Customer Reviews

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I imagine that in order to spend months and years researching and writing about an historical figure you must admire that person immensely, otherwise it would be terribly difficult to retain any interest. In most biographies, this usually translates into a deification of the subject. Not so in Joseph J. Ellis' AMERICAN SPHINX: THE CHARACTER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON.

I'll confess that Jefferson has not always been one of my favorite founding fathers. I have always thought of him as duplicitous, racist, anachronistic in his thinking, vain, and cowardly in a way. As a New Yorker, I've always been irked by his bad-mouthing of the city, and by his insistence that the capitol of the new nation be moved from here to Washington, D.C. [Good riddance, by the way. We did just fine without being the capitol city, thank you very much ;-) ] And as I am a devout admirer of Alexander Hamilton... need I say more?

After reading Ellis' other great book, FOUNDING BROTHERS, I began to get a more rounded look at Jefferson, one that shed a little more light on the human forces that may have been working on him. Then I read McCullough's brilliant biography of Jefferson's close friend (at times), John Adams. This led me to read this biography, and I am glad I did. I finally was given a better understanding of the sage of Monticello. Ellis does an admirable job of conveying an honest and balanced view of the chief author of the Declaration of Independence, without resorting to hero-worship, as do most biographers. At times, the writing was very moving, especially as Jefferson's loved ones began dying around him. I'm still not crazy about the guy, but I have a better appreciation of him.

Ellis' writing is brisk, loaded with telling anecdotes, and never attempts to impress the reader with the research he has done. Other biographers would do well to follow Joseph Ellis' example. And lovers of American History would do well to read this book.

This book took me about four months to read. I kept picking other books up and forgetting about this one. So it is not addictively readable, to say the least. In fact, it was difficult for me to read more than 15 pages at a time. I would find my attention wandering or my mind falling asleep.

Dryness and drab writing aside, the book in the end was interesting. It is not a conventional biography. Unlike historians such as David McCulloch, Joseph Ellis digs deep into the story and into the character of Thomas Jefferson. It does not follow Jefferson from birth to death, chronicling life events. Instead, Ellis picks seminal points of Jefferson's life: his move to Paris, the Constitutional Convention, his stint as President, and his retirement to Monticello, and then examines Jefferson's attitudes, actions, and writings from these time periods to create a picture of the man. It answers the question "Who was Thomas Jefferson?" more thoroughly than any biography I have ever read.

Ellis's Jefferson is not hugely likeable, but is very human. Ellis certainly succeeds in knocking Jefferson fro his hallowed pedastal, but only in making him human and fully fleshed, which in the end only can do Jefferson justice.

After finishing this book (finally), I feel I have a pretty clear picture of Jefferson and his legacy, which makes me feel this read was very worthwhile.

If you've read about the Founding Fathers, you can't help but notice that Thomas Jefferson has an eerie elusive quality that the others just don't seem to possess. You can figure out Ben Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, etc.. Jefferson, however, seems to be someone who you can't quite pin down or so easily lay claim to by today's standards. As was once said of William James, "He's just like a blob of mercury, you cannot put a mental finger upon him." It probably has something to do with, as Ellis states in the book, the fact that he was far more inclined to rhetoric and theory than he was to the tedious gears of hand-on politics.

I was expecting this book to cross the line in relation to dragging Jefferson into the present and beating him up a bit, but it kept within reasonable boundaries without either unrealistic hero worship or a foolish attempt at character assasination. Very readable and informative.

"American Sphinx" by Joseph P. Ellis is sterling silver. It dissects the character of Thomas Jefferson in a wonderfully readable presentation of America's third President. No wonder this book was a prize winning work on history when it first came out. I recommend your making sure you don't miss this one.

I also recommend you go on to read Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Thomas Jefferson: Character Leadership Education" for something different both about, and from, Thomas Jefferson.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very easy to read and very informative. The book does a good job of staying away from hero-worship that so often slants the biographies that may fill a Jeffersonian student's shelves. This is NOT the book to read, though, if you are not already familiar with Jefferson. The book is not a biography and it skips over many of the events in his life. For instance, there is nothing at all on Jefferson's second term as president and very little on his time in the state govt of VA. BUT that is the intent of the book. It is meant to give snapshots of his thinking and personality that the biographies normally do not capture. The book uses much of the prolific subject's writings to make his points, as would be expected of this type of book, and he rarely if ever misquotes Jefferson. Ellis also does not harp on the rumor and gossip surrounding the Sally Hemming subject, which is refreshing. There are many books on this controversial and impossible-to-resolve issue, and Ellis only devotes 5 pages as an addendum at the end of the book to gloss over the Hemming basics.

Unlike David McCullough in his superb "John Adams", Joseph J. Ellis has a hard to get into style that does turn Thomas Jefferson into a sphinx. The audience can have a difficult time to understand the similarities and differences existing between Jefferson and John Adams. Jefferson was a study in contradictions. He was often not practicing what he was preaching. For that reason, many people can reasonably claim to be the spiritual heirs of Jefferson.

I did not enjoy this book. I was looking for a comprehensive review of Jefferson's life and theories. To his credit, the author makes an attempt at a balanced analysis of Jefferson's thoughts and influences. That is more than most other authors provide. The large and significant omissions of key events in Jefferson's life, however, are the biggest disappointment in this book.

Although this book left me wanting more (not NEARLY enough coverage of Jefferson's 2nd term--this book needed 200 more pages), what was there was extremely interesting and well-written. Thomas Jefferson has to be the most interesting of all of the Revolutionary period figures (although not necessarily the most admirable). He could lie, cheat and back-stab and then be completely and honestly indignant when accused of doing the same. What an enigma! I cannot decide whether to praise or revile him (I'm closer to the latter), but I LOVE to read about him! I was looking for a recent, complete, single-volume biography of Jefferson and chose this one over the one by Randall Sterne for whatever reason. Although I am extremely glad that I read it, I still feel that I have not read a complete biography of Jefferson because so much of his presidency (especially the aforementioned second term) was given such short shrift. But for that omission, this was a 5-star book!

I love writers. I mean those who damn the consequences and pen-down the hard facts: whether the world likes it or not. J.J. Ellis is one of them; regardless of those nagging complaints that his pen attracted.
Right from the first page, this book was purposeful. Unlike most other 'Jefferson' authors, Professor Ellis refused to tuck-in his tail and dance to the gallery. He understands that honesty may hurt for a short while, but, costs nothing in the end.
Everything about his book is factual. No sycophantic element! Its portrayal of Thomas Jefferson was candid and conscientious.
Yes, Mr Jefferson might have been one of America's 'founding fathers', but that does not make him a saint. In fact, he was a pariah when the issue concerns true freedom. He failed justice and betrayed compassion. Yes, he did.
Among all the lies about his 'greatness', one thing is crystal-clear: Thomas Jefferson was a terrible contradiction, who never defended true freedom. Calling him an unrepentant racist may sound offensive, but that is what he was.
How can a man who consistently preached (to the English Monarch), that, "All men were created equal: with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"; turn around and entrench a slave-holding society: one of the most cruel societies that humanity has ever known?
Good or bad, this biographer balanced his research well. He was more interested in the (bitter) truth than in pleasing sycophants.
Thomas Jefferson was by no means better than his 'British oppressors'. That he repeatedly raped Black women did not show that he believed in true justice. That he bought, sold, and enslaved men, women and children did not show that he believed in true freedom. That he even went as far as enslaving his own (coloured) children simply because their skin-colour were not as White as he would have liked them to be did not show that he believed in human rights. None these facts showed that he was sincere in citing that "All men were created equal", nor that he agreed that "All men are entitled to freedom and the pursuit of happiness".
It is time we abandon sectional bias and sentiments, and open our eyes. An evil-deed is an evil-deed, whether we like it or not: and regardless of who did it, or when and where it was done. Slavery is evil. It ruined justice; ruined freedom; ruined happiness; ruined love; and ruined lives. It is epitome of wickedness. Nobody who condoned and/or participated in it is truly great.
If we insist otherwise, then, what are we going to tell diehards who believe that Saddam Hussein is a great man? What are we going to tell fanatics who believe that Osama Bin-Laden is a champion? And the last but never the least, what are we going to tell Neo-Nazis who adore Adolf Hitler as their hero?
Mr Jefferson was only good at removing specks from the eyes of Britons, while refusing to remove the mahogany logs that blinded him and his co-founding 'fathers'.
He enslaved and maltreated people for life, and throughout his life. Even in death, he refused to free those slaves; instead, he willed them out (as slaves). No conscientious being will classify this act as that of a freedom-preaching great man.
This book was very kind to Mr Jefferson. It only called a spade by its real name.

I have read most of the major books on Jefferson, and have now finally finished this one. What an awfully misguided, opinionated, and prejudiced piece of work. This book misrepresents Thomas Jefferson. It gravely misses the mark. Shame, that those who select books for awards can obviously be so misled. There's no wonder its called "American Sphinx". I don't recommend it to anyone who does not wish to be wrongly disillusioned about America, especially during this time when terrorists and much of the world challenge American virtue. I recommend the Remick book here in Amazon.com's listings on Thomas Jefferson (called "West Point:...Thomas Jefferson") for a clear understanding of Jefferson, because it is drawn from what Jefferson himself read and wrote throughout his lifetime, not on opinions written about him.