Book Review: Killing Kennedy - The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

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Title: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelet

Authors: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Hardcover: 325 pages

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts in gripping detail the brutal murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—and how a sequence of gunshots on a Dallas afternoon not only killed a beloved president but also sent the nation into the cataclysmic division of the Vietnam War and its culture-changing aftermath. 

In January 1961, as the Cold War escalates, John F. Kennedy struggles to contain the growth of Communism while he learns the hardships, solitude, and temptations of what it means to be president of the United States. Along the way he acquires a number of formidable enemies, among them Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and Alan Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  In addition, powerful elements of organized crime have begun to talk about targeting the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy. 

In the midst of a 1963 campaign trip to Texas, Kennedy is gunned down by an erratic young drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald. The former Marine Corps sharpshooter escapes the scene, only to be caught and shot dead while in police custody.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

When I bought this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect, considering I have never been a fan of Bill O’Reilly. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Killing Kennedy. It was engaging, simple and very easy to read. Bill O’Reilly offered a fresh, concise story neatly wrapped up and delivered so that even high school students could understand and appreciate the contribution of the Kennedy family in shaping current American history.

This book offered a humanistic view of a flawed man who would ultimately become one of the most popular presidents of all time. Killing Kennedy transcends generational gaps and gives readers a chance to understand that John F. Kennedy was just a man who had a taste for extramarital affairs, relied on his brother Bobby Kennedy for advice, wavered in his decisions, and knew what it took to keep the American people happy. In other words, Kennedy was a politician for the new age. JFK was popular, but the author reveals Kennedy's true political driving force and most trusted confidante: Bobby Kennedy.

One of the many things I liked about this book: I didn’t have to read another book to find out information on Lee Harvey Oswald. The author alternated between the rise of JFK, and the life of his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. The author allows the readers to delve into the many conspiracy theories that have circulated for years, while finally drawing the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed the assassin of John F. Kennedy.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Although many conspiracy theorists would probably find fault with some of the facts in this book, I think it is well worth the read.

Book Review: All the King's Men by Robert Warren Penn

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Title: All the King's Men
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover: 672 pages
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

Set in the 1930s, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Stark, a fictional character who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Stark begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success and caught between dreams of service and an insatiable lust for power. As relevant today as it was more than fifty years ago, All the King's Men is one of the classics of American literature.

Overall Rating: 4/5

This one was so hard for me to get through. The beginning is very slow and dry, but the further I got into the story, the more interested I got. It's a great book that deals with what people sacrifice in themselves (goodness, dignity, character, etc.) to obtain wealth or power. Jack Burden tells the intertwined story his life and the life of Willie Stark, a man who rises from a simple farmer to a governor who wants to run for president.

Like I said, the book is slow, but the plot develops nicely. It builds upon itself and I don't think that Warren added any unnecessary information. Everything built atop itself and everything in there is needed to tell the full story. Maybe it could have been less wordy, but that's a stylistic issue that I don't mind so much.

I do think that Warren relies heavily on archetypes to get his point of view across; there is no female character who is complex and surprising. Likewise, I think most of the male characters fit into a specific category. For me, that was troublesome, because I usually get to like books because of the characters -- I think that's why it was so hard for me to connect to this story at first. I don't think it's even plot-driven; instead, the themes are what drive this narrative. Warren focuses on life, the human condition, doing good versus doing bad, the consequences of ambition, and many more. (This is probably the reason for why it is studied in some high schools.)

Writing a novel driven by themes has its problems, but I did enjoy reading this. It wasn't a fast read at all, and I had to take my time with it, but I think that's a good thing. I was able to think about what Warren was trying to say through his story and he makes some valid arguments through his characters and plot. I liked seeing how essentially good men sacrificed their character in order to achieve or maintain a high status of wealth and/or power. There is inherent conflict in that, and it's something worth thinking about. How far would we go for the things that we think matter? What would we sacrifice to achieve our goals? These are the essential questions that are asked throughout the novel. Though I think this is far too heavy reading for a high school classroom, (Most students wouldn't get through page 15, I'm betting.) some passages or chapters can be used to inspire these reflective questions.

While slow, dry, and dated, I think this is a good book to read. The characters may have lost some of their relevance over time, but the story and the themes are timeless.