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Fred
Kaplan's Lincoln - The Biography of a Writer is one more
book in the vast library of Lincoln scholarship. We picked
it up because it is of particular interest at this moment in
history because of the obvious parallels between Barack Obama and
Abraham Lincoln and their use of the English language as the
primary means for the expression 'of a civilization and
culture.
Lincoln
was a deep reader; language was both solace and pleasure - the English of the Bible and Shakespeare, the poetry of Burns and
Byron. He could quote endlessly, carried his books with him
on his travels, was often found reading. The book traces the
influence of the language of the Bible and Shakespeare on
Lincoln's speech and how language, eloquence, and oratory shaped
the arc of his career. And how in turn, Lincoln's words, from the
Gettysburg Address to his second inaugural address, shaped the
nation.
We
wrote earlier here at eCognoscente about eloquence and the
Presidency. And Obama has openly and self-consciously
acknowledged the influence of Abraham Lincoln - even announcing
his bid for candidacy from the courthouse steps in Springfield,
Illinois.
Lincoln's
'House Divided' speech changed the way a nation looked at
race. Reading it is like reading poetry - one marvels at the
rightness of language, as well as the consciousness of the music
in language. Obama, in his 'A More Perfect Union'
speech, addressed race, taking what Lincoln began into the 21st
century: "Latino, Asian, rich, poor, young and old - is still
irrevocably bound to a tragic past. What we know - what we have
seen - is that America can change."
The
parallels between the two men are many - the humble origins, the
tall gangly stature, the Illinois legislature. Historians
are almost certain that Lincoln wrote every word of his speeches
and documents and we are impressed by Obama for similar reasons -
that he pays obeisance at the temple of language. As Lincoln
said, and Kaplan quotes in his book: " Writing-- the art of
communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye -- is the
great invention of the world. Great in the astonishing range of
analysis and combination which necessarily underlies the most
crude and general conception of it -- great, very great in
enabling us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn,
at all distances of time and of space; and great, not only in its
direct benefits, but greatest help, to all other inventions. . . .
Its utility may be conceived, by the reflection, that to it we owe
everything which distinguishes us from savages. Take it from us,
and the Bible, all history, all science, all government, all
commerce, and nearly all social intercourse go with it."
Read:
Lincoln:
The Biography of a Writer, Fred Kaplan
Link:
Tomorrow
- Take a Man at His Word!, November 3, 2008, eCognoscente
Tags:
literature history
library
politics
books
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