15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Political satire that is still relevant today, June 2, 2002
This review is from: Democracy: An American Novel (Meridian) (Paperback)
"Democracy" is what "Primary Colors" would have been if the latter had been well-written. Like Joe Klein, Adams published his book anonymously and skewered a number of contemporary politicians (including President Rutherford B. Hayes). But Adams goes two steps further: his novel is a scathing commentary more on the American political system in general than on one administration in particular, and his characters are iconic and recognizable in any era.
In "Democracy," the nation's capital "swarms with simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep over." But Adams is not hesitant about being cruel in his portrayal of Washington's residents, and he saves his weeping for the true victims in his novel: the American people. The typical American senator combines "the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable government." (Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!)
The story concerns Madeleine Lee, an intelligent and well-meaning (if somewhat naive) New York widow, who, bored with her cosmopolitan lifestyle, travels to Washington to learn what makes the nation tick. She and her sister are quickly surrounded by a diverse group of politicians, lobbyists, and foreign diplomats, and she finds herself courted by Silas Ratcliffe, a senator with presidential aspirations whose talent "consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of principle." During one heated (and humorous) argument about George Washington's merits, Ratcliffe sums up his view of politics: "If virtue won't answer our purpose, then we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office."
Adams's prose is almost Jamesian in its measured pacing (and this may simply bore some readers); the initial chapters are unhurried as he weaves the web of the plot and sketches his all-too-believable characters. Along the way he tosses barbed zingers at every target. The climactic passages are among the most comically riveting, emotionally intense, and morally satisfying finales I've read in a satire: as you might expect, nobody gets exactly what they want, but everyone gets what they deserve.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really worth reading, January 3, 1999
This review is from: Democracy: An American Novel (Meridian) (Paperback)
This book read very well 118 years after it was published. I suppose there are "guides" which would tie the characters to actual people--maybe I should check Ernest Samuels' 3-volume bio, which I read in March of 1985, and see what he says. Apparently the president was Hayes--it certainly fits him in some ways, tho it is rather hard on him. The problems the book does not solve--campaign finance and its relation to political action--are not yet solved.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Things have not changed that much in over 120 years, December 12, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Democracy: An American Novel (Meridian) (Paperback)
Anyone wishing to understand democracy in America might skip that more famous book by that name and take up this novel by Henry Adams instead. Here the reader learns how politics really works and it is not pretty. In this work, Adams shows the dark underside of democracy. Adams was critical of the politics of his age and with reason. It was until now the most openly corrupt era in American history. There is a memorable scene in which the hopes and dreams of the American Revolution and founding fathers, as personified by the ruins of Mt Vernon are constrasted by the book's various characters on the make. It is no wonder that the word "democracy" is used rather ironically throughout this book.
This book had an interesting history. It is a roman a clef and certain people, notably James Blaine (one time corrupt congressman, corrupt senator and corrupt presidential contender) were reportedly outraged by the rather unflattering portrayal. To prevent libel suits, as well as the more damaging social slights, Adams did not disclose he had written it. As one of the leading historians of the day, he probably did not wish to be associated with something as frivilous as a novel. He and his friends did have fun, baiting a curious reading public by periodically throwing out all sorts of red herrings to divert suspicion from Adams.
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