All the King's Men (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Judge Irwin is an elderly gentleman whom Jack has known since childhood, a man who is essentially a father-figure to him. I tried watching the old film version of this but it didn’t grab me the way the book did – the plot, such as it is, is probably the least interesting thing about the book, and all the philosophical musing is quite hard to portray in a film. Willie Stark started out his political career with excellent ethics but he soon learnt that he had to play the same game as the current political circles if he wanted a chance to be elected and pass laws. Like Jack, we see a man who might line his own pockets, who might give and take bribes, who might blackmail and threaten opponents, but we also see that he genuinely wants to improve life for those at the bottom – give them the hospital and schools they deserve.

My politician hero, whose name, in the end, was Willie Stark, was quickly equated with the late Senator Huey P.Stark’s demagogic descent mirrors the story of the real Louisiana governor and then senator Huey Long, whose radical economic program and charismatic personality ensured his political domination until his assassination in 1935. One of the characters in Proud Flesh was named Willie Talos, referring to the brutal character Talus in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. I’m just drafting my Blogging Highlights post for posting on 1 January, and one of the things I noted is that I wrote significantly fewer posts this year, so yes, I too had trouble staying afloat too. I seem to have become a master of procrastination at the moment, and have been intending to start posting again every day for weeks, but just don’t seem to have had the energy to do it. The trajectory of Stark's career is interwoven with Jack Burden's life story and philosophical reflections: "the story of Willie Stark and the story of Jack Burden are, in one sense, one story.

I was stunned both that something so unabashedly crude could happen at the bastion of Western democracy but also at just how warped from reality former President Donald Trump’s mob of supporters have become. It is a gripping and thought-provoking story that delves into the complexities of human nature and the corrupting influence of power.It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. I’m abandoning the awards this year because I just haven’t read enough new releases, but I’ll probably do a top 5 or 10, and this will definitely be up there! I only noticed on details like this when I recently revisited this novel years later, but it is small signifiers that made me appreciate Warren’s tale even more. All the King’s Men is one of American literature’s definitive political novels, as well as a profound study of human fallibility in politics.