Advise and Consent
by Allen Drury
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1960
Looking at my list of Pulitzer winners, I looked forward to reading this one. The title seemed to promise a good deal of suspense, played out in an arena I would find interesting. When I looked it up on Amazon, the cover had an image of the United States Capital Building standing ominously in darkness. It was an intriguing proposition, and the books not inconsiderable length promised some interesting turns of plot.
Here, the book did not disappoint. Since one of the main things this book has in the plus column are the plot reveals that are significant and sometimes thrilling, I won't give too much away. The basic storyline is this. The President of the United States, a man who by all accounts is dealing with a life threatening illness, names a Secretary of State who is a rather divisive figure. In the early stages of his Senate confirmation he is accused of being a communist. The main action of the story involves several senators who are attempting to either uphold the nomination or scuttle it. All of the senators have reasons for this, some noble, some less so. In the background is the Soviet Union, a threat that looms large, especially as they seem to be making moves in the space race that will have serious military fallout.
What Allen Drury gets right makes the book very readable. What he gets--well, not wrong necessarily--just off, makes for a somewhat jarring experience. Part of the problem is the book is just dated. I don't think anyone would suggest that the United States Senate is a rainbow of diversity, but this the WASPiest group of WASPs I've read about in awhile. Here are some names: Robert Leffingwell, Robert Munson, Lafe Smith, Fred Van Ackerman, Hardiman Fletcher. Seriously. It goes on like this forever. And there are so many characters. The novel itself is preceded with a list of characters that goes on for three pages with a minor description of their governmental function, and there were times I felt like I was in 12th grade social studies again. The dialogue is sometimes almost dreadful sometimes. The characters all talk as if they are good friends. While I do not doubt that senators can be and sometimes are friendly with one another, they interact here as if they are all living in a fraternity house. They seem to have limited interactions with their staff, and handle most of their business at parties. Again, this may be a reflection of the times, but this seems to have changed considerably. Finally, the Soviets are putting a settlement on the moon. I'm giving that away. It is such a preposterous plot point that I couldn't hide it any longer. The Soviet's are putting a settlement on the moon. By the way, the U.S. response: We're going today, and we'll put a settlement up there too. If we have to fight, we will. I don't think that space travel works that way.
A film version came out in1962, which followed a successful Broadway adaptation. Some of the same problems persist, but the film is fine. The space subplot is wisely removed. However, a subplot involving one senator being blackmailed over a gay romance he had had during the war is toned down so that in the film version the blackmailer does not get his due comeuppance. The performances were pretty descent, especially Henry Fonda as the Secretary of State nominee. Also, watch for a young Betty White as a senator from Kansas.
Coming soon: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
