"The Passage of Power" is the fourth volume in Robert Caro's masterful life of Lyndon Johnson. I believe it to be the best of the series, and Robert Caro must rank among the best, if not the best biographer of all time. The sheer magnitude of his research is mind boggling.
This volume covers the five years in Johnson's life leading up to and following the assassination of President John Kennedy. We see Johnson as the absolute master of the Senate, wheeling and dealing, a shrewd judge of his colleagues, a giant of a man in appetites and achievements. Then we see him almost emasculated as a powerless and depressed Vice-President to Kennedy, and finally we see him take the reigns of power, rise to expectations and beyond, and become one of the most fascinating and complex personalities to occupy the Presidency of the United States.
Just as Kennedy was a product of his eastern prep-school monied background, an achieving son of an ambitious father; Johnson, in contrast, was a product of his upbringing, the son of a Texan dirt-farmer; poor, proud, and single-minded ambitious, anxious not to repeat the mistakes of his father.
Early on, Johnson focused on the Presidency. He spent little time in the US House of Representatives. He knew the Senate would be his stepping stone and worked quickly and diligently to forge the relationships he needed to achieve his ambition. Johnson's facility for reading people, finding their weaknesses, and feeding their egos, came early and naturally. He was relentless in going after what he wanted and very few were able to refuse him a favor. No one before or since has been able to do this as well.
Johnson was crude, brilliant and insecure. In this passage Caro captures him exactly: "Ruthlessness, secretiveness, deceit--significant elements in every previous stage of Lyndon Johnson's life story. Not always, however, the only elements, not always the only character traits, contradictory though other traits might be. And sometimes these other elements--the anger at injustice, the sympathy, empathy, identification with the underdog that added up to compassion--had been expressed by this master of the political gesture, in gestures so deeply meaningful, so perfect in their symbolism, that they reached a level for which "mastery" is an inadequate term.
Roy Wilkins, the leader of the NAACP wrote, "Withe Johnson, you never quite knew if he was out to lift your heart or your wallet."
The story of the enmity and rivalry between Johnson and Bobby Kennedy would be fair game for a Shakespeare if we only had one. Caro's presentation is as close as we will get to understanding it.
We often speak of our current Congress with its polarization and deadlock as hopeless and frustrating. However, if one looks back on other Congresses, it can be seen that similar situations were not uncommon. Kennedy was having trouble getting any of his programs enacted in a congress much like ours today. Looking back, we can see his relationship with his Congress was much like Obama's today. After Kennedy's death, Johnson's former colleagues were under no illusions at to what was about to descend on them. In an all-out blitz, Johnson, through threats, wheedling, and alternately bullying and charming, was able to push through the 1964 Civil Rights Act, The Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and social programs like Head Start (which gave me a summer job when a college student).
It is impossible in a review to adequately reflect the richness of this book. Though long, it is a mesmerizing study of a powerful, yet flawed leader. I give it my highest recommendation as a window on a bygone era and a group of skillful politicians (Harry Byrd, Sam Rayburn, Tip O'Neill) the likes of whom we may never see again. To all interested in history or the gateway to a rich discussion in a book group, do not miss this read.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
THE RIGHT-HAND SHORE by Christopher Tilghman (fic)
Christopher Tilghman has written a novel about a stately manor of vast acreage built in 1657 by the ancestors of the Bayly family on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. It is actually the second novel Tilghman has written about this estate, but this story takes place before his previous novel, "Mason's Retreat."
The story opens post-civil war and continues until the turn of the century. It is a story of the consequences of building an empire upon slavery and the breakdown of an aristiocratic family, its members fleeing the dead end the Mason House plantation had become.
When we enter the story, we learn the last of the slaves were sold off as the civil war was coming to an end. Ophelia, the heiress married a Union man from Baltimore, as if the remove the stain of the family's support of the Confederacy. Ophelia plays a small role in the story; she soon abandons the property to her husband and escapes with her daughter Mary to France and then Baltimore.
For a while the plantation was successful growing peaches, until blight ruins the orchard and changes the direction of the story. While all this is playing out, the reader becomes engrossed in the stories of both the black and white workers on the farm. Their relationships, especially the romance between Thomas the heir, Randell Terrell his best friend and Randell's sister, Beal, move the plot along to its poignant end. It seems all the main characters in the novel are searching for their own ways of escaping the vaguely sinister atmosphere of the manor.
Mary Bayly returns to the manor as a grown woman and is the only family member interested in bringing back the glory days of the property. She does this by turning it into a modern dairy with the latest equipment. It becomes a model for organic farming in the early years of the 20th century. As soon as Mary returns, her story becomes entwined with that of Thomas and Beal. We view much of the story through the eyes of the faithful estate manager as we and he watch the decline, rise and denouement of the stately Bayly homestead.
Tilghman writes beautifully and keeps his readers interested in the history of the Chesapeake peninsula and the drama of the Bayly family. I recommend this book as a good read which may prompt you to find his previous book to discover what happens to Mason's Retreat in the 20th century.
The story opens post-civil war and continues until the turn of the century. It is a story of the consequences of building an empire upon slavery and the breakdown of an aristiocratic family, its members fleeing the dead end the Mason House plantation had become.
When we enter the story, we learn the last of the slaves were sold off as the civil war was coming to an end. Ophelia, the heiress married a Union man from Baltimore, as if the remove the stain of the family's support of the Confederacy. Ophelia plays a small role in the story; she soon abandons the property to her husband and escapes with her daughter Mary to France and then Baltimore.
For a while the plantation was successful growing peaches, until blight ruins the orchard and changes the direction of the story. While all this is playing out, the reader becomes engrossed in the stories of both the black and white workers on the farm. Their relationships, especially the romance between Thomas the heir, Randell Terrell his best friend and Randell's sister, Beal, move the plot along to its poignant end. It seems all the main characters in the novel are searching for their own ways of escaping the vaguely sinister atmosphere of the manor.
Mary Bayly returns to the manor as a grown woman and is the only family member interested in bringing back the glory days of the property. She does this by turning it into a modern dairy with the latest equipment. It becomes a model for organic farming in the early years of the 20th century. As soon as Mary returns, her story becomes entwined with that of Thomas and Beal. We view much of the story through the eyes of the faithful estate manager as we and he watch the decline, rise and denouement of the stately Bayly homestead.
Tilghman writes beautifully and keeps his readers interested in the history of the Chesapeake peninsula and the drama of the Bayly family. I recommend this book as a good read which may prompt you to find his previous book to discover what happens to Mason's Retreat in the 20th century.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
A PERSON OF INTEREST by Susan Choi (fic)
A man we know only as Lee is a professor of computer science at a small mid-west college, perhaps in Iowa. The novel opens as a bomb explodes in the office next to Lee's, killing a colleague, Handley. As the story moves on, we get to know Lee very well; we are privy to his innermost thoughts. He is not a very likable man. (If we knew anyone's inner life, perhaps no one would be likable.) We discover Lee is lonely and an alcoholic. He is depressed, cranky, jealous of others success, and estranged from his only daughter.
Susan Choi who was a finalist for a Pulitzer for a previous novel, writes a beautifully structured novel. Here she has written a psychological study that follows the breakdown of a man who has good reason to be paranoid. He finds himself suspected by the FBI of being the bomber. Lee eventually sets out to discover who the real murderer is. The killer is reminiscent of the Unibomber of some years back. He writes tracts to newspapers and makes threats and demands a pulpit for his twisted ideas. Lee's suspicions focus on a former friend, Gaither whose wife Lee seduced and eventually married. The story goes back and forth between the past relationship of Lee, Gaither and Aileen and the present of Lee now divorced.
The story is interesting and excellently crafted, but moves slowly with its rich vocabulary. I found nothing to like about any of the characters (especially Lee, whom I wanted to shake some sense into) until the final third of the book with the introduction of a new character, who seemed to be the lone honest person in the book. Despite all this, I enjoyed Choi's writing and found I did get into the story.
Susan Choi who was a finalist for a Pulitzer for a previous novel, writes a beautifully structured novel. Here she has written a psychological study that follows the breakdown of a man who has good reason to be paranoid. He finds himself suspected by the FBI of being the bomber. Lee eventually sets out to discover who the real murderer is. The killer is reminiscent of the Unibomber of some years back. He writes tracts to newspapers and makes threats and demands a pulpit for his twisted ideas. Lee's suspicions focus on a former friend, Gaither whose wife Lee seduced and eventually married. The story goes back and forth between the past relationship of Lee, Gaither and Aileen and the present of Lee now divorced.
The story is interesting and excellently crafted, but moves slowly with its rich vocabulary. I found nothing to like about any of the characters (especially Lee, whom I wanted to shake some sense into) until the final third of the book with the introduction of a new character, who seemed to be the lone honest person in the book. Despite all this, I enjoyed Choi's writing and found I did get into the story.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
PEOPLE WHO EAT DARKNESS by Richard Lloyd Parry (non-fic)
"People Who Eat Darkness" was one of the notable books of 2012 of the New York Times. It is a true crime story and not for the fainthearted. It is a tale of darkness and horror that defies logic. Capable of causing nightmares, it is not a book that I can say I enjoyed reading, and the sadness of it is that it is all true.
Back in the year 2000, a 21 year of British girl, a former flight attendant for British Air, quit her job and went to Tokyo. It was to be a short term stay. Her name was Lucie Blackman, and she had gotten herself into debt and had large credit card bills. Lucie heard there was quick and easy money to be made in Tokyo by taking a job as a Hostess in a club catering to the whims of Tokyo businessmen. She and a friend easily found work in Roppongi, an area of Tokyo that is respectable enough in the day time, but caters to a different and decidedly creepy element as darkness falls. Lucie was naive, and like many tourists was lulled into a false sense of safety by Tokyo's reputation as one of the world's safest cities. And so it is, but not when dealing with the unsavory denizens of the club world which caters to all kinds of kinky types and fetishes.
Lucie came to a hideous end, being drugged, raped and finally dismembered by a millionaire madman whom she had the misfortune to meet and trust. His name was Obara, and he himself was an outsider though born in Japan. His family was Korean; they changed their name when they took on Japanese citizenship. Obara was one of three sons of a hard-working father who built up a business worth millions.
Parry a correspondent for the Times of London, has followed this case from its beginning at the turn of the century right through to present day, when it was finally resolved. This story isn't just about Lucie. The characters who were part of her life and background are all equally interesting. Her father, Tim, whose actions and seeming thirst for publicity, is a case study of its own. Her mother, Jane, who sought advice from a Medium, is another tale. Her brother and sister who suffered breakdowns in the years after the murder, have their story. Worst of all is the murderer, Obara and the mismanagement of the case by the police, who proved to be bumbling and inept in their investigation. The story of Lucie and her fate carried on for ten years, and Parry doggedly kept on its trail. The result is this true crime story. It is not easy to read in its unsavory detail, but is well-written and a fascinating study of human evil, error, greed, and sadness. Along with this is the overlying misunderstanding between very different cultures.
Back in the year 2000, a 21 year of British girl, a former flight attendant for British Air, quit her job and went to Tokyo. It was to be a short term stay. Her name was Lucie Blackman, and she had gotten herself into debt and had large credit card bills. Lucie heard there was quick and easy money to be made in Tokyo by taking a job as a Hostess in a club catering to the whims of Tokyo businessmen. She and a friend easily found work in Roppongi, an area of Tokyo that is respectable enough in the day time, but caters to a different and decidedly creepy element as darkness falls. Lucie was naive, and like many tourists was lulled into a false sense of safety by Tokyo's reputation as one of the world's safest cities. And so it is, but not when dealing with the unsavory denizens of the club world which caters to all kinds of kinky types and fetishes.
Lucie came to a hideous end, being drugged, raped and finally dismembered by a millionaire madman whom she had the misfortune to meet and trust. His name was Obara, and he himself was an outsider though born in Japan. His family was Korean; they changed their name when they took on Japanese citizenship. Obara was one of three sons of a hard-working father who built up a business worth millions.
Parry a correspondent for the Times of London, has followed this case from its beginning at the turn of the century right through to present day, when it was finally resolved. This story isn't just about Lucie. The characters who were part of her life and background are all equally interesting. Her father, Tim, whose actions and seeming thirst for publicity, is a case study of its own. Her mother, Jane, who sought advice from a Medium, is another tale. Her brother and sister who suffered breakdowns in the years after the murder, have their story. Worst of all is the murderer, Obara and the mismanagement of the case by the police, who proved to be bumbling and inept in their investigation. The story of Lucie and her fate carried on for ten years, and Parry doggedly kept on its trail. The result is this true crime story. It is not easy to read in its unsavory detail, but is well-written and a fascinating study of human evil, error, greed, and sadness. Along with this is the overlying misunderstanding between very different cultures.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
THE LADY IN THE TOWER by Alison Weir (non-fic)
Alison Weir is the author of a number of books on medieval royalty. This time she has focused on Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn is a romantic figure in British history and there have been a number of biographies and novels written about her. As most know, she was the second of Henry VIII's wives and was beheaded on what appear to be bogus charges. Because of the paucity of actual facts of these early figures, they are often more suited to romances than biographies. However, Alison Weir has taken a small window of time in Anne's life and researched it thoroughly, including plenty of original and primary sources. Weir has concentrated on the four month period when Anne was accused of infidelity with five men including her brother George while plotting against Henry. All were subsequently sent to the Tower of London and beheaded.
If you have read the brilliant "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel, and are interesting in this period of history, you may wish to check this book out. Weir is meticulous in presenting all the available sources: letters, legal documents, court proceedings, first and second hand references. She traces the motives of Henry, who was at that time already involved in a relationship with Jane Seymour and her rapacious family, as well as the wily Thomas Cromwell who was fighting to maintain his own position in the dangerous court of Henry. Weir debunks a lot of popular myths that grew around Anne who was not a popular figure in her time. She also tries to cut through some of the whitewashing that was done during the reign of her daughter Elizabeth I.
All in all this is an interesting and well written book if you are interested in the scholarly aspects of Anne's fall from grace and the horror dangers of finding oneself too close to the throne and Henry's ire.
If you have read the brilliant "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel, and are interesting in this period of history, you may wish to check this book out. Weir is meticulous in presenting all the available sources: letters, legal documents, court proceedings, first and second hand references. She traces the motives of Henry, who was at that time already involved in a relationship with Jane Seymour and her rapacious family, as well as the wily Thomas Cromwell who was fighting to maintain his own position in the dangerous court of Henry. Weir debunks a lot of popular myths that grew around Anne who was not a popular figure in her time. She also tries to cut through some of the whitewashing that was done during the reign of her daughter Elizabeth I.
All in all this is an interesting and well written book if you are interested in the scholarly aspects of Anne's fall from grace and the horror dangers of finding oneself too close to the throne and Henry's ire.
Monday, February 18, 2013
GOODBYE COLUMBUS by Philip Roth (fic)
A valued friend gave me a beautifully bound old copy of "Goodbye Columbus" for Christmas this year. What a treat to read it again after these many years. Philip Roth announced his retirement from writing this year, and "Goodbye Columbus" being the first book he wrote, made the reading more meaningful. "Goodbye Columbus" was published in 1959 when he was a twenty something teacher of writing. It won the National Book Award that year.
If you are a follower of "Mad Men," you may wish to go back to reread this novella, which portrays the same era, all-be-it from the viewpoint of two Jewish kids from opposite sides of Newark.
Years ago when I first read the story, I was younger than the collage-age characters in the story. Rereading it now is fascinating. Here we are decades later, and we know what is in store for the world and these two students who had a brief summer liaison in a more innocent time. Neil Klugman and Brenda Patimkin are trying to find themselves, before computers, birth control pills, smart phones and all the other trapping that young adults have today. It was a time when people took buses and wrote letters and smoked cigarettes and ate lots of meat and potatoes without guilt. They planned weddings in just two months; and it was easy to find a venue and go out and buy gowns for brides and attendants in a single day. It was a time when uneducated workers could own businesses like Patimkin's kitchen and bathroom factory, which enabled his daughter to grow up a princess and attend Radcliffe, where the Harvard girls still lived and studied separately from the boys.
Neil who came from the poorer side of Newark and attended Rutgers University was very conscious of the differences that their upbringings accorded them. In the end the differences were too great for Neil and Brenda to make a go of it. The reader feels Neil's pain as he tries to fit into Brenda's nouveau-riche family with their glitzy trappings and material life style, as well as Brenda's confusion in trying to understand a world so different from hers. Neither came close to "getting" the others needs.
The era of the 1950s is so very different from ours today, yet the angst of the young searching for love, is just as valid in both worlds. The story is still good reading.
If you are a follower of "Mad Men," you may wish to go back to reread this novella, which portrays the same era, all-be-it from the viewpoint of two Jewish kids from opposite sides of Newark.
Years ago when I first read the story, I was younger than the collage-age characters in the story. Rereading it now is fascinating. Here we are decades later, and we know what is in store for the world and these two students who had a brief summer liaison in a more innocent time. Neil Klugman and Brenda Patimkin are trying to find themselves, before computers, birth control pills, smart phones and all the other trapping that young adults have today. It was a time when people took buses and wrote letters and smoked cigarettes and ate lots of meat and potatoes without guilt. They planned weddings in just two months; and it was easy to find a venue and go out and buy gowns for brides and attendants in a single day. It was a time when uneducated workers could own businesses like Patimkin's kitchen and bathroom factory, which enabled his daughter to grow up a princess and attend Radcliffe, where the Harvard girls still lived and studied separately from the boys.
Neil who came from the poorer side of Newark and attended Rutgers University was very conscious of the differences that their upbringings accorded them. In the end the differences were too great for Neil and Brenda to make a go of it. The reader feels Neil's pain as he tries to fit into Brenda's nouveau-riche family with their glitzy trappings and material life style, as well as Brenda's confusion in trying to understand a world so different from hers. Neither came close to "getting" the others needs.
The era of the 1950s is so very different from ours today, yet the angst of the young searching for love, is just as valid in both worlds. The story is still good reading.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY by Margaret Forster (fic)
Margaret Forster has taken a conceit, made it her own and fashioned it into an interesting story which fictionalizes real characters. It is a story that begins at the the turn of the 20th century with an intriguing painting.
Once upon a time there was an artistic family named John with a brother, Augustus who became famous not only for his painting, but also for his bohemian life style. His story is told in a wonderful biography by Michael Holroyd.
Our story starts with the sister, Gwen, who in a smaller way became known for her paintings, especially those of a series of rooms. The paintings are meticulous in their control of the environment, perhaps reflecting the need of the artist to exert some control over her life. Gwen John longed for a space of her own, much as Virginia Wolfe wanted "A Room of One's Own." Her paintings are alluring to the viewer for what is absent from these rooms. Forster builds her tale around one of these paintings.
As the painting passes through the hands of various owners, it has an impact on each and affects each life in a different way. Each woman who owns the painting is trying to keep the world at bay, each having a different need to do so. The women are connected through a love of art, several attending the famous Slade school. Many cross paths, though they aren't aware of it. In this the story is reminiscent of Kieslowski's trio of movies, "Red" "White" and "Blue," in which random people seemingly affect and cross through others lives.
Forster's novel remains interesting all the way through, and I recommend it as a well written novel developed from a true story. There is much to keep a lively discussion going for a book reading group.
Once upon a time there was an artistic family named John with a brother, Augustus who became famous not only for his painting, but also for his bohemian life style. His story is told in a wonderful biography by Michael Holroyd.
Our story starts with the sister, Gwen, who in a smaller way became known for her paintings, especially those of a series of rooms. The paintings are meticulous in their control of the environment, perhaps reflecting the need of the artist to exert some control over her life. Gwen John longed for a space of her own, much as Virginia Wolfe wanted "A Room of One's Own." Her paintings are alluring to the viewer for what is absent from these rooms. Forster builds her tale around one of these paintings.
As the painting passes through the hands of various owners, it has an impact on each and affects each life in a different way. Each woman who owns the painting is trying to keep the world at bay, each having a different need to do so. The women are connected through a love of art, several attending the famous Slade school. Many cross paths, though they aren't aware of it. In this the story is reminiscent of Kieslowski's trio of movies, "Red" "White" and "Blue," in which random people seemingly affect and cross through others lives.
Forster's novel remains interesting all the way through, and I recommend it as a well written novel developed from a true story. There is much to keep a lively discussion going for a book reading group.
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