Book Learning #89 The years of Lyndon Johnson. The Passage of Power by Robert A. Caro

This was a book that I had waited over ten years for.
I had read 90% of the previous volume over the past five.
I had waited an additional year for the paperback version to appear.

Worth every minute of every day.

For the LBJ junkie, Caro is the absolute fix.
Every sentence is crafted, the sources are varied and deep and, considering the passing of time, often very recent and able to take account of recent developments.

I just loved the retelling of Johnson's fumbling of the 1960 nomination and the subsequent offer of the Vice Presidency. Caro then took us through the key events of the Kennedy administration and LBJ's role (or lack of) in them. The events in Dallas in 1963 read like a tragic crime thriller.
What was particularly fascinating was the way Caro handled Johnson's handling of the transition. The Kennedy family, the House, Senate and the legislative programme inherited from his slain predecessor.

Some of my favourite bits were the human glimpses into LBJ, I pissed myself when reading about the LBJ express and his attempts to control the loud music.

I can't wait for the next chapter in this history.

Book learning #85 Team of rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The first thing that went wrong was that I did not purchase this book when it first came out in paperback (remember I don't do hardback books). Had I invested back in 2007 I would have got the correct version, not the movie spin off edition.
I enjoyed what I read and ironically have just put it down for a few weeks as it gets good (or better).
Also, linked into the first point, I have had a number of people asking me to go and watch the movie with them. This will kill the book. Ask Harry Potter.
Is it me or do nineteenth century political books move rather slowly? I'm sure any one of us living now would go insane quite quickly were we deposited back into the 1860s.
I dearly hope I will gather this up again and complete it, I dearly hope to hold the Lincolnesque spirit close to my soul.
The problem with a lengthy book is that eventually, no matter how you try, you will be tempted by other, less committed relationships.
That's what happened in Waterstones this afternoon.

Book Learning # 84 What Happened by Scott McClellan

I found this book in a box whilst sorting out other books around the house. It was one of those low priority, nagging jobs that had been waiting about six months to get done.

I picked it up and sifted through. By no means the best written of political accounts I have ever read but engaging enough. I was interested by his move from democrat to republican (a move many made during the 1980s) and his impressive career rise (Press secretary before 40).

I am sure that when this was first published it made an impact, I am sure that his viewpoint was  pretty insightful and interesting.

Right now it reads as a dated account of history. The narrative is simple enough but doesn't really hold your attention too long.

It tells us a few straightforward things about GWBush that we had pretty much already known.

He is a straightforward type of guy. Not super bright but not dim. Deferred to those around him, especially Rumsfeld and Cheney.

File under 'I cant wait for the Christmas books'

Book Learning. 'Let us continue'

I had to blog about this, Just had to.

I may not finish Robert Caro's superb account of LBJ's years in the Senate anytime soon. It may well be sometime into next year before you see my completed blog entry. I just wanted you to know how much I love this book.

I love this book so much that I had to slice it into three, in order to gain three times the possible enjoyment from it. The simple fact is that the published version is a touch too hefty for late night reading, especially as I have a habit of dropping books onto my face as I doze off.

I love this book because it has taken me almost ten years to not quite finish it. Normally that would be a problem, give it up. Master of the Senate is different, it's like the very best of friends. The best of friends you don't see for two or three years and then spend a brilliant weekend at the beach and it's just like you're back at college again. This book cares little if I read a dozen others between picking it up again, it's own brilliance will hold the day.

In terms of content, I will go into much more depth of the pleasure, discomfort, disgust and hope that this book has brought to me when I finally, eventually review it.

Book learning #70 The wordy shipmates by Sarah Vowell

I love Sarah Vowell. I love her geeky obsessions and I love her intelligent perspective on so many things so very dear to me (USA, Presidents, history, Presidents, USA, more presidents)
I have really tried to get into the Seventeenth century.
I just can't.
A finely written book, I read it all.
Just didn't love it.

Book Learning 57: Lincoln's melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Lincoln's melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

This is a Presidential biography, not a textbook on depression. I picked it up (almost three years ago) as a presidential biography, enjoyed that part and also enjoyed the mental health part.

As mentioned, it's taken me almost three years to finish this. A transatlantic move can do that. A transatlantic move and a missing book, a missing book that is then picked up again in between some others.

Despite the logistical struggle to read and finish, I thoroughly enjoyed this account of Lincoln's life, work and mental health. The contrasts between the fabulously gothic nineteenth century approach to the mind and the more clinical twentieth/twenty first century treatment of depression was illuminating. The accounts of Lincoln's own depression and struggles centered the work in a way that a more straightforward narrative about depression would probably not. In short, I learned a bit about depression that I would not have done otherwise. I also learned a bit about Lincoln.

I absolutely loved the gothic tone, found the overview of Lincoln's career fascinating and was completely absorbed by the Civil War chapters ( LIke so many, this was the Lincoln I first learned about). This book (or at least the final couple of chapters that I've just polished off prior to a few new arrivals on the 25th) perfectly fitted my present mood, the dark winter nights, the bitter cold, the American gothic Victoriana. Wonderful stuff.