One Down...

I have officially finished All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I'm not quite sure, but I think it was the longest 660 pages I've ever read. It might have been worse then Gone With the Wind. Don't get me wrong, it was a great book, it just took me a lot longer to read it then I thought.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

But I'm finished! I must say, the one thing that made me adore this book was Warren's raw writing style. That honest storytelling told with a simple, raw and, at times, vulgar point of view. Warren is amazing at making you hate the "hero" in this book. The other thing is the hero and the villain are the same person, Willie, and his story is being narrated by his right-hand man, Jack. So as you watch Willie's transformation your opinion of him changes as Jack's opinion changes. You start with the hero facade of the villain and then backtrack to when the hero really was the hero. And after that you get to watch him slide into the grasp of corruption where he finally ends up as a villain pretending to be a hero. And all the while your opinion is being driven by Jack's opinion even though you, as the reader, know more about Willie then he does! It's twisted and exciting, as well as an interesting take on what starts out as a look at morality and personal identity and ends up being a real life portrait of modern day political corruption and deceit.

And I loved every minute of it. I would recommend All the King's Men to most...not all, but most.

1 down, 99 to go. Tomorrow I start The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow. More tomorrow!