All the King’s Men

A great read

Penn Warren's All the Kings Men is an extremely involved read. The book focuses not so much on American politics and the myth of the demagogue politician but rather on one man's journey into himself into finding his place in the world. The book also provides the basis for one man's understanding of the meaning of responsibility for his actions. That said, a lot of the critical focus of this novel has been placed on the character of Willie (Stark) Talos the fictional governor who starts out as a simple man of the people and evolves into a Machiavellian powerhouse who demands that the ends justify the means for all his actions. The book has been called the ultimate political novel or even a novel about the rise and fall of an American dictator. This rather general review barely scratches the surface of Penn Warrens attention. In its most basic aspect, this is a novel which deals literally with one of the King's men. In this case that man is Jack Burden. Jack, for the most part, is an observer of the world around him. This is his most basic take on life. He observes and basically floats through his existence as a sort of thinking yes man for his political leader. He will do anything that his boss tells him and he will feel very little, if any responsibility for his actions. This view of life gradually changes through his interaction with Willie (Stark) Talos and the immediate circle of people around the governor. Jack through this novel grows into a responsible person. I called the novel flawed in the title to this review for a few reasons. The first is the narrative style. Jack is a first person narrator and an observer of life. As such everything (and I mean everything) gets described. This has a great tendency to slow the novel almost to a crawl at some points. The flip side of this, however, is that Penn Warren creates prose that almost has the feel of a painting in its description. The novelist forces his reader to view the entire world through the narrators eyes. There is very little direct narration and ore than a little of Warren's personal philosophy involved in reading this. The second point that has been called a flaw is the placement of the Cass Mastern episode. This however is a centralpart of the novel. It is also the portion of the novel that William Faulker thought to be the best writing of the book. The episode runs nearly fifty pages and contributes nothing to the existing narrative structure. First looks however can be deceiving. This section of the novel provides a model for Burden's eventual change into a more responsible person. On the whole this was probably one of the most difficult books that I've read in quite a while. At times one wants to scream in frustration but with some patience the careful reader is left with a feeling of great accomplishment and the feeling of having read something truly great and uniquely American.

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for best American novel in 1947, the final year of the award (which was replaced with the award for best American fiction), ALL THE KING’S MEN is considered an American classic and the go-to Allstar of American political fiction. Peripherally, ALL THE KING’S MEN tells the story of the charismatic and morally-questionable Governor of Louisiana and US Senator, Huey Long “The Kingfish”. His dramatic rise and sudden demise were familiar to readers in the 1940’s but by now most have forgotten (or never heard of) Governor Long. This book doesn’t detail much about The Boss’s policies or controversies, so I thought potential readers may be interested in a bit of backstory: Huey Long was a socialist populist, promoting the role of government in helping the poor through redistribution and public works. He was reviled by old-guard politicians of both political parties, the blue-blooded elites, and the corporate interests he wanted to tax (mainly oil companies). He managed to make plenty of enemies during his politicking, employed pay-for-play politics, and was accused of dictator-like abuses of power in Louisiana. During his time in the US Senate, Long was described as “the hillbilly hero … [who] wore silks suits and pink ties, womanized openly, swilled whiskey in the finest bars, swaggered his way around Washington, and breathed defiance into the teeth of his critics” (Historian David Kennedy). Long was a critic of the New Deal, claiming it didn’t go far enough in redistributing power and wealth from Wall Street (Long’s favorite bogeyman) to the poor. President Roosevelt considered Long a major threat, accusing him of election fraud, voter intimidation, and tax evasion. This drama was coming to a head when Long was assassinated. However, while the story in ALL THE KING’S MEN revolves around the political career of Willie Stark (Huey Long), the book is not really about him at all, but about the personal growth and awakening of his right-hand-man, Jack Burden. Indeed, the entire book is spent inside the head of Jack Burden as he searches for The-Point-Of-It-All while working as the get-it-done man for The Boss. As you read this book you’ll discover that Jack Burden’s head is an interesting and somewhat neurotic place. He has a generally perverse, almost morbid view of the world. He notices and remembers things like how a person’s skin covers their skull and tends to see the most compromising past and darkest potential in everyone. He is also passively arrogant, almost psychotically unempathetic, and basically jaded by the human experience. Still, his psychological journey is convincing and somehow inspiring, and there is no shortage of profound philosophy here, even if it tends to be on the more pessimistic side of the spectrum. If that sounds less than pleasant, don’t worry, because Robert Penn Warren’s lyrical prose is absolutely masterful, being breathtakingly beautiful and often hilariously witty, making ALL THE KING’S MEN an enjoyable page-turner that you can read for no other reason than experiencing how the words are put together. A less-skilled wordsmith trying to tell the same story is the same manner would have failed epically, but this book is confusingly excellent and a must-read.

Le roman est un chef-d'œuvre. Admirablement écrit, il suit le passage d'un homme politique de l'intégrité à la corruption. Les personnages sont nombreux, dont le narrateur, un journaliste passé au service du gouverneur et chargé de réaliser ses basses œuvres. La plupart des figures évoluent, mais certaines demeurent immuables, comme le chirurgien qui, à la fin, est à l'origine d'un événement tragique. Les hommes dominent dans le roman, mais deux personnages féminins intéressants paraissent en bonne place. L'ouvrage est proche de la tragédie. Le message dont il est porteur est plutôt pessimiste, voire cynique. Nés dans le péché, nous ne pouvons que tendre vers le mal. Mais puisque nous sommes tous aussi mauvais, pourquoi nous sentir coupables? Le moteur de l'histoire n'étant jamais qu'une impulsion électrique, faut-il que nous soyons tenus pour responsables de nos actes? PS-Le chapitre 7, avec sa description si délicate et pudique d'un amour pur, est un chef-d'œuvre dans le chef-d'œuvre!

Fantastic. A classic. Relevent to our time.

This story of the rise and fall of an American politician in the 1930s showcases Robert Penn Warren's considerable narrative skill at its best. Warren uses a complex narrative structure filtered through the eyes of a disturbed narrator that not only lays bare the reality of the protagonist but compels us to question the political system itself that creates a man like Willie Stark. Warren's language is nuanced and intense without being pretentious or ponderous. It is not however a light read and best suited for a time when you are prepared for a degree of intellectual involvement. It is nevertheless well worth the effort you put in it. You can also check out the 1949 film version which won Broderick Crawford an Oscar.

Una GRAN novela que se disfruta desde el primer capítulo hasta el final, además de tener una actualidad asombrosa.

Robert Penn Warren's ALL THE KING'S MEN packs a powerful punch! The main character (Willie Talos) will remind each and every reader of far too many contemporary politicians. Sobering and provocative ... this cautionary tale was well worthy of its Pulitzer Prize status in 1947 - and, for my money, should be required reading for anyone old enough to VOTE!