Lincoln. [Paperback]

Gore Vidal (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Btb Bei Goldmann (September 1, 2002)
• Language: German
• ISBN-10: 3442729122
• ISBN-13: 978-3442729128
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,865,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in Fiction and Non-, March 25, 2008

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln. (Paperback)

For a fictitious account of the Sarratt conspiracy of spies during the Civil War, Vidal had a lot to say. To call those poor, unworthy followers "Confederate spies" is going a bit "out in space." But as a whole that's what Vidal's over-long novels generall are.

Though Abraham Lincoln's high-pitched voice did not sound rhetorical, he was aware of the power of his meanderings as he tried to define the war aims. His well-thought-through address at Gettysburg spoke for the turmoil of that day and for future political rhetoric of our time.

Vidal names all of the major Confederate generals but has them as incidental characters. Talking to Sherman about the length of this crazy war, Lincoln is quoted by Vidal (putting words in his mouth and mind): "I am only a politician and we tend to say (and do) foolish things." A total of 170 Confederates were killed, more than 680 wounded and 770 missing. The Union losses were about 60 dead, 150 wounded and 40 missing.

This parody express the Confederate contempt for Northerners. Other verses describe the rebels whipping the yankees at Manassas and Bull Run, mocking his taste for brandy. It became a caricature of all that was weak and unmanly about the Confederate foes and became a religious patriotism to the Southern cause.