2008 Woodie Awards
Title selected for city-wide reading event holds up to lofty expectations and praise
Nick Stockton
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Reviews
- Page 1 of 2 next >
"All The King's Men" is a book that intimidates. It has been coined as the quissessential read on American success and the supposed inevitable corruption that comes with it.
It follows the rise of Louisiana Governor Willie "Boss" Stark, through the eyes and mind of his hired man, Jack Burden.
The synopsis seems like a cliché: A country boy rises from the dirt through his ideals and becomes a successful lawyer and politician, becoming completely consumed by the process.
The readers wonder why they would need to read an entire fiction novel on a subject that is easily covered on a front page news article on any given week. But it is neither the corruption nor the politics that drive this book, it is the uncontrollable forces that drive the two together.
The title of the book is so iconic, that the readers are placed in a mindset as though they are going to try to tackle "The Grapes of Wrath", or "War and Peace." The problem with novels given the label of being 'one of the classics,' is that they are now placed in the same category as books that are excerpted for required high school reading. This makes the idea of reading the book more of a chore than a pleasure.
To compound this problem, the novel does not have enough sex, violence, and cussing in the first chapter to break into that simple place in the imagination where a reader is easily hooked. But, if the reader is willing to pay attention not only to the story being told, but to the storyteller, they will be rewarded with incredible suggestions and subtleties.
Jack Burden as the narrator is a former newspaper reporter and columnist. He is embittered, and haunted by a lack of success that he seems to feel is his due. He is intelligent, talented, and resourceful. He notices, but does not focus on, his own corruption. This is where the novel finds its application.
If the readers focus on Jack instead of Willie Stark, they find that human connection that is needed for a novel to take its grip. Jack was unwilling to take an up-front responsibility in the cause of his own corruption. Because he followed Stark, he is corrupted in the same way that most everyday people who are corrupted.
It follows the rise of Louisiana Governor Willie "Boss" Stark, through the eyes and mind of his hired man, Jack Burden.
The synopsis seems like a cliché: A country boy rises from the dirt through his ideals and becomes a successful lawyer and politician, becoming completely consumed by the process.
The readers wonder why they would need to read an entire fiction novel on a subject that is easily covered on a front page news article on any given week. But it is neither the corruption nor the politics that drive this book, it is the uncontrollable forces that drive the two together.
The title of the book is so iconic, that the readers are placed in a mindset as though they are going to try to tackle "The Grapes of Wrath", or "War and Peace." The problem with novels given the label of being 'one of the classics,' is that they are now placed in the same category as books that are excerpted for required high school reading. This makes the idea of reading the book more of a chore than a pleasure.
To compound this problem, the novel does not have enough sex, violence, and cussing in the first chapter to break into that simple place in the imagination where a reader is easily hooked. But, if the reader is willing to pay attention not only to the story being told, but to the storyteller, they will be rewarded with incredible suggestions and subtleties.
Jack Burden as the narrator is a former newspaper reporter and columnist. He is embittered, and haunted by a lack of success that he seems to feel is his due. He is intelligent, talented, and resourceful. He notices, but does not focus on, his own corruption. This is where the novel finds its application.
If the readers focus on Jack instead of Willie Stark, they find that human connection that is needed for a novel to take its grip. Jack was unwilling to take an up-front responsibility in the cause of his own corruption. Because he followed Stark, he is corrupted in the same way that most everyday people who are corrupted.
Be the first to comment on this story