John Devlin's Reviews > All the King's Men

Disappointing.

I had heard that this was an epic take on the rise of a nativist politician, a firebrand, a demagogue. Folks liken this tale to Huey Long or the latest fella who was good at giving a rip roaring stemwinder.

But that’s not the story.

The story is Jack Burden, the sallow psyche, the disproving jaundiced nature. Willie Stark’s political rise is charted through his downbeat gaze.

Warren’s Book, like a Faulkner work, is about the South, the milieu, the spittoons , the hyacinth, the Great sin, and the tired road to an undesired repentance.

And finally, the ending is sooo melodramatic, but again it’s the south.