This is a meandering, labyrinthine piece of very humane cynicism. It chronicles the political career of Willie Stark, through the eyes of his journalist friend (or maybe friend) Jack Burden, and it's basically a long, slow journey through compromise and corruption during the Depression in the American South. So few of the characters are actually likeable, and yet nearly all of them have their appealing side, or their admirable traits. It's not really the sort of book I'd typically go for, but its reputation precedes it and I'd read one of Warren's earlier books (Night Rider, his first novel) and found it compelling but flawed, so I was prepared to give it a go.

If this book has flaws I can't spot them. Yes, it wanders from the point. Yes, it's often slow. But the characterisation! The characterisation is outstanding and elevates everything else. It excuses the pacing; it positively encourages the wandering. These are all fully realised people, no matter their gender or political affiliation or flaws, and I can't point to a single one of them and say "this feels false or overdone or under-observed" because none of them do. It's an excruciatingly well-observed study of human beings and human behaviour, and it might have taken me the best part of a week to slog through, but it was worth it. 

It's a masterclass in character, it really is.