The Kings Men
Review: Alex Kipperman
Review
All The King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, is not only the story of a man's becoming of a politician, but is also a book that delves into analysis of human nature. Within it are several fascinating characters, but the two main ones are Jack Burden, a very well educated fellow and narrates with wonderful insight in the events that occur and Willie Stark, the man in which the story line is centered upon who is a raving politician, who's methods are be not that highly thought of by the other's in his field, but is loved by the people.
What I found to be most noteworthy was the author's mastery over the language and skill of writing. Often he would go into detail of the minutest event and then make in-depth analogies. The detail was overdone though, as one might find a Dickenson novel to be, because it is always surprisingly thoughtful and insightful. The descriptions are often of small events and moments in life with striking precision For instance, There is a part where Lucy, Willie's wife, is sitting with a number of other men eating and first Warren describes her as she is "watching the jaws work" and hen he likens her face to that of "the chief engineer... when he goes down to the engine room at night and the big steel throws are leaping" and it's these parallels which make his writing most enjoyable.
The ending is somewhat happy, though unfortunately it is filled with tragedy; the lives of all the characters intersect in some form and not always pleasant ways. But they and the different time periods covered in the story blend gracefully to form a book which is "brilliantly done" as the New York Times would put it.
Rating: 
Summary: great novel, bad edition
Review: Yes, this is a great novel, though I personally think the last three pages were a big mistake. But this review is about the "new, corrected edition" by Mr. Polk, which, I'm afraid, is a literary and scholarly travesty. Readers will be well advised to stick with the original 1946 text.; the fact that it has been a force in American life for over 50 years, and that in the 43 years before his death Warren never gave any indication he was dissatisfied with it, should be reason enough. (A cynic would argue that the only reason for the new edition was to extend the copyright.)
Polk went back to Warren's original typescript draft to restore many of the passages, phrases, and stylistic features that were changed or deleted in the editorial process before publication (and approved by Warren); and he claims that his editorial decisions have created a superior novel. The first problem is that, except for a very sketchy 10-page essay, Polk gives the reader no help in judging for himself. A respectable scholarly edition would at the least indicate, at the bottom of each page or the back of the book, each instance in which the first edition text has been changed and where the change came from (the draft was edited by several hands, including Warren's). A reader who wants to assess Polk's work will have to have both editions in hand and scan page by page, and even then will not know whose decisions Polk has overruled. Thus Polk puts himself beyond criticism.
Polk's essay tries to justify his decisions, but his illustrations are merely anecdotal and offer no consistent editorial principles or methodology. I haven't the space here to go through a critique point by point; suffice it to say, I'm not convinced by any of his examples, including the reversion from Willie Stark to Willie Talos. Polk seems to be one of those editors who believes that the closer you get to the author's very first words on paper, the better or the more authentic your version will be, since then you are closest to the "white heat of creativity." But this is one of the silliest forms of romanticism still in existence. And I suspect it runs directly again Warren's own philosophy of history. Polk may think he has restored history, but in fact he has falsified it, for the history was the event of publication.
Polk writes: "Many may feel that Warren's at least tacit approval of the [original] editors' changes-indeed, his gratitude for them-should argue against a new edition. But his 'approval' may have come from fatigue, from pressures of one sort or another, from the years of constant work on it. Indeed, his very closeness to the novel may have prevented him from exercising his own good judgment, and in any case this version indicates that he had written better than he knew." Ah, but surely Mr. Polk knows? No, these are the lamest of speculations, for which there is no evidence, and the surest signs that Polk's fantasies are in danger of effacing Warren's work.
Rating:
Summary: Why do people always call this a political novel?
Review: It is in fact a book that insightfully probes relationships -- friendships, romances and yes, those of a political nature. But to call it just a political novel doesn't do it justice. Recently reread after many years and rediscovered what a wonderful, compelling tale RPW wove.
Rating:
Summary: Slow... and pleasant.
Review: I'd seen "All the King's Men" described as one of the best American political novels, and after reading it, I don't see it as a political novel whatsoever. While it is based around the rise and fall of the fictitional Southern politician, Willie Talos, it is really just the story of the narrator, Jack Burden. Robert Penn Warren uses Burden to tell the story of Willie Talos and those around him but the novel ultimately ends up being just an insight into the relationships and emotions of Burden, which aren't too different than many that would be experienced by any modern-day American. At times, Burden's storytelling drifts far away from the topic that launched it, but Warren's writing is so pretty and the scenes described are so picturesque, that the drifting is enjoyable. While this also makes the book a slower read, it is more entertaining for being so. The novel is generally somber though, as life in the poor, early 20th Century, rural South could be, but the characters of the novel are very endearing. Their lives, intertwined with that of the man that has attracted them to him, rise with Talos' successes but are also doomed to crash with him and his all-or-nothing style. But while Talos is the protagonist, the most important parts of this book are those that focus on Jack Burden's life, especially the beautiful narrations he gives of his early-life memories.
Rating:
Summary: Pointless
Review: This book was profane and pointless, as is w/ most books I'm forced to read for English. I never knew being in AP ment I had to put up with my beliefs being violated. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: In a word? Wordy
Review: The story of Jack Burden as reporter turned henchman to rising star Willie Stark is gripping, all the more so because of the story's biographical intent. The author loves words and is quite at home flexing the English language in myriad ways. The book reads like poetry. And that's its problem. Though the author writes with zest, the vast, deep eddies or metaphor that he creates to describe a scene ultimately detract from the flow of the story. One wishes sometimes that he would just simply get to the point. But from the outset, our narrator Jack is imbued with superhuman English mastery as well as every other character with whom he converses. The conversations are not believable because no one in their right mind would speak with the kind of flowery language that the author puts in their mouths. This is not to say that it's stilted, but simply too fluid and poetic to be taken seriously. It's the type of book that pretentious bookworms like to tout as an "American Classic" because of its difficulty. Even so, the book itself is pretty good, if slow-going. The characters are fully fleshed out and the story is compelling. It's worth a read, and worth paying for.
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