I have finished All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, I am not sure if you are as glad as I am. SO somewhere during the last few chapters of this book I was reminded of the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.As you know Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the King's Horses and All the King's Men could not put Humpty together again.
We have the Boss, Willie Stark who comes from humble backgrounds who wants to do good in the world but eventually becomes power hungry. We have his staff willing to do anything to keep the Boss in power. And as with many corrupt politicians we have his downfall. A downfall that does not allow his men to be able to fix things.
Then we have Jack Burden, our storyteller, who is aptly named. We find out thoroughout the story that he is burdened by many things. His work ethic when it comes to doing the Bosses bidding. His love/hate relationship with his mother. His incredulity with his friend Anne Stanton's choices, especially when it come to her relationship with Willie.
There is no great chase scene, unless you look at the driving of Sugar Boy, named because he pops sugar cubes in his mouth. There is a gradual incline to the story and while the Boss is sitting on the wall we learn more about Jack Burden. Then we get back to the Boss and all still seems like it is going okay but then we have the fall. And it is a fast fall, the whole organization falls a apart.
There is a resolution of sorts. Not wrapped up neatly in a prety bow, but some messy resolution, that leaves you thinking is everything going to be okay, will all the suppositions that are made at the end come to fruition or not.
It was a good books and it was made into a movie, so it has some merit. Would I say it is the best book I ever read, maybe not. I could not identify with the character. Also, the pacing was off just a little bit, until we were focused more on Jack Burden and less on the Boss.
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