tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post6975113288431693811..comments2024-03-27T06:25:29.002-05:00Comments on Anecdotal Evidence: 'A Man of Sensitivity and Cultivation'Patrick Kurphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08436175583386298032noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-92134200284185454892021-07-28T21:09:43.642-05:002021-07-28T21:09:43.642-05:00May I dissent? Grant gives us a shallow, text book...May I dissent? Grant gives us a shallow, text book view of the war. You wouldn't think you were hearing the voice of a man approaching death, who'd sent tens of thousands of his fellow men to their own deaths. He never reflects on the moral side of this mass slaughter. Thank goodness for Ambrose Bierce and Stephen Crane.Fazehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01396363799545495907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-46783096506059326032021-07-28T16:48:24.033-05:002021-07-28T16:48:24.033-05:00I read Grant's extraordinary Personal Memoirs ...I read Grant's extraordinary Personal Memoirs about a decade ago. If memory serves, the impetus may have been something you wrote about Grant's writing on you blog. Or perhaps it was Stephen Pentz over at "First Known When Lost".Tim Guirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04273546542482255916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-17889196652297391102021-07-28T13:23:18.444-05:002021-07-28T13:23:18.444-05:00You have convinced me as well, to place these memo...You have convinced me as well, to place these memoirs on my tbr list. I had heard that Grant was worth reading and you have provided the evidence. As an admirer of Barzun I'm also going to pursue the essay collection you reference. Thanks!Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00561320676355168336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-73648166319281744572021-07-28T12:20:55.421-05:002021-07-28T12:20:55.421-05:00Edmund Wilson (in Patriotic Gore) was great admire...Edmund Wilson (in Patriotic Gore) was great admirer of both Grant's and Sherman's memoirs.Thomas Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01587426021276029142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-62566387236665799302021-07-28T09:45:05.516-05:002021-07-28T09:45:05.516-05:00I read it on the recommendation of a prof at UT-Au...I read it on the recommendation of a prof at UT-Austin when I was in grad school forty years ago. He said it was the best book ever written by an American president. He was right. Grant had the misfortune of following the worst president in the country's history and lived with a Congress struggling with the unintended consequences of victory. That Mark Twain was a friend and fan of his says much about the man as a man.<br />huisachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10406474102041600164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-29515902327891858722021-07-28T05:31:42.828-05:002021-07-28T05:31:42.828-05:00You sell us short. The map teams withGrant lovers....You sell us short. The map teams withGrant lovers. One of my favorite conversational bon mots is to point out why no museum features Grant’s horse in contrast to the worshipfully taxidermed “ Traveler” of Lee. Why? Because most of brave general’s horses were shot out from under him in the course of battles in which, unlike Lee, Grant participated close up. Ron Chernow’s recent biography has done much to heal Grant’s reputation. And the “Personal Memoirs”, which I read while serving in the Army, endure. For another perspective I strongly recommend a rereading of James Thurber’s “ If Grant Was Drunk at Appomattox”. Sample, Grant to Lee: “ I know who you are! You’re Robert Browning, the poet!”rgfrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03098442053009135266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-28851839908458451612021-07-28T05:18:52.934-05:002021-07-28T05:18:52.934-05:00Well Patrick, you've convinced this reader to ...Well Patrick, you've convinced this reader to download a copy of Grant's Memoirs (from Project Gutenberg)and put it on my Kobo ereader.<br />I see that he is descended from the Grant family who left Dorchester, England in the 1630s. Dorchester is some 30 miles south of where I live; the current inhabitants show no obvious signs of a restless urge to emigrate, the pioneering spirit of Charles the First's reign has long gone.Busyantinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06022645116824297149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21999805.post-56034132173745688032021-07-28T01:51:34.128-05:002021-07-28T01:51:34.128-05:00I have the Penguin Classics edition, published in ...I have the Penguin Classics edition, published in 1999, with an introduction and notes by the well-known historian, James M. McPherson. I hand-wrote these quotations about the book near and on the title page:<br /><br />". . .universally regarded as the greatest military memoirs since Caesar's 'Commentaries,' and among the genuine masterpieces of American literature." - John Steele Gordon, Commentary Magazine (10/27/09)<br /><br />"Best book ever written by an American politician." - Kevin D. Williamson, on Twitter (7/3/15)<br /><br />". . .the power, beauty, and honesty of these memoirs." - Jay Nordlinger, on Twitter (1/7/16)<br /><br />". . .the greatest military memoir in the English language, and the finest book published by any U. S. president." - George F. Will, National Review Online (11/4/17)<br /><br />That sums it up pretty well.<br /><br />Incidentally, along with Lincoln and Grant, Theodore Roosevelt is usually regarded as one of our most literate presidents. He authored many books - including, I understand, a volume of literary criticism, which I've never seen, but would love to.Richard Zuelchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00734593620854179011noreply@blogger.com