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Title: Jefferson and Monticello : The Biography of a Builder by Jack Mclaughlin ISBN: 0-8050-1463-2 Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 15 October, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.44 (9 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Unique Look At Jefferson's Domestic Life
Comment: There are a lot of books about Jefferson's politics, his religion, his presidency, his time abroad, etc. Even books about Monticello. But this book is unique in that it focuses on how Monticello was actually built. And if you are the least bit interested in Jefferson or early America it is a fascinating read.
It was a revelation to me to learn that Jefferson almost never knew Monticello as we know it today. For nearly his entire life he lived at a construction site -stepping over boards and buckets of plaster, looking through gaping holes in the roof, trying to stay out of the rain, etc.
McLaughlin traces Jefferson's admiration of Palladio (the Italian architect he idolized) and reveals many of the unique problems that had to be overcome during Monticello's construction as well as what was done to overcome them. He also reveals how Jefferson brought skilled craftsmen over from Europe to work on his house, and apprenticed others underneath them to help spread those skills in The United States. These European experts included those skilled in the culinary arts. Many learned to cook alongside his French chef, and Monticello was the first place in The United States where both ice cream and pancakes were prepared.
Two other tidbits that I found fascinating: The first is that Jefferson really gave our country its architectural language. He designed the capitol of Virginia, and our public buildings in Washington D.C. reflect Jefferson's style. In addition, the beautiful mansions of the antebellum South with their columns and porticos were heavily influenced by Jefferson. Monticello was the first building in our country to look that way and subsequent builders followed Jefferson's lead.
The second tidbit is the realization that the bricks used to build Monticello were made from the ground that was dug out for the underground passageways. So, unlike almost any other building Monticello has a unique relationship with the land it sits on.
If you are interested in Jefferson, homebuilding, early America, or especially if you are an architect, you will enjoy this book.
Rating: 2
Summary: Where was the editor?
Comment: Undoubtedly, Mr. McLaughlin did his homework when he prepared to write this book. I enjoy biographies, am very fascinated by Thomas Jefferson, and was intrigued by the creative approach Mr. McLaughlin took to tell us about Jefferson by using Monticello as a "prism through which [we] view [Jefferson's] life ...".
Unfortunately, the execution didn't meet expectations and this is most noticable in the areas related to the editing. I had difficulty getting past the meandering style. The anecdotes hop around chronologically, and are not tied together well. There is unnecessary repetition within the annecdotes. Even the grammar is off. (I'm not an editor, so as soon as I extend criticism I'm opening myself up as a target, but I recognize a few errors that would've made my high school English teacher cringe. Where one does this professionally, a higher standard is expected.)
Mr. McLaughlin's book could have been tightend up considerably, and structured in a less meandering way for me to have found greater benefit from reading this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Novel and Revealing But Incomplete
Comment: This is a fascinating biography of Thomas Jefferson because, as the author states, "This is not the usual kind of Thomas Jefferson biography; his revolutionary activities, political life, and public career as governor of Virginia, secretary of state, Vice President, and President are only glanced at obliquely. To use an old-fashioned term, it is a domestic life. It attempts to capture a personal and private Jefferson, to detail his relationships with his extended family and friends. The prism through which I view his life is the most most creative artifact of an exceptionally creative man--Monticello."
It goes without saying that Jefferson was an extraordinarily gifted human being, highly creative in many areas, including political thought and architecture. Yet, as this book makes plain, he was also very conventional in many ways. This was particularly true of his attitude towards women: "Like most men of his age, Jefferson believed women's interests were to be confined chiefly to housekeeping and childbearing. ... He also felt strongly that women, plain or fancy, brilliant or dull, had a single purpose in life, marriage and subordination to a husband."
McLaughlin's book shows Jefferson to be an extremely private person, one who for example destroyed all correspondence with his mother and with his wife. Thus any biography of him necessarily requires a great deal of interpretation to fill in the gaps. Although McLaughlin does an admirable job of doing so, his understanding may nevertheless be incomplete. He states, "If there is an identity theme to Jefferson's personality ... it is contained in the Head-Heart letter [to Maria Cosway]. Such a theme might be stated this way: the need for a tight rational control over life's exigencies must be balanced by an ability to feel and express love. It was only within the framework of family relationships--his wife, daughters, and grandchildren--that Jefferson was able to strike this balance." What goes unexamined is Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings--was this love? If so, what is is about Jefferson that allowed him to have lasting love only with a much younger woman of color who was also his slave? The record of Jefferson's relationship with Hemings is not revealed in Monticello, and so remains out of McLaughlin's reach. Nevertheless, McLauglin sheds a great deal of light on a most mysterious man.
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Title: Jefferson's Monticello by William Howard Adams ISBN: 0896599507 Publisher: Abbeville Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1988 List Price(USD): $37.50 |
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Title: In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson by Noble E. Cunningham ISBN: 0345353803 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson by Robert C. Baron, Thomas Jefferson ISBN: 1555910130 Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing Pub. Date: 01 September, 1987 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Saving Monticello : The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built by Marc Leepson ISBN: 074320106X Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 23 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Notes on the State of Virginia (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Jefferson, Frank Shuffleton, Frank Shuffelton ISBN: 0140436677 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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