Customer Reviews

Ulysses: A Biographical Novel of U.S. Grant

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Robert Skimin's novel on the incredible life of Ulysses S. Grant is a fascinating read. Mr. Skimin has faithfully told Ulys's story from his early days at the hallowed grounds of West Point; his activities in the Mexican War; his struggles in pre-Civil War America; and his triumphs during that most turbulent time in our history. Grant in Skimin's eyes is neither smart or dumb...he is an everyman, trying to do what he feels is the right course he should follow. Skimin aptly illustrates Grant's struggle with the bottle...a lifelong battle that Ulysses sometimes won and sometimes lost. Many of us who have awoke with the effects of a night of drinking still fresh in our body, can appreciate Mr. Skimin's accurate description of the torment Grant went through. The major asset of the book deals with General Grant's long-standing friendship and partnership with John Rawlins....He describes their relationship in a very familial way...as that of two "brothers", who have found each other in Galena, Illinois just before the war, and who shared the highs and the lows of four years of brutal war that they shared together. Ulysses is a very interesting fictional account of this great man, U.S. Grant... For those of you who enjoy great historical fiction, you can not go wrong with Mr.Skimin's work....One can only hope for a companion novel on the life of W.T. Sherman!

I'm not much of a fan of historical fiction, but for some strange reason, Ulysses Grant has become the poster boy of this genre in the past decade. Robert Skimin's novel is quite a good fictional treatment of Grant, though there are some serious weaknesses. The most glaring problem is that he has limited ability to write believable dialogue, and this is a dialogue-heavy book. There seems to have been no attempt to take the reader back to the 19th century and most of the words sound like they came out the mouths of the Brady Bunch. When Ulysses Grant starts sounding like Sam the butcher (Alice the Brady maid's boyfriend,) it's time to put it to bed.

It's almost certain that in the aftermath of "zestful and wild lovemaking" (Skimin's description), Grant's wife did not say, "Ulys, do you think me and the kids could hang around awhile?" Ah hem... you get my drift about the dialogue sounding corny and overly modern. This is a serious weakness. Another oddity is that Skimin places way too much emphasis on Grant's drinking. The author himself has had an alcohol problem in the past (as he freely admits), as well as a bout with throat cancer, another similarity he shares with his subject. Did Grant drink too much on occasion? Certainly, but the focus on the booze here gets a little much. It's also described in detail which becomes physically nauseating.

The book gets worse as it goes along. The best portions are Grant's courtship and the early years of his marriage. The Civil War sections are average, and the conclusion is nothing special. Inexplicably, Skimin has Grant going on a bender in 1884, something that I guarantee you did not happen. But, alas, this is fiction.

There are several very good descriptions of Grant with his wife; the author really understands this intense relationship. I especially like the scene from 1849 where Julia announced to her husband that she is pregnant. This is the most believable scene in the entire book! I'd love to give a better review of the book, because I like Skimin and some elements of his style, but the dialogue sinks this one. Still, if you're into Grant, you'd enjoy reading it.

This is one of those books that's frustrating, because there's a good book in here trying to get out, but it's trapped and can't escape. Robert Skimin tries to get it out, but he fails, and the result is a very uneven and uninteresting effort that's mostly boring, and in addition there are parts where you wonder about the historicity.

The author credits William S. McFeely's biography of U.S. Grant for illuminating the subject's life, so you'd expect the book to follow McFeely closely, and to a great extent it does. This creates several problems for me. First, since McFeely's book was so readable, why read something like this in addition? You get McFeely's information, somewhat compressed, with some lame love scenes and some supposed insight into Grant's thoughts at various times. Most of this has to be supposition, so its value is dubious at best. In addition, there are several scenes where the actual incident is relatively well-known, and Skimin recounts it in a fashion that bears no resemblance to what we know of reality. The example that stuck out for me was his version of Grant meeting Lee in Mexico, which has no bearing on the actual event.

As a result, I can't recommend this book. It's at times vaguely interesting, but I didn't enjoy it that much, and the author does only a mediocre job with his history.

Grant was a gentle character with self doubts that led to alcholism. Rawlins, friend from home town, becomes staff chief and insists bottle be banished. Grant blossoms inspite of his character flaws many past failures and becomes tremendous leader. Grant is an inspiration to all of us who battle the demons of self destructive behavior binding oneself with our unsolveable failures. Grant's virtues emerge in the crucible of war displaying that he is not an incompetent failure: an embarassment to family, friends, and Army reputation. Rawlings is the conscience for Grant, fanatically believing in Grant's greatness if alcohol and dishonest hanger-ons can be avoided. When Rawlings dies Grant is alone and betrayed by those in his circle. Sherman also give Grant blunt truth and stays away from the Washington political cess pool. Grant's love for wife Julia is rendered tenderly and gently. Grant dies having left her with his finished journal Mark Twain promises will earn enough to provide a life time income. Son Fred was involved in shameful, shocking and disgusting hazing of black cadets at West Point. Blame has never really been properly adjudged on Fred Grant for this terrible deed. The role Samuel Clemons plays in Grant's life is very important; writing as Mark Twain, he publishes and inspires Grant's autobiography and helps assure Julia be provided for, allowing Grant, dieing of throat and mouth cancer, to conquer the pain of his final days by finishing the final pages of his manuscript. I say that Grant died victorious, enduring terrible agony, discomfort and pain, to finish what he always wanted to do; prove himself and take care of his family.