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Dec 17, 2009

Reverenddave rated it:

Arguably the best nonfiction history book every written beating out even notables like Shaara's Killer Angels. Hell this is probably one of the top 5 books on the Civil War period. (Along with Shelby Foote's epic three volume opus, McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, and the aforementioned Killer Angels)

If you have the slightest interest in history, the Civil War, Lincoln or even just a beautifully constructed story of politics in a time of war read it. Meticulously researched and exq More...

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May 26, 2008

Erik rated it:

Ginnie reminded me of how much I loved these historical works by Gore Vidal. Of the series, LINCOLN is by far my favorite, and it was especially good because not until David Herbert Donald's bio a few years back was there even a good bio on Lincoln. (I've not yet read the recent one by Carwardine, but I hear it's quite good.) Great read, and in only a couple of spots, such as Lincoln maybe having syphillis, did Vidal play with the history.

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Mar 17, 2010

Andrewh rated it:

This was rollicking good read, and may even contain some historical truths about Abraham Lincoln and his fellow politicos duing the turbulent era of the Civil War. Vidal draws a vivid picture of 19th century Washington - a city built on a swamp, with rudimentary facilities, but with grand aspirations. Lincoln is presented as a man of brilliant lawyerly talents, a pragmatic strategist rather than an idealistic opponent of slavery. Throughout the book, Vidal makes clear that Lincoln (alternately r More...

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Aug 18, 2007

Jacob rated it:

Gore Vidal prefers his "inventions" to his historical novels, and I do too -- especially Myron, Myra Breckenridge, and Kalki. But I enjoy the Narratives of Empire series for the sheer villainy of the political intrigue, the characterizations, and the breadth of research that obviously underlies the series. Vidal's cynicism seems even more pronounced in Lincoln, although I'm not sure why I have this reaction. I didn't find the characterizations as compelling in Lincoln. In particular, V More...

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May 20, 2008

Felisa rated it:

Once again, I am amazed by the breadth and depth of Vidal's knowledge. His seemingly encyclopedic grasp of the era is matched in equal parts by caustic wit and empathy. Vidal's Lincoln is at once human and monolithic, and the pages are imbued with his curious melancholy. (On a side note, one gets the feeling that Mark Ryden had read this book...)
The supporting characters are equally interesting. Mary Todd is nuanced and Vidal brilliantly tracks the evolution of Lincoln's relationship More...

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Mar 30, 2009

Jude rated it:

Gore Vidal was a huge discovery for me. Until I'd read this book, I knew only that he was related to Jackie Kennedy Onassis and and Lee Radziwill and that he was a guest on many talk shows of the 70s & 80s where other well-known guests frequently found his opinions profoundly upsetting. But there was a lot of that going on at the time. I have always admired Abraham Lincoln as our most important president (except for brief periods when I was enamored of Thomas Jefferson, Harry Truman and John More...

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Oct 13, 2010

Scott rated it:

This was the first of Vidal's Narratives of Empire novel I read and became possibly my favorite book too. I had previously read some of his other titles and really enjoyed how every books subject matter, time and setting was completely different and had always really enjoyed his prose. To begin with I was concerned that I would find it difficult to get in to as period drama is not my thing and I know very little about US history pre WWII. For lovers of history or or Gore Vidal this book isan abs More...

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Nov 22, 2009

S rated it:

As a fan of historical fiction and an admirer of Abraham Lincoln, finding this book at my local used bookstore was a real windfall. And after reading it, I was not disappointed.

This book is fantastic. Having never read a Gore Vidal novel, I had no idea what to expect in terms of thoroughness or writing style. I found both to be very satisfying. (However, Gore's habit of switching POV from one paragraph to the next took a little getting used to.) The book begins right before Linc More...

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Jun 10, 2011

Harmonybites rated it:

A flattering blurb on the cover from Harold Bloom and one inside from Joyce Carol Oates certainly underlines this is a serious book; it's also an engaging and entertaining one, one that portrays the personalities and political machinations during the Civil War. Lincoln isn't just a celebrated American president, one considered one of the greatest in our history, he's still polarizing and controversial on both sides of the political divide. He's accused of trampling on rights from that of states More...

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Mar 18, 2009

Robert rated it:

Gore Vidal's criticism is wonderful and I recommend it (see my books list) but this novel doesn't quite strike where we want it to. It's insightful, as intelligent as you please, and vivid, but I knew it had missed its mark when the murder of its main character failed to move me. Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" brings the reader to the point of tears after this man one has come to admire and respect is erased just at the moment that his vision and patience have achieved their one and only g More...

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Jun 09, 2011

Gretchen rated it:

Second time I've read this book. I've realized recently that what matters to me in fiction is fully realized, psychologically complex and believable characters. Then all I need is a close study of those characters in action. This book provides that in abundance--as Harold Bloom says, it probably has done as much or more than any work of non-fiction to create our impression of who Abraham Lincoln was, as a man.

The one difference for me this time was feeling real sadness, even heartache, More...

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Jan 01, 2010

Scott rated it:

Whatever hubris it takes to write a biography of Abraham Lincoln, it surely takes plenty to write a research-intensive 657-page novel that covers the entire presidency. Vidal accomplishes this compression by including a pile of exposition in dialogue without it ever quite seeming like he's doing so; perhaps famous national leaders are the only characters in fiction exempt from the rule.

Portraits of "minor" characters -- John Hay (one of Lincoln's personal secretaries) and More...

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Dec 10, 2008

Judy rated it:

I like to read about Lincoln. Was very interested in how his cabinet changed over time, or how its members changed their view of him. There was a whole lot of stuff that seemed added in order to novelize the book and that stuff was mostly stupid, like the everpresent Kate Chase and the young pharmacy assistant bent on murdering the President.

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Feb 01, 2011

John rated it:

This book reads like the a (uber pre-)prequel to Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. Vidal recounts the Lincoln presidency with a good amount of fidelity to actual history and a knack for bringing out (or, where the facts are silent, fabricating) the tension between certain personalities and the drama inherent in that moment in history.

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Feb 07, 2012

Marley rated it:

I got Lincoln when it was first published in hardback, and just got around to reading it now! And I'm a huge Vidal fan.

I work in what might generally be called "politics", and anyone who deals with politicians needs to read Lincoln to figure out how and where they fit into things--if they do at all. Nobody does "insider" like Gore Vidal, and this is certainly "insider." (I always feel like he was weened on Henry Adams). The interplay amongst Lincoln, More...

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Oct 16, 2010

Richard rated it:

This semi-fictional account of Lincoln’s years as President was written in the mid-1980’s. I took it to China to read, partly because it had enough pages to last the whole trip. An interesting read, but shallow in terms of character development and narrative drive (this is supposed to be, after all, historical fiction): we never seem to penetrate to Lincoln’s core. I also found the constant reminders of people’s habits or features irritating (do we need to be told over and over that General Scot More...

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Mar 22, 2009

Nick rated it:

A painstakingly researched novel that had everything you can ask for in a historical fiction. Gore Vidal uses journals, newspaper clippings, government records and diaries and letters to construct a fully formed narrative storyline that is informative and gripping.

The book focuses mostly on the political environment in Washington from Lincolns election through to the end of the civil war, particularly the events surrounding Lincolns "Team of Rivals" cabinet. Main More...

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Jul 21, 2009

Sariah rated it:

I read this for book club. It's kind of long, and it's not the easiest read, but it was still interesting. The author took great care to make it authentic and true. Vidal really did his homework! There are only a couple of fictional characters in the novel, and they play a very minor role in the epilogue only. If you are into Civil War era history or historical fiction, I'm sure you'd like this book a lot. What I didn't like about the book was that there was SO MUCH war talk, political talk, and More...

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Oct 08, 2008

Amy rated it:

I became obsessed with this book! Very rich. Wierd parallels with current happenings...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 16, 2011

Pip rated it:

I bought this for it's literary merits not realizing this is the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. This is an utterly fascinating read with sterling research to put you there in a pivotal part of American and North American history. The interspersing of fictional characters with the real life ones via cracker jack research that puts you in the muddy streets of Washington DC when the Capital building had no dome and Lincoln was sneaking into town as President elect because of death t More...

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Jul 26, 2011

gina rated it:

Don’t read Lincoln by Gore Vidal unless you want to get totally sucked into the story and history of the Civil War. This historical novel is so detailed, well-written, and compelling that you will add dozens of books to your “must read” list and it will consume all of your free time. You will interrupt your reading as you check out photos of the main players on Wikipedia. You’ll take a breather by watching the Ken Burns Civil War series--over a plate of crabcakes. Special order primary resou More...

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Jul 14, 2011

Stacia rated it:

When I love a book, which is rare, I don't want to finish it. That feeling is amplified by knowing, and still fearing, the ending as with Vidal's Lincoln. It was hard to face the facts.

Despite that, for some reason it took me a while to realize that all the characters were real people. It finally hit me when I was at a rare book sale and ran across a three-volume biography of John Hay (one of Lincoln's secretaries and wisely chosen as a major character in the book). It was like I saw a More...

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Feb 28, 2010

Marjorie rated it:

Fascinating novel about Lincoln from the point of view of everybody but Lincoln. It's a great fictionalized history of his presidency and various hangers-on, and it was super exciting when it tied in to other things I had read about the period. (For example, I thought I recognized Kate Chase as the future Kate Chase Sprague, and then she married Sprague and I was like "Yes! I was right!" and then Roscoe Conkling showed up hanging out somewhat ominously around the edges of her social ci More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Andrew rated it:

This is a fabulous novel that overcomes the weak (and most fictionalized) sections dealing with David Herold (co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination) and delivers a wonderful portrait of America's greatest President. Whether one agrees with Vidal's politics or not, one cannot deny his gifts as a writer.

In bit of authorial ventriloquism, in the epilogue, John Hay (Lincoln's former secretary) provides a voice to Vidal's own summing up of of "Honesy Abe". Attending a dip More...

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Jun 24, 2008

Dorothy rated it:

You know how people at snooty movies laugh extra hard when an inside joke or obscure reference plays out onscreen? In short, that's what it felt like to read this book.

This was my first experience reading Gore Vidal, and it felt like an endurance test sometimes. It's not a fictionalized account of Lincoln's inner life, nor is it simply a novel about him. It's told from the point of view of a number of politicians, so we see Lincoln through the eyes of his enemies as well as his a More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Justin rated it:

The high priests of academia who guard Lincoln's eternal flame cannot abide the fact that 1) Vidal is a better writer than any of them shall ever be, and 2) that this novel, though technically fiction, incorporates well-researched material about the life of Lincoln that is not always flattering. The fact that Lincoln thought that he had syphilis and felt guilty about having possibly infected Mary Todd may tarnish his godhead, but it reminds us that he put his boots on one at a time like everyone More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Adam rated it:

All of his political essays and banterings aside, the history of America is told well in the chronicles by Vidal... I've read from Burr to Hollywood. Lincoln is less about the Civil War and more about Lincoln the man. All the personal problems he had, conflicts, dilemmas, death of his children, spending habits of his wife. We also see into the planning of several Lincoln assassination attempts by those just across Confederate lines in Richmond, VA. It is amazing a man with friends like the More...

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Jun 08, 2011

Nicole rated it:

I picked this book up because lately (for some reason) I've become fascinated with historical fiction... the fact that you learn something AND it's entertaining at the same time just enthralls me. Actually, I'm kinda kicking myself for not paying better attention in history class, because a lot of this stuff is really, very interesting. This book follows the 16th President of the United States from his first inaugural speech, through the American Civil War (and all the hard decisions that need More...

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Feb 22, 2009

Matt rated it:

This book is a fascinating picture of Lincoln's world from his inauguration to his death. The pace is leisurely and measured, yet many historical personages come forth in vivid detail. I certainly enjoyed learning a lot more about people previously murky to me like William Seward and Salmon P. Chase, and especially about the man himself, Abraham Lincoln. I'd like to supplement this book with some modern non-fiction one of these days to see how well Vidal's claim of basically scrupulous portra More...

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Oct 26, 2011

Chris rated it:

Enjoyable fictional account of Lincoln and his administration during the Civil War. The narrative is a third person almost omniscient in that Mr. Vidal did not quite have the chutzpah to try and speak for the Tycoon. The novel is primarily concerned with the characters and the plot of the war and political situation provides the framework for them to be portrayed. As always with Mr. Vidal's earlier work, the writing and wit is enjoyable

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