No Real Politics

Just finished Gore Vidal's Lincoln and I'm starting James Jones' unexpurgated From Here to Eternity plished in ereader form by Open Road Media.  I wonder if Vidal writes as he does naturally or he gets there with massive rewrites?  I read somewhere that Fred Astaire would not let anyone watch him practice: "Never let 'em see you sweat."

The question about Vidal was brought about by reading Jones and the different styles of Jones and Vidal.  Jones does not seem to have that same ease with language that Vidal does.  And since I've just read Williwaw I think that the comparisons are fair since both of these books (Williwaw and From Here to Eternity) were written at around the same time and when the authors were about the same age, and Williwaw does have that apparently easy facility with words.

I thought I had read Lincoln when it first came out, but now I'm not sure, there is so much in it I don't remember.  The book is fascinating for its depiction of the mature Lincoln and his political skill and the politics of the time, which from what I get from the histories of the time is pretty accurate.  A Civil War book with no (or almost no) battles.  One sees what the people who lived in Washington, D.C. saw, and little more.  We see Grant and Sherman when they visit Washington, and not in the field.  The politics are what are important to Vidal.

Well at any rate, now I'm trying to figure out how to load a Barnes and Noble ebook The Hammer of Thor onto my Sony ereader.  For the most part when there is a difference in price both Nook and Kindle are cheeper than Sony.  Also, and this is the first time this has happened, I've been looking for a good book about the Norse myths and there are more than a few that are on Kindle which are not on other ereaders.  First attempt a failure, but will try again.  Thank god for Google.

Current politics are simply too depressing.  The nursing homes in the area have combined to put the county home out of business, because to quote the CEO of one the county home doesn't charge enough.  Then there is this from one of the Common Pleas judges in town.  I had thought that he was one of the least bad, well perhaps he is the least bad, but what does that make the rest.  Not that the FOP is a model of a progressive union, but still.  Back into my paper worlds (or perhaps some more Charlie Chan).

Interestingly enough could not find a photo of Vidal writing, also most of his pics were of him in more or less "dressed up" outfits.  Jones the opposite, and most in worker or casual clothing.