Disraeli
Andre’ Maurois
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister circa 1874. Absolute power broker of the Conservative party and confidant of Queen Victoria at the height of English colonial rule. This was a person that I knew almost nothing about. I have heard the name and secondary references to his name, but I have never been introduced to this larger than life figure in British political history. A second treat in the reading of this book was that it was originally published in 1928. It’s interesting to discover the time and place of the authorship of what you’re reading. It allows you listen to the point of view from the correct reference frame. This book, authored by a French biographer, presents two stories; the first is of Prime Minister Disraeli in his time and place and the second is that of the telling by this Frenchman between the two Great Wars.
My mother was the one who introduced me to the joy of reading and as a result I ended up with all the books she liked to collect. There are the classics and the knitting books and a cornucopia of fiction and non-fiction book club selections. Amongst the book club selections is one that’s soft cover and replete with absolutely nothing I’ve ever heard of. This book I’ve just read is a selection from this obscure-authors-of-the-early-20th -century book club. This book club edition was published in 1965. My mother collected these titles when I was a child and for a life time these books have floated in and out of both boxes and bookshelves, always cherished and read, perhaps, once. From time to time I’ve scanned the titles looking for something that might interest me, nothing ever did. These days I scan the titles with a more critical eye and I still don’t see any titles that seem even remotely familiar. After reading this volume I can justify my book club title.
I might like to dive directly into this man, Disraeli, and critique the author after, but this is an instance where explanation of the writer’s style might mitigate my absolute ignorance of the man of whom the biography was written. I believe I may have produced a grammatical hernia in that last sentence but I think my point is taken. Contrary to the last book, this was a Mozart fairy tale. The introductions to the book described the author as both a scholar and a rebel. This biography was in a narrative form, concentrating on the man inside his world and not dryly recounting the dates, events and facts of his life, or so the introduction said. It was in fact like listening to that French narrator guy in the musical Gigi. You know the guy that describes the plot line between musical numbers? Anyway the book is well written but is hard to read. The author will switch the character he’s narrating about without clearly signaling the reader. I would be reading this involved description of emotions and positions and then not understand who the author was describing. Most disturbing. Finally, there wasn’t any real connection between the man’s life and actions and the outside world. Maurois made no effort to detail the world events that PM Disraeli stewarded through history. It was mostly about a powerful man’s friends and personal correspondence. This should be considered an ‘in addition to’ volume. That is, if you’d like a different spin on the facts and dates of a normal biography then this would be a good read. This is not a volume that should be assigned as a primary source.
Benjamin Disraeli was a Christian Jew born into a prominent London family in the 19th century and despite of English prejudices to the contrary, rose to become Prime Minister and confidant to Queen Victoria herself. Not so much a rags to riches story as one of goals and determination. The author left so many holes in his life that you only get this glossy picture of who the man was. He determined himself to be a politician at an early age and that is what he became. His path to the House of Commons was through the ladies of society. He fancied himself a dandy and a ladies man and in both of these he excelled. Once elected to parliament he dressed in plain clothes and fancied himself stone adversary in the halls of parliament and a stone faced adversary he became. At the same time he carried on a substantial correspondence with a variety of the ladies that he befriended over the years. There were a variety of legislative confrontations, victories and losses described in the book but these seemed to demonstrate his oratory skills or his ability to turn ash to gold through negotiation and compromise. He was a conservative that believed whole hearted in the constitutional monarchy and the role of the Queen in the government and the state.
Overall, I didn’t like the book. It was a celebration of a man and time that had disappeared in all but memory. The Frenchman longing for the mythical blending of democracy and the monarchy, the voice of the people blended with the wisdom of the royal family. It was kind of prophetic in nature. This publish date; Mussolini and the fascists of Italy were well on their way to power, the communists well entrenched in Russia, the world economy recklessly headed toward a precipice. An odd triangle; the Victorian Age Prime Minister, the French biographer, the American consumer covering a period of over one hundred twenty-five years makes for an interesting metaphysical moment. I suppose that is my fascination with antiquities. There is this history attached to it, a witness to history. And what happened to the author of this book? Did he perish in the war? Was he even in France during the war? A quick look at his Wiki entry shows a distinguished author and scholar. Served in WWI and II. Fought for the Free French, died 1967.
Okay, this is literature. Whatever.
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister circa 1874. Absolute power broker of the Conservative party and confidant of Queen Victoria at the height of English colonial rule. This was a person that I knew almost nothing about. I have heard the name and secondary references to his name, but I have never been introduced to this larger than life figure in British political history. A second treat in the reading of this book was that it was originally published in 1928. It’s interesting to discover the time and place of the authorship of what you’re reading. It allows you listen to the point of view from the correct reference frame. This book, authored by a French biographer, presents two stories; the first is of Prime Minister Disraeli in his time and place and the second is that of the telling by this Frenchman between the two Great Wars.
My mother was the one who introduced me to the joy of reading and as a result I ended up with all the books she liked to collect. There are the classics and the knitting books and a cornucopia of fiction and non-fiction book club selections. Amongst the book club selections is one that’s soft cover and replete with absolutely nothing I’ve ever heard of. This book I’ve just read is a selection from this obscure-authors-of-the-early-20th -century book club. This book club edition was published in 1965. My mother collected these titles when I was a child and for a life time these books have floated in and out of both boxes and bookshelves, always cherished and read, perhaps, once. From time to time I’ve scanned the titles looking for something that might interest me, nothing ever did. These days I scan the titles with a more critical eye and I still don’t see any titles that seem even remotely familiar. After reading this volume I can justify my book club title.
I might like to dive directly into this man, Disraeli, and critique the author after, but this is an instance where explanation of the writer’s style might mitigate my absolute ignorance of the man of whom the biography was written. I believe I may have produced a grammatical hernia in that last sentence but I think my point is taken. Contrary to the last book, this was a Mozart fairy tale. The introductions to the book described the author as both a scholar and a rebel. This biography was in a narrative form, concentrating on the man inside his world and not dryly recounting the dates, events and facts of his life, or so the introduction said. It was in fact like listening to that French narrator guy in the musical Gigi. You know the guy that describes the plot line between musical numbers? Anyway the book is well written but is hard to read. The author will switch the character he’s narrating about without clearly signaling the reader. I would be reading this involved description of emotions and positions and then not understand who the author was describing. Most disturbing. Finally, there wasn’t any real connection between the man’s life and actions and the outside world. Maurois made no effort to detail the world events that PM Disraeli stewarded through history. It was mostly about a powerful man’s friends and personal correspondence. This should be considered an ‘in addition to’ volume. That is, if you’d like a different spin on the facts and dates of a normal biography then this would be a good read. This is not a volume that should be assigned as a primary source.
Benjamin Disraeli was a Christian Jew born into a prominent London family in the 19th century and despite of English prejudices to the contrary, rose to become Prime Minister and confidant to Queen Victoria herself. Not so much a rags to riches story as one of goals and determination. The author left so many holes in his life that you only get this glossy picture of who the man was. He determined himself to be a politician at an early age and that is what he became. His path to the House of Commons was through the ladies of society. He fancied himself a dandy and a ladies man and in both of these he excelled. Once elected to parliament he dressed in plain clothes and fancied himself stone adversary in the halls of parliament and a stone faced adversary he became. At the same time he carried on a substantial correspondence with a variety of the ladies that he befriended over the years. There were a variety of legislative confrontations, victories and losses described in the book but these seemed to demonstrate his oratory skills or his ability to turn ash to gold through negotiation and compromise. He was a conservative that believed whole hearted in the constitutional monarchy and the role of the Queen in the government and the state.
Overall, I didn’t like the book. It was a celebration of a man and time that had disappeared in all but memory. The Frenchman longing for the mythical blending of democracy and the monarchy, the voice of the people blended with the wisdom of the royal family. It was kind of prophetic in nature. This publish date; Mussolini and the fascists of Italy were well on their way to power, the communists well entrenched in Russia, the world economy recklessly headed toward a precipice. An odd triangle; the Victorian Age Prime Minister, the French biographer, the American consumer covering a period of over one hundred twenty-five years makes for an interesting metaphysical moment. I suppose that is my fascination with antiquities. There is this history attached to it, a witness to history. And what happened to the author of this book? Did he perish in the war? Was he even in France during the war? A quick look at his Wiki entry shows a distinguished author and scholar. Served in WWI and II. Fought for the Free French, died 1967.
Okay, this is literature. Whatever.