So I’m back to the “Next Up” format for now. Robert Warren Penn’s All the King’s Men was an excellent book — as can be expected of most (but not The Executioner’s Song) Pulitzers. Still, it doesn’t really warrant me dedicating an entire piece to it.
It comes in right now at number 12 — right in front of Angle of Repose (of similar quality, but less tedious) and right after The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which exceeded it in creativity. I enjoyed the writing — Penn has a great vocabulary, exposing me to 23 new words (my favorite part about reading on Kindle is the dictionary and ability to highlight) — but on occasion he did sound straight out of a 1940s movie. Not a lot of “dames” and “broads,” but that near-hokey romantic style. This didn’t dominate the book, but it was noticeable to me in a few spots.
He also took a couple of detours that seemed a bit superfluous. I could see where they may have fit in, but to me, they didn’t really do the job. Decent backstory, but deviating from the main plot for whole (quite long) chapters was an annoyance. Maybe this was because the book was 662 pages long and there were times I wanted it over with; not because it was poorly written, but because I wanted to get on with the story.
Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The characters were well-developed, the style was beautifully descriptive, and the wrap-up was satisfying. I recommend it.
So now it’s on to my next Pulitzer — 1990’s winner, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, by Oscar Hijuelos. I’m quite attracted by the culture of it, so I’m really looking forward to the reading. Plus, it’s an actual, physical book; a gift from my wonderful sister, Gail, who, upon hearing I’m looking for just about anything, is eager to spring into action to make it happen. It makes one of the tradeoffs of living in Korea more pleasant — I get to experience an entirely different culture from that of my upbringing knowing that my sister gets to spend time in bookstores hunting for treasures. Thank you, Gail! I hope this one was worth it. I’m sure it will be…
Lets hear it for used book store credit and media mail rates! I’ve looked recently to see if copies in better condition appeared. So far none have