Politics, Politics, Politics

I have been immersed in Robert Caro's epic biography of Lyndon Johnson--which is quite a reading experience. The first two volumes, The Path to Power and Means of Ascent are behind me and now I begin The Master of the Senate, which begins with Johnson's questionable victory in the 1948 Senate race in his home state of Texas. I can only hope that Caro is almost finished with the fourth and final volume of The Years of Lyndon Johnson because I want to know the whole story.
I don't think I've ever read anything quite like these books, and I have to say that I started them under protest. But after only a few pages I was hooked, this despite the considerable physical challenges. So far I've tried a tray, a pillow and my knees--all of them only partially satisfactory; and when I picked up the third volume, the heftiest so far, I almost went straight to Amazon and ordered a Kindle.
There are so many reasons to find these books an absorbing reading experience that it's hard to know which to put first. But above all, Caro is a fine writer, with an eye and an ear for his topic. On the one hand, I can't imagine anyone doing a better job of making the Texas hill country from whence Johnson came so vivid, and on another, his sensitivity to Johnson's character and his knowledge of it seem extraordinary. He also convinces the reader that he has left no stone unturned in his research, in his account, for instance, of the 1948 Senate race that saved Johnson's political career and paved the way to the presidency. This part of the story reads like a thriller, filled with unforgettable characters.
On hearing that I was reading Caro, someone remarked that she didn't think Johnson was worth writing about, a comment to which I could not find an answer because there are so many reasons. Caro argues that LBJ's ascent marked a transformation of American politics, that there is a before LBJ and an after. Granted, he does not emerge as either an admirable or a likable man--quite the contrary--but in terms of his understanding of power and the growth of modern politics, well, one has to grant him a certain greatness, even if it's the greatness of a Mephistopheles.
So if you are interested in character, politics, American history, the role of political power in this country, or just fine writing, read Caro--you won't be sorry even if your knees hurt afterwards from the sheer weight of the books.