Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest

Rating:
Summary: Bitter Brit who can't get enough of attacking Lincoln
Review: I couldn't believe how often the author equated "political correctness" with defending Abe Lincoln! This author is one bitter Brit who doesn't appreciate the contribution the USA has made to the world.

This book is for the dumpster.

Rating:
Summary: The British Discover America, again
Review: I have had a vague dislike of the English literary class for so long, I sometimes forget why. Jan Morris is a good reminder. The main thrust of her book is that she once believed that Abraham Lincoln was like the grape jelly she found in American restaurants; generally liked by Americans but lacking all character and certainly inferior to marmalade. In her "quest" she makes the amazing discovery that Lincoln was a somewhat complex man who was more mature at 50 than at 20 and who found the strength to take this country through the Civil War...and that's not bad for an ugly piece of trailer trash. In the course of her meanderings, she takes gratuitous potshots at various aspects of what she sees as America. Twice, with no support, she refers to Lincoln's probable homosexuality and even identifies his lover for us. The book is almost readable when Morris doesn't intrude on her writing but, without her intrusions, it is just a standard bio and probably wouldn't have been published. So the literary hook here is that we get to see an interesting contrast between a great person and a trivial one, with the author's complete lack of self-awareness serving as a running, inside joke.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven but sort of interesting
Review: Jan Morris' account of her quest for the "real" Lincoln takes her from cynical and irritated about how Lincoln is treated as an icon by the American public to her reluctant conclusion that there really was something remarkable about the man. As an American, I found her point of view interesting, her depiction of Americans condescending and her history not well researched. She makes some good comparisons (Lincoln's family of origin as being like "white trash") some wildly off base statements (Lincoln's religous statements may have been disingenuous) and I frankly found her personal travelog to be pretty much a bore. If you want to know about Lincoln there are dozens, probably hundreds, of more accurate books. If you want to know how the person of Lincoln still manages to seep through to even an unwilling investigator, this book has some interest.