Book Review: All the Kings Men

Just in time for the release of the new movie, I finished All the King's Men. When I started the book, I actually didn't know that they were remaking the movie (there was a movie made in the 50's I think), but the movie has quite a star-studded cast (see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405676/). I haven't heard any buzz about the movie, but I hope its good.

I quite liked the book. Robert Penn Warren (America's first poet laureate) wrote the book. At times, he gets a bit wordy and goes off on long meditations/diatribes (I found myself skimming fairly often, especially the first 50 pages), but, still, the language is spectacular. The book is most often sold as a political masterpiece (its loosely based on the life of Huey Long, the Louisiana governor/demagogue who rose to power by championing the cause of the lower classes), but I read it much more as a classic character study. The characters, especially the main characters, are all rich and deep. They are complex and real. The book charts the reactions of these characters, who are all very different and who act very differently as they encounter a variety of circumstances. The political/historical background is only an instrument that Warren uses to explore the psyche of his diverse characters and to explore rich themes such as fate, right and wrong, the nature of justification.

The book is fascinating and highly enjoyable. I recommend that you all read it before the movie comes out.