Customer Reviews

Kingdom and the Power

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Reading "The Kingdom And The Power" is an immersive, and at times deeply enjoyable experience. Retaining any of the information contained within this sprawling and often rambling account is something else, however.

At the heart of Gay Talese's 1969 deep-dish exploration of the culture and people at The New York Times is a kind of debate, between the forces of the old thinking based on the paper's founding father Adolph Ochs, of "All The News That's Fit To Print" fame, and some young Turks (well, guys in their 40s) who place more value on being interesting than thorough. It's a fight you not only read about in the book, but can feel in the way it is written.

The concept of New Journalism, as pioneered by Talese and other 1960s scribes like Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin, kind of flew in the face of what a newspaper like the Times was about. Instead of giving you the "who-what-why" and a bit of shading and coloring, New Journalism took a more subjective approach. You see it here at the beginning, in the way Talese has you sit in on a regular layout meeting in the office of Times' executive editor Clifton Daniel on an early summer day in 1966. As the meeting goes on, we find ourselves privy to the thoughts of various players at the table. How so? Some undoubtedly shared their thoughts with Talese after, but a good deal of guesswork must have been involved for such a moment-by-moment breakdown of a few fleeting minutes in these people's busy lives.

This happens a lot in "Kingdom And The Power," whether its globetrotting writer Harrison Salisbury's cool disdain for the feelings of others or a climactic battle for newsroom power between top Timesmen A. M. Rosenthal and James "Scotty" Reston. We get lots of insights, which is good New Journalism. We get few quotes, which is bad Old Journalism. How do we know we are getting more than one person's subjective opinion of the tumult around him? We don't. All in all, give me Old Journalism any day. Objectivity trumps subjectivity in these kinds of things for me.

"Kingdom And The Power" has its charms. Chief among them is a deep dive into what The Times' culture was about circa 1966, a cauldron of ambition, pride, lots of money, and ennui. Timesmen, as Talese calls them given they are mostly men, occupy a highly structured environment where even the placement of one's desk is a kind of status. Reporters are summoned by microphone to answer for their work, and the brighter ones struggle for optimum expression with a style that places uniformity and completeness above inspiration.

"They regarded 'The Times' as one of the few predictable things left in modern America and they accepted this fact with degrees of admiration and cynicism, seeing 'The Times' with a varying vision: it was a daily miracle, it was a formula factory."

Talese, himself a Timesman, clearly would tilt toward the latter idea. At its best "The Kingdom And The Power" has at the gumbo of visions and ideals at work inside a very exciting newspaper. But its lack of structure or purpose, of fidelity to sources and a sense of "who-what-where," confines this to the realm of cultural curiosity, of a book that has outlasted its time.

Talese's masterpiece has stood the test of time since its publication in 1969. Far from boring, the content is fresh and the style is flawless. The excitement of working at the NEW YORK TIMES comes through nearly every page. What also comes through is the standard of excellence, something that the TIMES has struggled with in recent decades.

Really Good Book!!Great Delivery,Right On Time For Chrismas Day. My Ex Girl Friend Loved IT As Her Chrismas Gift :)Thanks Amazon(first Time Buyer By The Way).

This is the kind of book that calls out for a thorough update. It is loaded with gossip and insights into the New York Times. However, if one is interested in the paper from 1970 onwards, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

Flipping through The Kingdom and the Power is like walking around a park. You can do it with your eyes opened or closed, but you would still arrive at the same place: nowhere new. It's more enjoyable with your eyes open, sure: you can see the pretty flowers along the path, and yes, sometimes there's a stunning view that just makes you feel it's all worth it. But after a long stroll, you realize that you haven't really gone anywhere. There simply is no plot.

The Kingdom and the Power is a story of the New York Times over the ages, of the people that influenced the paper that influenced the world. Not even a story, really: more of an interwoven series of anecdotes. They're fascinating, detailed, well-researched: but presented in a random manner that detracts from the big picture.

The Kingdom and the Power is a work of misled genius. Although author Gay Talese wields tremendous power with his words, he is unable to instigate a consistent fascination with his writing. When he finally chooses to bring attention to his undeniable skill with words, it's always a short teaser that ends as quickly as it begins, and is never seen again. When Talese implements wordplay, it's original, exciting, and plants colorful comparisons. Regretfully, this rarely happens.

His masterful ability at research, too, is undeniable: as a former writer for the New York Times, his knowledge seems to know no borders. The problem in this case, however, is not that it's underplayed, but that it's so much at the forefront of Talese's mind that he loses consideration for the reader, who by the fifth chapter is already four chapters into his nap. We count on Talese to insert a little tidbit of wordplay to keep us awake, but these little gold coins are not only long-delayed, but also lost in the mess of his over-researched rambling. He loses interest rapidly with his exhaustive research, which he lays out in an unappealing fashion that will lose all but the most patient of readers.

Even so, the Kingdom and the Power is absolutely a classic as the first of its kind: journalism about journalism. It's worth the read, but only if you can stay awake.

There's the densely populated New York City. And the rest of America. And the rest of the world. One institution can affect all of the world. Essentially, it is a kingdom.

The New York Times.

And the influence is captured in a fact-filled, 526-page, 20-chapter, seasoned-with-French-words book by Gay Talese- The Kingdom and the Power. About now, I would give a brief introduction to the plot of this book. But guess what?

There is none.

Well, not a very clear one. What I can see is a basic plot about how people in the Times tried to change the older standards it had to adapt to more modern times. Yet, in the midst of a lot of descriptions of different Timesmen and anecdotes about them, this plot becomes very subtle.

The development of the plot (whatever it's supposed to be) is very slow. There is a long substantial story only around Chapter 17-20, which is the end of the novel. And for the first 16 chapters, it doesn't seem like a full novel. It feels more like a collection of short stories. But this is justifiable, because without the 16 story-less chapters, the story in the last chapters will not make much sense. Talese puts in a lot of information in these chapters to make sure that the reader actually knows the background of the Times, so that then he can write his story uninterrupted with tangents for explanations.

The best part about this book is Talese's writing style. As he shifts between different periods of time and different Timesmen, he describes their writing styles. After all, it is a book about a newspaper. Talese imitates the styles he describes, improving interaction with the reader by letting the reader experience the way readers of the newspaper at that time felt. He writes in the long-paragraph, opinion-lacking style to reflect a period in the Times, an upbeat, funny tone during another part, and even very optimistic writing, justifying mistakes to reflect Timesman James Reston. Talese also seasons his writing with various English-French phrases, such as bęte noire, passé, politesse, and a lot more.

Overall, it's an enjoyable book, but something you wouldn't finish fast. It has it's ups and downs-- sometimes you really want to keep reading and other times, you just want to keep the book far away and never read it again. Talese's writing style makes it interesting enough that you wouldn't completely stop reading the book, but just might read it extremely slowly. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

Once upon a time, in the land of New York, there was a powerful and prestigious newspaper called the Times. It printed "all the news that's fit to print." Everyone thought it was the greatest and most perfect newspaper in the history of the world.

It wasn't.

Gay Talese's book, The Kingdom and the Power, provides an inside look at one of the world's most prestigious newspapers. The level of detail in this book is impeccable, garnered from a slew of interviews, documents, and letters. The Kingdom and the Power tells the tales of Timesmen that ran the institution, those that worked at it, and those that will always be remembered by it. It tells of the many managing editors, of the woes of copyboys, of the mishaps of reporters, of the printers' strike, and of the ruling family of publishers, descended from the very first- Adolph Ochs.

The book is little more than a string of connected anecdotes- amusing to read, of course, but there is no powerful story until the last few chapters of the book. Still, it is just story, not central plot. It hasn't the traditional beginning, middle, or end. The paragraphs, sometimes over a page, are tedious because the sentences that comprise them are long themselves. This book's course is best likened to a rambling path- it is long and scenic, and certainly worth the time, but it goes off on tangents. It is a lengthy but well-written discourse that does not take you from point A to point B, but all over the place; when you are finished, you have learned a lot of things, but you still don't know what the point is. It is a wonderful read, so go ahead and enjoy the scenery, but don't get lost. Work your way steadily down the path, and you will be rewarded.

This book, published in 1969, should be archaic. The ideas, one might expect, are dated, the concepts unsuited to the current day and age. Sure, in fifty years setting type might seem to readers of the time what hieroglyphics seems to us today; even today the notion that one computer being introduced into a large corporation is a big advancement seems ridiculous. But the writing is such that this book is and always will be timeless.
Talese's style itself is similar to the course of his book. It creates wonderful sights and sounds for the reader just from the musical quality of the writing. The language is accessible to most readers; a dictionary may be of use if the reader wishes to indulge in the wordplay to its full extent. Of wordplay there is a great deal. When I read the beginning of this book, I was drawn instantly by the introduction:

"Most journalists are restless voyeurs who see the warts on the world, the imperfections in people and places. The sane scene that is much of life, the great portion of the planet unmarked by madness, does not lure them like riots and raids, crumbling countries and sinking ships, bankers banished to Rio and burning Buddhist nuns- gloom is their game, the spectacle their passion, normality their nemesis."

After reading the book, it can be said that this passage alone is the premise of the book. But it is better said that most of the focus is not on the world's imperfections, but those of the Times.
This book teaches not only about the ins and outs of print journalism, but also about the political hierarchy of the workplace. The tension, the factions, and the emotions of the Timesmen create an incredibly real psychological picture of humans, and of human nature. Because, when it comes down to it, The Times is truly a human institution.

Read The Kingdom and the Power. Learn the lessons it has to offer. This may be one of the best books you ever read- and you will be glad you did.

After reading Grahams autobiograpical work on the Washingto Post this, Talese's, book was immediatley linked to the other. Those who are interested in the evolution and preservation of our most important right would do well to peruse this work lest we forget the paramount value these works serve to keep us a free society in light of the countervailing forces of "dark fear and true belief." I shall go back and review the work in the interim thanks for the opportunity to allow me to give my humble feed back.

Just a warning that this listing is bogus.
The book was published in May, 1969.
Amazon doesn't use all uppercase, by the way.

How much do you want to pay for an ampersand that you won't get?
You will pay less if you buy this book under its actual title:
The Kingdom and the Power.