About the book
BOOK SUMMARY
Journalist Jack Burden becomes entangled in the rise of Willie Stark, an idealistic Southern politician whose pursuit of power gradually transforms both him and the people around him. Through Jack’s involvement with Stark, the novel explores political ambition, corruption, responsibility, and the consequences of the past.
Published 1946
Political Fiction
672 pages
Awful people, fully human, loved it
February 2, 2026
Gosh I loved this book. It is like watching a bright red apple slowly rot to a puddle. Every single character is completely awful in some way. Every single character is completely human in all ways. And I loved them all, even the ones I hated.
Looking back I realized that the present-day narrative doesn’t actually take up that much of the book. There are a lot of flashbacks and reminiscences by the narrator back to other loosely related events in his life, but it all feels satisfyingly cohesive in the end.
The text would have probably been a pleasure to read regardless of the storyline, just because the prose is so delectable. There were passages that I had to go back and re-read multiple times because I wanted it to stick with me. Or because something very profound was said in the most fascinating, meandering language possible. Or because it was just kind of funny, but I had to make sure it was actually funny because the language felt too sophisticated to be funny. (Like the entire section where he is describing his ex-wife.)
I will warn that I did not finish the book with a particularly hopeful outlook on society.
kelsi’s reading diary 