Reviews

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

teokajlibroj's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. I love politics and history so I thought I would really enjoy it, but instead it was a complete disappointment. The parts about Willie Stark could make a good book, but unfortunately they make up hardly any of the book.

Instead the book focuses on the narrator, Jack Burden, which completely ruins the book. He has absolutely no personality, hobbies, interests or personal qualities at all. He mopes around like a moody teenager for most of the book.

The writing is also over the top, the author spends far too much time showing off and over describing everything. He spends whole pages describing trivial things like a road or the weather. He's like a student adding unneeded details just to add to the word count.

kcrouth's review against another edition

5.0

Wow! This is one of the best books I've ever read. All the King's Men is a book about politics in the early 20th century, but it is also about so much more. It is about relationships, self worth, choices and consequences, means and ends, love and hate, destiny and chaos. I loved Robert Penn Warren's writing style. He uses rich detailed creative descriptions, which require a lot of words, but at the same time invite and compel the reader to devour each and every one of them. This story is a saga which approaches the scale, complexity, and depth of Steinbeck's East of Eden. I loved this book. It really is one of the best I've read. 5 stars.

sportula's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

rucsandra's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

goldripred's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

robboydston's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

theadequategatsby's review against another edition

5.0

Slow burn but the finale is worth pacing through some settings pages.

The narrator's cynicism and descriptions are sharp but really memorable.

Especially the cynicism and devotion aimed at Willie Stark and his devout followers and entourage.

marych3t's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book! Jack Burden's point of view was unique and reflective. The book made me think. It helped me look inside the lives of different types of people and see that everyone has good and bad parts. Relationships are complex and the intricacies of them are rarely known to the general public. It made me think and it made me feel. And that is what good literature does.

abbeyhar103's review against another edition

3.0

This book just became increasingly baffling to me, which was a bummer. I didn't get what style the author was trying to write in- it seemed all over the place, but still beautifully descriptive. The side story in the middle about cass and gilbert seemed to have very little todo wth anything else. It was more about jack burden than about willie stark, which I wasn't expecting, and which I didn't realize until about halfway through. It reminded me of "lie down in darkness" by William Styron- very southern, very flowery - sometimes beautifully so, sometimes annoyingly so.

melissaking's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully written and thought-provoking. Still wrapping my head around the core statements of corruption and personal responsibility. Wow.