The Rake

by William F. Buckley Jr.

Book Overview

A prototypical child of the sixties, Senator Reuben Castle coasted through his early life on a cloud of easy charisma, leaving behind more skeletons than Arlington: a highly questionable Vietnam... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061238554
• ISBN13: 9780061238550
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Rale

William Buckley's final mystery. He was a master of the English Language and spins an interesting web of events.

A story of ambition, human failing, and the cost of secrets

This is a novel about the way talent and human frailty collide over a lifetime. The mistakes we make may stay hidden for awhile, but as time goes on the burdens keeping the secret imposes become greater than the benefit of keeping the secret. Yet, letting out the secret after pretending it never happened becomes even more costly. We see this all the time in the catastrophes that follow the attempts to cover up mistakes in order to avoid fairly mild consequences. Reuben Castle is a talented young college student who dominates his University of North Dakota campus through student politics and the student newspaper. He is also, as the title says, a rake. And like many successful ladies men, he has the ability to be totally and sincerely committed for hours at a time. His buddy and rival, Eric Monsanto, makes available his father's duck blind for an evening with their girlfriends. However, in 1969 as now, kids in love often believe their love must be expressed and that pregnancy can never happen. But Reuben's love, Henrietta (Henri) does get pregnant. Reuben wants her to abort the baby, but Henri won't even consider it and insists on marriage, but after the ceremony, nothing. For her, it is not possible that her child should be born without a father, but he needn't ever know the father. She leaves the country to go live with her family in Paris. Everything is clean and over with, right? The problem is that Reuben continues to advance his political ambitions, marries Miss America and has prospects of running for President against George H. W. Bush in 1992 and seems likely to win. His son with Henri, of whom Reuben knows nothing, has grown up believing that is father was a man who died in Vietnam. It is the job of the story to unravel the secrets and Buckley gives us a very good story. No, Reuben isn't Bill Clinton. Sure Reuben is smart, but not as smart as Clinton. Where Clinton could skip classes and ace them, Reuben gets in academic trouble. While both are ladies men with a past, the details of their lives are vastly different. Sure, both are charismatic, from small states, and their private failings become part of their public life and affect their ability to serve effectively. Everyone in the story has his or her failings and virtues, but not all equally. It is a good story and well worth reading and considering. Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

The Sin of the Rake

The Rake in Bill Buckley's novel by the same name strongly resembles another, very real political figure, but with a difference. Whereas the sins of William Jefferson Clinton are constant and mind boggling in their sordidness, Rueben Castle commits just one sin that comes back years later to haunt him. A very enjoyable light read.

when the irresistable force meets the immovable object.

Mr. Buckley is back again with his masterful story telling and his crystalline perfect prose. THE RAKE is a classic thriller of guaranteed mounting suspense, with many absorbing clashes between virtue and amoral pursue, naughty boys and nice girls. (Trust our writer, justice shall prevail.) One cannot help at the end while closing the book, to shake one's head, shuffle to the refrigerator, and between lounges at the apple, recite, again and again: "On ne badine pas avec l'amour. No jamais!" (One does not play lightly with love, not ever!): even if you are a strong presidential candidate, even if you have a lot, I mean a lot of Parisian Uh-la-la! I totally enjoyed THE RAKE. Great book I think for the end of summer and even better for the start of foot-ball season(Specially if you are a Notre Dame fan. Enjoy!