Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Lincolns Anekdoten und Geschichten
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who enjoy short, quotable tales, lovers of American history, and anyone who wants a warmer view of Lincoln than speeches give.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Abraham Lincoln was remembered for his stories almost as much as for his speeches. Friends, soldiers, senators and visitors to the White House all recalled how he leaned back, began a tale, and brought it round to a point. Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, published in 1901, gathers many of those tales in one volume. It was put together by Alexander K. McClure, a Pennsylvania newspaper editor and political man who had known Lincoln and wrote about him in other books too.
The book is a collection of anecdotes alongside an account of Lincoln's life that gives the tales their setting. You meet the frontier boy, the country lawyer, the candidate on the stump and the president in a time of war. You also learn why he told stories and what they did for him. For anyone who wants to hear Lincoln's own humor, and to see the shrewd mind behind it, this is a good place to start. So let us begin with where the habit came from.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A storyteller was made on the frontierFree
- 2Courtroom days sharpened his wit
- 3Stories became a tool in politics
- 4Humor helped him bear the war
- 5A good story makes an argument
- 6How to read the collection today
Punkt 1 von 6
A storyteller was made on the frontier
Lincoln was born in 1809 in Kentucky and grew up on the frontier in Indiana and then Illinois. Schooling was scarce, books were few, and entertainment came from talk. People gathered at stores, taverns and courthouses and traded tales, and a good teller earned respect. Lincoln learned early that a funny story could win a crowd.
The tales in this book carry the flavor of that world. They are full of farmers, preachers, horse traders, backwoods lawyers and plain people who say plain things. The humor is dry and rooted in everyday life. A joke often turns on a small mistake, a boast that goes wrong, or a clever answer from a person who seemed to have no chance.
McClure treats this background as the key to the man. Lincoln did not borrow a polished wit from drawing rooms. He built his manner of speaking out of country talk, and he never dropped it, even when he became a national leader. That is part of why so many people felt they knew him.
For a reader today, this opening idea matters. It shows that Lincoln's humor was not a mask put on for votes. It was the way he had learned to think and to explain things, and it stayed with him all his life.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Lincolns Anekdoten und Geschichten
What is Lincoln's Yarns and Stories about?
It is a collection of humorous and thoughtful anecdotes told by or about Abraham Lincoln. The tales range from his frontier youth and law practice to his political life and the Civil War, and show how he used stories.
Who wrote Lincoln's Yarns and Stories?
Alexander K. McClure, a Pennsylvania editor and political figure who knew Lincoln, put the collection together. It appeared in 1901, and he also wrote other books of recollection about Lincoln and wartime America.
Are the stories in Lincoln's Yarns and Stories true?
They are anecdotes gathered from friends, colleagues and press reports. Some may be exactly as Lincoln told them, others have changed in retelling. They are best read as a portrait of how people remembered him.
Why did Abraham Lincoln tell so many stories?
According to those who knew him, he used stories to make a point clearly, to refuse requests gently, to ease tense moments and to find relief from the heavy strain of the war years.
Is Lincoln's Yarns and Stories hard to read?
No. The anecdotes are short, plain and easy to follow. The book can be read a few pages at a time.