Customer Reviews

Mr. Lincoln's Wars: A Novel in Thirteen Stories

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

These 13 connecting stories powerfully explore President Lincoln's humanity as he deals with his son's death, his wife's madness, and his personal agony over lives lost in the Civil War. Beautifully written historical fiction.

Yes, this has it flaws, but it is still a remarkable read. I am surprised to see what the negative reviews here on Amazon are saying, especially those who seem to be disapointed that is fiction. It is fiction, and has all the chracteristics of literary contemporary fiction (and that of course is where its beauty lies in its lyrical prose, anachronistic settings, and postmodern tone). Anybody who is looking to learn more about Lincoln should pick up any of the hundreds of wonderful biographies about the 16th president. But readers who want a book that explores the complex world of emotional resonance should read "Mr. Lincoln's Wars."

This was quite possibly the most brilliantly written book I have ever read. From the moment I bought it and began reading, I was hard pressed to put it down. It is a collection of thirteen stories, written from different points of view: Lincoln himself, Mary Todd, and other Americans whose lives were touched in some way by Lincoln. Adam Braver does not sugar coat anything and takes risks. He was not afraid to show the harsh reality of the time period to his readers. He took one of history's most fascinating men and questioned what he must have gone through being the leader of a country, still just a toddler in it's development, that was trying to tear itself apart. How does a man deal with that on his conscience? These are the types of things Braver explores through his fiction. These are emotions and thoughts and experiences none of us can possibly know or understand as they truly occured. A novel like this could not be nonfiction. People looking for a 100% historically accurate account on the life of Abraham Lincoln may be disappointed. But people who will embrace this incredibly fresh and brilliant writing voice, and are curious about the trials this truly unique and amazing man went through will be blessed forever with the possession of this novel. Anyone not willing to face the "seething hell" (Walt Whitman) of this time period should not read this book. It's not light-hearted to say the least. But it explores Abraham Lincoln, how he became what he was and how he dealt with his world...his wars. I eagerly await the second novel of this truly gifted author. And I congratulate him for having the courage to take on such an incredible topic for his first publication.

"Mr. Lincoln's Wars" is one of the most moving books I have read to date. It shows Lincoln and the world around him in its most metaphorical sense -- a world haunted by sadness, confusion, and the human will to persevere. The stories revolving around Lincoln are often sadly poignant, showing the president at his most introspective. The book is also complemented by stories that show ordinary people and thier relationships to the "idea" of Lincoln. These stories make for a stark contrast to the world of Lincoln that is presented to us -- showing us the humanity in all people. I suspect that detractors may be missing the point: "Mr. Lincoln's Wars" is not a book for "learning" something new about Abraham Lincoln, instead it is about seeing the humanity of the confusing world that we still live in.

I have to agree with the reader from Chicago. Cheap, pseudu-illiterate criticism only reveals the ignorance of the reader. The funny thing is that I agree with some of the negative points of the "reviewer" in question, but I am floored by the almost personal attack of the "reviewer's" three reviews. I can only guess that by having to write three nasty reviews on one book, that the "reader from USA" must have some personal issue with the writer of "Mr. Lincoln's Wars," or else must have discovered that this is the only place his words would be seen.
I give the book 3.5 stars for its writing. 1.5 stars for having to suffer such banal responses.

I haven't written an Amazon review before, but I compelled due to my puzzlement over some of the recent reader's comments. In their defense, I suppose that anybody who is looking for a Lincoln biography will be disappointed. But this book so obviously does not purport to be biography, nor does it pretend to be anything other than contemporary literature. All readers of serious writing will recogonize the use of metaphor and allegory to tell the tale of the sad and brutal world that we inhabit. They will also recognize the obvious postmodernism (as I believe another Amazon reviewer put it) to take the book out of the historical, and into the contemporary. Yes, if you are someone looking for a biography of Lincoln or the Civil War, or an airplane read of historial fiction, then you will not like this book. (I believe that the description on the book makes it pretty clear.) However, if you read and appreciate contemporary literature, then you will be glad you spent the money and the time.

I loved this book! I loved how it managed to present the historic theme as contemporary literature. It takes you right into a world that is as familiar as the one we are living in. I devoured it in two hours on a six-hour flight.

I enjoyed this little book a good deal. Basically it consists of 13 short stories all revolving around Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War told from assorted points of view including ordinary soldiers, Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Like all good literary fiction, the point of the stories is not so much to describe events as to show the impact of those events on the protagonists. We see how Lincoln and his wife are affected by the tragedy of the death of their son, the demons that drove Booth to murder, the way in which war brutalizes the ordinary soldier. Like all good historical fiction, these stories bring characters of the 19th century to life in a realistic way. My only quibble with the book is with the portrayal of Lincoln. Very little is known about Lincoln's inner most thoughts. Although a most jocular man, he was actually somewhat closed and few of his friends or associates could genuinely say they knew him well. That is why Gore Vidal, in his great novel "Lincoln" gets inside the head of the people around the president but not Lincoln himself. There is nothing wrong with a modern writer making assumptions about the thoughts of a historical character in a work of fiction. But a number of the things Braver reveals about Lincoln are jarring and some are false. For example, Lincoln was known to never drink liquor, yet several of the stories portray Lincoln as having been a drinker in his youth and even taking a drink in the White House as president. This simply didn't ring true to me. And although there is no real evidence of Lincoln's sexual thoughts and feelings, I still found it jarring to see the specific, if not graphic portrayal of an historical figure's sex life, particularly when that figure chose to keep his sexual life to himself. In one scene Lincoln remembers the smell of Anne Rutledge's neck. There is no evidence that he was ever in a position to smell her neck although it is generally accepted that he loved the doomed girl who died so young.

Nevertheless, these quibbles do not much diminish the overall quality of this work. The stories are by and large moving and provocative and guaranteed to make the reader think about profound things. Yet the prose style is light and breezy and flows beautifully from page to page. I recommend it.

This astonishing book sees through politics and history to the common heart of humanity in everyone. Braver doesn't look for easy answers or offer pat, one-dimensional portraits. Everyone portrayed in the book is shown in all their heartbreaking human complexity, and the emotions ring so true that it can be painful to read it at times. This is not like any other Civil War book I've ever read, and I've read many. This one will stay with me for a long, long time.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Mr. Lincoln's Wars'. Adam Braver has depicted the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, and those around him, in a refreshing collection of short stories. The author's writing style is engaging and I eagerly look forward to the release of his second book.