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All the King's Men



Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men is a story of weighing responsibility for actions that follows two opposites: Jack Burden, the protagonist and narrator, and Willie Stark, power-hungry Governor of Louisiana in 1940. 

Summary
Jack Burden works for big-shot, powerful, bull-headed Willie Stark, Governor of Louisiana. Jack grew up at Burden's Landing with his mother, the Stanton kids: Anne and Adam (the former Governor's children), and Jack's rich, powerful mentor and father figure Judge Irwin. 

Willie Stark is a truly self-made man. He studied law on his own, passed the BAR on his own, and won the race for governor with the help of his campaign staff (which includes Jack). Stark grew up in rural Louisiana, but is outgoing and always gets what he wants. Willie, or The Boss to Burden, often asks Jack to "dig-up some dirt" on certain people in the political realm in order to get what Willie wants, whether that's funding, support, or cooperation. But when Willie asks Jack to investigate Judge Irwin's past, Jack starts questioning everything. The reader gets thrown into Jack's past as he flashes-back and remembers his childhood and early collegiate years with Adam, Anne, and Judge Irwin. Penn Warren uses Burden's Landing, which is described in exquisite detail,  as a world of memories for Jack. 

The trials of the campaign trail, realizations that everything is not as it seems, the placing of responsibility realized, and failures and imperfections of people and the past make Jack's fantastic journey a telling and teaching story. 


Review
This may have been the hardest summary I have ever had to write. This book is extremely long, but not a page of all 600 is wasted. Jack's recollections are so reflective of his past and important to fully understanding the present and Jack's thoughts. The story of Willie Stark ends up being the story of Jack Burden too and his relationships with individuals (like Anne Stanton, Adam Stanton, Sugar-Boy {the driver...}, Lucy Stark, Sadie Burke, and Willie) and with ideals (like responsibility, the idea of a father-figure, grief, young love, and idolization). 

This book is one of my absolute favorites. Why? The message is clear, but can be applied to an individual reader's specific life and morals. FIVE FULL STARS. Robert Penn Warren certainly knew what he was doing. 


Happy reading!! Please comment your thoughts about this book if or after you have read it. Also, comment which book I should review next. 
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