Team of Rivals
ETA: Lincoln's death in 1865 is covered, but not in detail. I will now read :"They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance by Anthony S. Pitch.
I think the book IS good. But Lincoln was much more of a shrewd politician than an honest, moral individual and a fun loving storyteller. I did come to admire him. With talent he got people of opposing views to work together toward a common goal. This was no small accomplishment. His lack of malice is exceptional. Or was that too, merely the best way to go on after the war, if he had lived...... Goodwin failed to make the reader feel Lincoln's knack for storytelling and why people call him "Honest Abe"!
Has history idolized Lincoln?
What I think of Lincoln has little to do with how I judge this book. The book is thorough and clearly much effort has been invested in giving us all the facts. I would have appreciated better editing. Not all of the quotes were necessary or relevant. Parts are tedious. In that we learn about Lincoln through what others have said of him, often via direct quotes, much of the book is told rather than experienced. When I looked at his actions I found them contradictory to what was said of him! So very much was said about him. How much is true? I grew so tired of being told of his great stories and quick humor. I didn’t laugh or appreciate those stories. They were preachy; they pointed a finger, they were employed to teach a moral. Lincoln avoided direct confrontation. His inability to dismiss General in Chief George McClellan probably prolonged the war and increased the numbers killed. I do believe that the South would have fared better had he not been assassinated, and I do admire his ability to balance opposing contentions.
I learned very, very much from this book!
Although the narration by Suzanne Toren was excellent, perhaps it is better to read this book than listen to it. It is complicated; lots of people to keep track of. This is hard with an audiobook! Maybe had I read it, more would stay fastened in my head!
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Yesterday my husband and I listened to a lot of ToR. You know how Audible splits an audiobook into different "books"? This one has five. I am at chapter 8 of 12 in the fourth book. This thing is monstrously long. Both Per and I agree that parts are unnecessary. Parts neither illustrate the depth of a character nor tell important history! Chapter 20 has a recording error. You hear a section twice, but the repeated section is only about five minutes long. Maybe it is to keep you on your toes? :0)
My biggest problem is that I now see Abe as a shrewd politician, one cleverly balancing opposing sides to attain a given goal. His speeches seem pithy. His honesty does not shine through. I rarely enjoy his storytelling or laugh at his "funny lines". I am disappointed. I liked him more before I read the book. OK, I have a much better idea of who he really was, but .......
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Through the Republican convention of 1860:
The text is thorough and detailed. You DO clearly come to understand HOW Lincoln succeeded in winning the Republican nomination in 1860. That is where I am. There are many quotes, so you get detailed, accurate and time relevant views. I believe that Lincoln won basically because his views were "middle-of-the-road". This was tactically expedient, but he didn't hold these views to achieve personal goals. There is a huge difference between this and an individual that tactically determines his actions in an effort to win. Lincoln's views really were balanced and not extreme! He worked hard, from the bottom up, not delegating tasks to others. He was the kind of person that instinctively knew how to talk with people. It wasn't merely chance that the Convention was held in Chicago. He recognized early on that this would be advantageous and worked to bring it about. He intelligently knew that to win he had to fight as an alternate to those who were stronger. He knew he would not succeed on the first ballot. The nomination proceedings are exciting. All the previous chapters have lead up to this point so the reader thoroughly understands why and how Lincoln came to win the nomination.
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We have listened to more than 8 hours of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Both my husband and I agree that it is less engaging than. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by the same author. Keep in mind, much remains. The audiobook is more than 40 hours long. One complaint that I have is that we are told over and over that Lincoln has a sense of humor and loves telling stories. So after about seven hours I say to my husband, "When are we going to be told some of those stories that everyone was so enchanted with?" Then, as if someone were listening to me, we were told two short stories. I found then scarcely interesting and the humor was not my kind of humor. So my complaint is that too much is told rather than experienced. If I am going to believe he is a great story-teller give me a good story. If he is humorous, make me laugh.
It is clear. I am learning, but it isn't great....not yet.
Per summarizes his views with the comment: "It is very detailed!"
