LINCOLN

Hard cover edition is an easier read the older I get

What a joy it was to re-read this novel twenty years after my first time.Gore Vidal’s a fine writer, and he could hardly have chosen a better subject. Lincoln appears near the top of most people’s lists of best-ever US presidents, and absolutely at the top of mine. Among his many admirable features, one that strikes me most is that, as the Union was beginning to fall apart, with the South quickly towards war, he travelled into hostile territory: he went to Washington DC, sandwiched between Maryland and Virginia.He did that because he’d been elected President, leading the Federal government, and that government had its seat in Washington, just as the President had his residence there. He therefore had to be there or fail in his duty. And yet, already on his trip in to the city, he faced an assassination threat.So Vidal starts the novel with Lincoln being sneaked in, unannounced and in disguise, an excellent opening to a story that will pit this strange, perhaps even uncouth, and yet somehow heroic figure against an array of forces that had to be greater than anything he could withstand and would eventually crush him (I’m sorry if that’s a spoiler: to anyone who wasn’t aware that Lincoln’s story did not have a happy ending, I can only say that the novel’s worth reading anyway).Lincoln stayed in the city throughout the Civil War. He secured his rear by ensuring that Maryland stayed in the Union (along with three other slave states: Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri), often resorting to measures of dubious constitutionality to achieve his aim. Vidal traces the conflicts through which he had to fight to achieve his goals, often with members of his own cabinet. Indeed, one of the most compelling aspects of the novel is the way it vividly recounts the battles he had with two leading members of his cabinet: first, his major rival William Seward, who’d been expected to win the Republican Presidential nomination until he saw it stolen from him by Lincoln, and went on to become his secretary of state and quickly his most loyal supporter; and second, another rival, Salmon Chase, his Treasury secretary and the architect of the greenback, a man forever devoured by his ambition for the presidency, an ambition shared by his captivating daughter Kate.The ups and downs of these conflicts aren’t simply a history lesson, but a powerful story made all the more intense by the changing narrative viewpoints: much of the story is seen through the eyes of Chase, for instance, or of Lincoln’s secretary John Hay, and strikingly through those of David Herold – this a great case of a bit part, one Shakespeare might have called merely the “second murderer”, since Herold was an obscure accomplice of John Wilkes Booth’s in Lincoln’s assassination (whoops, sorry: there’s that spoiler again).Beyond all these local adversaries, in Washington or even in his cabinet, Lincoln naturally faces the powerful enemy of the secessionist armies. And between him and them there stand his generals in the East, each as inept as the one before, failing to find the wherewithal or the courage to take on and defeat the armies of General Lee. Right up to the appointment of Grant.Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Lincoln had a wife bordering on insanity who was unable to control her own spending, often drifting across the borderline into downright criminality to feed her addiction. He also lost a young child during his White House years, so there was little to console him at home for the tensions of his public life.All these threads Vidal weaves into a pacy, gripping and inspiring novel that I enjoyed as much second time through as first. It really is a model of how to write a historical novel: closely researched and respecting the facts, but blending in finely honed fiction, with enough skill in storytelling to make sure it fascinates and engages the reader.

Empecé a leerlo con cierta prevención, pues tenia entendido qque Gore Vidal era un escritor algo inclinado a "epater le bourgeois",pero, ahora, he de reconocer que este libro suyo (el único que he leido, por ahora) está muy bien escrito y da una visión muy humana de Lincoln

I must confess up front that I am a big fan of Gore Vidal's historical novels. I read his CREATION once a year and never fail to enjoy it. His tone reminds me of Robert Graves (with perhaps a little of Alfred Duggan) and after a while I begin to forget that this is a novel. As the author is located in the middle of the sort of political family so prevalent in this novel he brings a special feel to it. I find the whole thing captivating and believable (though of course that is the trick a good historical novelist plays on us). Rather like Sir Alec Guiness' Charles I in "Cromwell" I suspect when I think of Lincoln from now on it will be Vidal's version that occupies my mind.Lincoln is in a distinct sub-genre. There are no battles, save those of politics, and the author takes us through a long process of events so that we immerse ourselves in the situation prevailing in Washington; a situation which we may have previously seen as a backdrop to the American Civil War. In Lincoln this is reversed and the War made the backdrop. A handy knowledge of the US political system is useful, but you will learn if you have none. I can see how this is going to be too long a stretch for some readers - rather like reading Proust, but if you are a long distance endurance reader then this is a delightful book.

If you're a newbie to Lincoln and his administration this book is not for you. This was written for folks who have a minimal understanding/background of the main events of the Civil War and the main players in Lincoln's cabinet. I would not have been able to enjoy this book or finish it without first having read "Team of Rivals." Instead of being a literary novel, I think of Vidal's book as a jumbled screenplay - a collection of hand-picked scenes where we actually get to be a fly in the wall and see how Lincoln interacted with his peers. The book is well-written, but Vidal's writing style can be often be very frustrating - instead of finishing a chapter at the end of a conversation he often makes abrupt transitions to another event that happens days or even weeks later - all within one paragraph. It's as if you're watching a movie at home and someone accidentally presses the next chapter button on the DVD player when you were enjoying watching the scene at hand.All that being said, I did enjoy the insights this book provided. I never quite understood how lucky Lincoln was to have events turn his way right before his second election. It was very likely he was going to lose being re-elected. And... I never quite understood the extent of Mary Todd's spending sprees (and what a public relations nightmare that could have been) until I read this book. What a mess.Vidal also does an incredible job turning these historical figures into true characters. Good writers find the key personality traits to create striking caricatures that still embody the spirit of a person, and Vidal appropriately boiled down the essence of these historical people with titles such as "The Premier" (Seward), "The Ancient" (Lincoln), "The Hellcat/Madam" (Mary Todd). Little things like Chase's constant prayer mutterings and Sprague's blunt conversations really added depth to people that, before, were merely historical figures. Hmm... what else? Oh - one of my favorite parts was the climactic scene between Kate and Chase (where Kate throws up).Overall, a fun book - if you have some prior context with Lincoln's administration.