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Title: 1876 : A Novel by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0-375-70872-3 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 15 February, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Not like Lincoln or Burr, but still interesting
Comment: "1876" was written as part of a series commemorating the USA two centennial republic. Like Gore Vidal, in the year 1976 (or slightly before) other authors were invited to write a text or a book whose subject had to be related to that date (1776). For example, Isaac Asimov wrote "The bicentennial man" for the series.
"1876" brings back character Charles Schuyler, who had previously appeared in "Burr". After a self-exile of forty years, Schuyler is back to his native country and begins to write his impressions for New York newspapers. 1876 is election year in USA. It is also the final year of the Grant 8-year administration, which is notorious for its corruption and scandals related to large amounts of money.
Schuyler describes the race for the seat in the Oval office and his struggles to earn money in a country totally defferent from the one he left behind almost half a century before.
After the ridiculous voting and election problems during the Bush-Gore dispute, the reader can see that, after 125+ years, some things (specially related to power and money) are difficult to get changed, no matter where.
"1876" is about a nebulous (at least for me) period of the US history and, as always, Vidal, with his sarcasm, good prose and refined research, delivers another accurately historic fiction. The problem is, Vidal doesn't have complete respect for things he doesn't fully understand or know, so some passages of the book feature a bad taste that I don't like.
This book is not so dense and enjoyable as some of Vidal's other works, like "Lincoln" or "Creation" or Burr, but still one is able to learn about the period, society, people, etc featured in the story.
As part of the trilogy "Burr", "1876", "Washington D.C.", a necessary read for Vidal fans.
Grade 8.6/10
Rating: 4
Summary: Good Read Not Must Read
Comment: Having read the preceding novels in this series I really looked forward to the subject matter that this installment promised. After reading it through I was slightly disappointed by the way Vidal approached one of the worst moments in the American Republic. I was expecting an in depth look into the politics of the late Grant Administration and the lengths those in power were willing to go to insure a Republican victory. Instead Vidal, for most of the book, examines the society in and around Washington and New York at the time. While this made for an interesting sociological study I kept feeling like I was looking for the real book to start with every new chapter.
When Vidal does finally come around to the politics and presidential election of 1876 the book becomes as gripping as all the preceding books in this series. In fact the final 100 pages of 1876 kept me more enthralled than did any one portion of Lincoln or Burr.
Also if you are interested in reading all the books in the line Empire does take much from the characters in 1876 so just skipping this book will leave you slightly lost as you read the novels that come next.
Rating: 4
Summary: Vidal does care!
Comment: It is a great pleasure to read something by this disillusioned man that can surprise me: I have read most of the novels in his American Cycle and (with the exception of his "Lincoln") was growing tired of his cynicism. Well, I picked up this one - its theme is the corruption of the Gilded Age and its plot revolves around the stolen election of 1876 - and was delighted to learn that Gore Vidal genuinely cares about how the US democracy works/worked. Moreover, this is a wonderful accomplishment by a novelist at the height of his powers, one of the best of the series.
The protagonists in the story are Charlie Schuyler, from "Burr", and his incomparable daughter as they wend their way into the New York and Washington "City" of the Gilded Age. While blatant corruption is corroding the foundations of the Republic, Charlie is wined and dined by the politically indifferent rich as a celebrated political writer (on Europe) while he seeks to find a suitable mate for his recently widowed and now penniless daughter. As a courtiers at the court of Napoleon III, they fit in brilliantly as Charlie attempts to find any writing work he can; the subtleties of the behavior of the ruling classes come across as both comic and sinister, but also realistic. It is a brutal indictment of decadence at the Centennial of America that gets worse and worse as the machinations of stealing a presidential election are revealed. Though it is from an observers eyes, which is consistent with the style of most of Vidal's series, political events take much more of the center stage and as such, there is a great deal of history to learn (of which I for one was largely ignorent).
As a novel, this is also great fun. It is written in the form of a candid diary by Charlie, who is making notes for future books he is imagining as he observes unfolding events in real time. The characters he comes in contact with are fabulously well drawn. First, there is Samuel Tilden, one of the few truly decent men to appear in any of Vidal's work (and a loser, I note). Then there is the apparently corrupt President Grant and his cronies who are indisputably corrupt along with all of the top politicians in DC. And of course, there are the journalists (including a brilliant, hilarious, and yet sad cameo portrait of Mark Twain), some of whom are idealists and most of whom are simple opportunists. Finally, there is the birth of the fictional Sanford clan that re-appears in Vidal's later novels. An unexpected twist in the plot also reveals the weaknesses of Charlie as an observer, which adds a whole new dimension to the novel that shocks the reader into reassessing everything (s)he has read. It is a brilliant device.
Warmly recommended. THis is a true masterpiece of historical fiction.
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Title: Burr : A Novel by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0375708731 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 15 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Lincoln: A Novel by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0375708766 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 15 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Empire : A Novel by Gore Vidal ISBN: 037570874X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Washington, D.C. : A Novel by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0375708774 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Hollywood by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0375708758 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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