DOC Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest by Jan Morris in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy V. MullinsA good read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. LINCOLN: A FOREIGNER'S QUESTBy Daniel J. KazmierskiJan Morris does an excellent job of encapsulating Lincoln’s accomplished life and career into a biography that allows readers to walk in the shoes of the 16th president. The author’s engaging writing style and diction attracts readers to a very interesting and unique account of Lincoln’s journey to becoming our president and creating a legacy that will remain established in time.The book was organized as any ordinary biography; in chronological order from the man’s birth and childhood to his last days. It is interesting; however; to read the insight that Morris gives on the man. This was definitely the best part of the book. Most biographies do not elaborate; interpret; or hypothesize. In Lincoln: A Foreigner’s Quest; Morris offers her own interpretations of many of events and characteristics that have come to represent Abraham Lincoln. When discussing older Lincoln’s ‘battle with melancholy’ she writes;“I think it was the long accretion of sadnesses in his life; beginning with his childhood losses; culminating in two causes of despondency in Springfield [Illinois]: first the split with Mary Todd; then their reconciliation.”I would definitely recommend this read if one is trying to find a more in-depth analysis of the emotional Abraham Lincoln and the motives that drove him. The author analysis gives the opportunities to readers to draw their own new conclusions about a man they thought they knew already.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Lincoln: A Foreigner’s QuestBy Beth C FloreyI am just going to bluntly say that I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. Her style of writing and overall tone towards Lincoln was not enjoyable particularly. Ms. Morris is a British author and she writes this book as a sort of quest to find out how she ultimately feels about the glory that is given to Abraham Lincoln. On the one hand it's interesting to see a foreigner's take on such a huge part of American history; but on the other hand Ms. Morris is more negative and sarcastic at the beginning of the book; and towards the end she seemed to be charmed by Lincoln and his life. This contradiction made me seem like she never truly made up her mind on Lincoln. She seemed indifferent about making a decision.Before Morris could draw reasonable conclusions about the president; and about the people who so adored him; she had to take on the mammoth task of separating Lincoln the man from Lincoln the myth. In doing so; however; she ended up turning her book into a capsule biography of Lincoln; which I saw as a weakness nonetheless. This book would have been much more interesting and profitable had Ms. Morris actually give her own insights and interpretations of those insights. Instead; she gave more of a historical and factual view of Lincoln. Many biographies and profiles of Lincoln have already been written. Morris’s book was supposed to be seen as a foreigner’s view of Lincoln; and more of her thoughts of that particular viewpoint would have improved the story as a whole.