I love
autobiographical accounts. The best ones for me, are the ones that are unbiased
and make me empathise with the narrator (writer)
This one was
rather simple and straightforward. The author lays bare the facts and allows
you to make your own impressions about the events that unfolded, rather than
thrusting upon you a pre-formed opinion.
We get a
front seat view of major events in history from the first world War onwards, up
to the Nixon scandal and a further few years beyond that.
Katharine
Graham was born at the fag end of the first world War and that is where her
narrative begins. There is a little segue into previous years, to explain her
ancestry.
She
describes a difficult relationship with her mother, without looking for
sympathy and a beautiful one with her father, with love and pride.
She grew up
in a world which had just weathered major strife and was in her early twenties
when the second world War rolled around. In the intervening years, she shares
her privileged upbringing and the various historical figures that she met. Some
of these she knew intimately well and with the others, she had a passing
acquaintance. It is noteworthy, that this lady has managed to inform us of this
without coming across as pretentious. Think about it, how many could claim to
have breakfasted, at the home of Albert Einstein or confess to turning down an
offer to be sculpted by a world-famous sculptor, just because she was
uncomfortable. And all this done with no condescension or even a sense of awe
herself. It was just narrated at this point, as she probably felt at that time,
without a sense of proximity to history.
The habit of
letter writing, and solid references add credence to her narrative. This is
aided by the exchange of letters between her and her mother. It made me realise
the power of the written word, not that I needed a reminder.
It amazed me
to learn of the bias, she and her husband faced, because of her Jewish
antecedents. She was denied apartment after apartment as she was half Jewish.
Even though her father, was considered the man who saved the USA from
starvation. What makes this stranger still, is the fact that her husband was a
war hero and known for his many exploits.
The
tumultuous relationship that she had with her husband is finely etched. His
highs and his lows, were as diverse as being Kennedy’s confidante to an affair
with a socialite. His infidelity, coupled with his rapid descent into mental
instability and eventual suicide is detailed and baldly written, with no
attempt to joust for sympathy. It is an insider's view, on life with an
overachiever, who devolves, which is aggravated by his PTSD after the war.
She did not
choose her life, instead it chose her. Nothing brings this out better, than her
recounting of the strike by her printers, that she combated by a hit and miss
approach. The Watergate scandal and its adroit handling, by an editor appointed
by her, was surprisingly not her high point. She felt, that the repeated
takeover attempts which she repelled and stayed afloat successfully was in
fact, her major credit.
I loved this
book for the myriad details and the simple prose. I read it and also listened
to it. The narrator, Carrington MacDuffie was good too, and had an old-time
charm to it, which suited the book well and enhanced my enjoyment of it.
#MiniasReviews
#AllLivesMatter
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