Rating: 
Summary: Great History, Great Politics, Great Novel
Review: Andrew Delbanco says of this novel: "This novel will, I suspect, maintain a permanent place in American letters." I can only hope so; it certainly deserves it. The historical detail is perfect, yet never tedious, and with Vidal choosing which details to give us, we get the juiciest ones. This is a novel that will please history buffs, but it will also transform a reader into a history buff. (I found myself checking out biographies of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln from the library.)If there is anything negative to be said about this book, it is simply that it is very long (657 pages, and they make full use of each page). This should not deter anyone from reading it. It just means you should buy it for yourself for Christmas and read it over the break. Or take it to the beach. Though I imagine a cup of coffee or tea and a blanket are more suited for this novel. The Lincoln portrayed here is completely human, replete with humor, constipation, family quarrels, anxiety, wisdom--in short, a full and complex man. Scholars argue back and forth about whether Vidal has accurately portrayed Lincoln. This portrait is as accurate as any you'll find, but I promise you that no other will be this engaging and interesting. He even puts forth a believable theory about Lincoln's assassination (which he admits is largely conjecture in an afterword where he breaks down what parts of the novel are fictional and what parts factual). I recommend this book to every history buff, to every literature buff, to every American.
Rating:
Summary: Historic Fiction at its Best
Review: I am not a fan of Vidal's politics, lifestyle or world view but his historical studies are tops. This tale of Lincoln reminds one (strangely) of Safire in their fidelity to history. The characters in this book simply rise from the pages and stay with the reader long after the pages have turned and the book has been closed (the highest praise possible for a novel, by the way). We meet the 16th President who is presented as a multi-faceted man instead of the silent, stone-faced Chief Executive we have all become used to seeing. The political ins and outs - Gore's specialty - are not only clever but vibrant. There are many tales here - political, military, personal, family - and Vidal does a good job of combining them all into a highly entertaining work of art. As usual, it is the minor characters that make the book and this case is no exception. The less-notable politicos with all their scheming and planning emerge as wholly human and quite understandable. The book is longish but with writing like this it seemed like a novelette. This should be a welcome edition to everyone's library.
Rating: 
Summary: Lincoln the Enigma
Review: I was enthralled by this book, yet can't help but feel it brought me no closer to the figure at its centre. Vidal captures accurately the 'feel' of Washington as a city at war - the intrigue, the booming brothels, the personalities, the sweep of great events happening. We see Lincoln as the still centre of a hurricane - because the focus of the novel shifts to the people around him - his secretaries Nicolay and Hay, the assassin David Herold, even Mrs Lincoln. I feel Vidal's Lincoln is basically that of Edmund Wilson, with Lincoln as the American Lenin, a revolutionary forging a new nationalist creation (the 'United States' in the singular, not the plural) without its full consent. However, this view has been exploded by Lincoln biographers, notably David Donald's latest effort. True, a revolution did happen, but not by Lincoln's foreknowledge and volition. He was more like a ship's captain steering a course with uncertain maps and compasses and his own sense of what was right. That been said, I loved the way the book captured the air of the Civil War as it actually happened. A must for all Lincoln-philes, and others who enjoy historical novels.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect portrait of an imperfect Lincoln.
Review: Lincoln arrives in Washington incognito in the middle of the night to avoid assassins. He is protected by Pinkerton. A little nobody, sympathetic at first because he is a boy growing up, becomes progressively less so as he enters the world of amateur conspiracies. Political foes Chase and Seward work in Lincoln's shadows. U.S. Grant appears briefly with his son. Much of the story accompanies John Hay, Lincoln's young personal secretary.
Hay's is possibly Vidal's most interesting portrait. In real life, John Hay started his political career as private secretary to Lincoln and ended it as Secretary of State to Theodore Roosevelt. He served three presidents assassinated in office: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. (I have not yet read Vidal's later American novels, but I presume John Hay reappears.) We see Hay move through Washington society balls, handle Mrs. Lincoln's scandalous purchases and indiscretions, or be heartbroken by Salmon Chase's daughter Kay.
The image of Lincoln Vidal presents is that of the knowing father, but not that of a saint. Vidal's Lincoln is never at a loss as to what needs to be done, but he can be unsure of how to do it. Vidal's Lincoln does have his faults. He is a racist. He is dead set against making slaves into American citizens and wants to ship them back to Africa. His priorities are crystal clear: if he could save the union by preserving slavery, he would. The myth of Lincoln the emancipator is shattered, and yet Lincoln emerges as a greater man for it. By presenting his true objective, saving the Union, Vidal shows us Lincoln's political skills and his compassion. He values the union more than he does the immediate abolition of slavery, but he recognizes that slavery is a blot on American history. He prefers African repatriation because he believes America would be a bad home for former slaves.
Vidal shows us Lincoln's civil war. Lincoln doesn't get to Gettysburg until November 1863. During the momentous battle of July, he was at the telegraph office waiting for the news. The novel starts with Lincoln arriving in Washington and ends at his assassination. Vidal's novel redefines Lincoln the man and dramatizes a historical reevaluation of Lincoln's role in American history.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best book on Lincoln I've ever read.
Review: People who prefer their presidents -- especially the "great" ones -- wreathed in hagiographical haloes had better look elsewhere for a view of the president who re-founded the United States. Vidal's portrait of this most interesting (and, given the sum of his achievements, our greatest) president accurately renders the Lincoln that I have come to know through a close reading of many of "Father Abraham's" own writings. That being the case, be forewarned that this novel came under fire from the academics who, having failed in their self-appointed task of shaping American history to fit their own political agendas, sought to discredit an artist who took Lincoln as he (and the historical record) found him. (For a complete discussion of this controversy from Vidal's perspective, see his wonderfully entertaining "United States.") From Lincoln's 1838 address to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield (when he spoke of ambitious men who would eschew the path laid out by the country's founders, in order to carve for themselves an equal or higher niche in the pantheon of fame, whether it be by freeing the slaves or enslaving free men), to his farewell address to his fellow citizens of Springfield, we have historical evidence that this was a man with his eye on more than just a political office. So much so that one fair interpretation (such as Vidal's) could be that he did (and said, especially in his "House Divided" speech) more than a little of his own to bring on our nation's bloodiest war. This kind of thinking, of course, does seem to rattle the hagiogaphers of the Ken Burns school, who would have us think that the Civil War was about slavery. Period. End of sentence. End of thought. About slavery it certainly was; but there were other issues (labor and capitalism,for instance)that, for a variety of reasons, the hagiographers do not touch. Is it because by raising the question of "slaves without masters," to quote the pro-slavery apologi! st George Fitzhugh's critique of Northern capitalism, we remind ourselves of the very precarious economic world that we still inhabit, a world that the South fought to keep at bay as long as it could? To keep from asking such questions, modern-day mandrakes endeavor to divert our attention from the hard questions raised by the Civil War (and by Lincoln's own conduct and words) and keep our vision focused on the horrors of slavery, and the sainthood of the man responsible for ending it. Abraham Lincoln deserves his due as a great man, a great president, and a genius to boot. He did indeed supplant Washington in our minds, and it is fitting that he did: for the Old Republic that people thought they were getting in the time of Washington is no more. Perhaps it was inevitable that it died; certainly it is true that a polity based upon human exploitation and bias towards the big money men deserves to die. But that raises the question of what we have got in return. This book is a magnificent portrait of the man who, for better or for worse, ushered in the new ages of gild, industrialism, and imperialism, the ages that, as Gideon Welles said upon his death, he now belongs.
Rating:
Summary: Brings Lincoln to Life
Review: The historian seeking to give life to his subjects, particularly those who lived before the 20th century, can often run into problems due to the lack of available source material. No man in American history has been more studied than the great AbrahamLincoln but how hard it is to bring him to life. The value of good historical fiction is its ability to make history both lively and interesting and to place it into the context of everyday life. Vidal's book is a great piece of literature. Brilliantly written it is also histirucally accurate. The book is essentially a character study of Lincoln from his inaugeration to his death four years later. Although a number of characters narrate the story through the omniscent device, Lincoln does not. With the exception of a historically verifed dream of his own death Lincoln had shortly before the assasination, the reader never enters Lincoln's mind. Instead he is viewed through a series of characters who surround him. His secretary John Hay, his wife Mary, his rival Salman Chase, his secretary of State William Seward and the traitor David Herold who was hanged for his part in the assasination conspiracy. Through their eyes Lincoln is presented as he was, a folksy deceptively simple mid-westerner who was shrewd, politically brilliant and deeply morose about the horrible work he was pledged to fullfill. Ultimately Lincoln is really unknowable and this is as it should be because this was his character. The narrative uses the natural ups and downs of the great struggle to present a story of great suspense and pathos. Anyone not familiar with the Civil War will learn much from this novel while being entertained. To me, a history buff, the single stand out moment that really shows where Lincoln was at comes after he is given word from General Meade about the results of the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln, having heard that Lee was outnumbered and overextended had hoped that the rebel army could be destroyed once and for all. Lincoln received word from Meade that his forces had driven "the enemy from our sacred soil." Lincoln was in despair. After more than two years of war, his commanding General still did not even understand that ALL the soil of the United States was sacred soil, including the seceded states. More importantly, what hope was there of destroying the rebellion when the top General saw his job as driving Lee out of the North rather than invading and taking control of the South.? I highly recommend this book to everybody. We owe it to Lincoln's memory to understand him beyond the cliches.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Far Fetched (And Intended To Be).
Review: This book is a very entertaining. Gore Vidal is an excellent author. However, this is not necessarily a good historical novel. It is quite long on conjecture and supposition, too much so. As a result, the history, the central topic that sells this book, is skewed, questionable. But that is quite alright. It is why Mr. Vidal titled it, Lincoln: A Novel. There is no reason not to enjoy this work, it is good. Just understand that Vidal's book is more good, novelist conjecture than solid, factual history. It is an interesting and fun read, one to be enjoyed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Far Fetched (And Intended To Be).
Review: This is a very entertaining read. Gore Vidal is a very good novelist. But this is not necessarily a good historical novel. It is quite long on conjecture, too much so. As a result, the history, the central topic that sells this book, is skewed, questionable. This is no reason not to enjoy this work, it is good. Just understand that Vidal's book is much more good novelist conjecture than solid, factual history.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant work of historical fiction
Review: This is simply the best book of historical fiction I have read - a brilliant work that is enthralling and utterly plausible. I saw Gore Vidal's Lincoln on TV in the late 80s played by Sam Waterson and Mary Tyler Moore. At that time I remember thinking of it as a very interesting movie, but did not connect it to the American Chronicle series that Gore Vidal authored. Reading this book, the TV movie comes better to light (and I am now quite urgently trying to dig it up!). The book itself is characterized by several wonderful elements:
Firstly, Gore Vidal is a splendid writer. The way he scripts his words, the way he sets up the scenes and the psychological probing of his characters are all scintillating. Secondly, the subject of this novel is so towering, that the reader can be forgiven for wondering if a novel can do him justice. Gore Vidal achieves that feat - he manages to present Lincoln foremost as a master politician, a leader for his times, a compassionate, wily, honest, determined and utterly human. Finally, it is quite amazing how many of Lincoln's senior officers (Chase, Seward, McClellan) were gunning for his office. How Lincoln manages all these competing political forces is a compelling reading. There is enough mythology sorrounding Lincoln, without having to have fiction written around him and circumstances of the civil war. But Gore Vidal's purpose is quite genuine and sincere - taking a fictional tack frees him up to probe Lincoln the man and all the characters and circumstances he had to deal with with much more freedom and creativity - the result is a plausible, yet utterly delightful account of America's arguably greatest President. This book will be one my prized possesions on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: I WANT MORE VIDAL
Review: This isn't only a novel about the famous President; it's also about his Cabinet (particularly his Secretary of State and his Secretary of the Treasury), his generals, his family and his enemies. It is a portrait of a smart man with a lot of trouble in his hands. As I read I got curious about some of the characters, and I found a site in Internet (www.picturehistory.com ) which turned out to be of really useful. I ended up downloading the photos of 20 + characters mentioned in the book, but there are many more. After 650+ pages, I still wanted to know "what's gonna happen next". Four and a half stars.
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