Hello Again: Vidal's Empire

Okay, so I’m blog challenged.

Long ago I read Burr -- twice, in fact -- admiring it greatly, puzzled by it, but not dreaming that it was the start of a series that would consume the rest of Gore Vidal’s career. I’ve since read other of his American History novels – Lincoln, Hollywood, I think 1876.

And now, Empire. Let’s face it: these books have become exercises in which Vidal mingles created characters with historical figures in clever ways, and little more. Nothing happens in Empire beyond friends of Henry Adams making snide remarks about prominent political figures. Which is another thing: they all think alike, the characters and the real people they deal with: the fictional Stanfords and the real Adams, John Hay and William Randolph Hearst. They all agree, for instance, without saying (they do finish each others’ sentences quite frequently), that Teddy Roosevelt was a corrupt and ignorant buffoon, and they do so as if it’s common knowledge that everybody is in on. Which is, of course, absurd.

(Or, as Vidal would write it:

"Which is, of course . . ."
"Absurd?"
"Yes!"

Don’t get me wrong. Vidal writes beautifully and cleverly. It’s just that nothing happens that warrants the setting or the time or, well, the book. Caroline Sanford buys a newspaper and gets pregnant. Her brother builds a house and is secretly gay – though, surprisingly, considering it’s 1904 and same sex public hand-holding is frowned upon, his orientation causes him no problems or even worry. Having Theodore Roosevelt drop in once in a while has no bearing whatsoever on any of that.

What is most worthwhile in Empire are the passages that could have been written in the last few years (they were written in he mid-Eighties):

“Religion ran like poison through their veins, followed by – or mingled with – racism of a sort undreamed of in wicked old Europe. There was always a ‘they’ at whom a pejorative verb could be launched, automatically transitiving ‘they’ to the ominous all-evil ’them’ who must be destroyed so that Eden could be regained” (p. 372)

There are also a number of references to the press inflaming hatred and thus violence, resulting specifically in the assassination of McKinley, but, you know, it happens today on talk radio and Fox News.