So, I have just finished reading
Rebel Giants: The Revolutionary Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. It is not the best book I have ever read, but I learned one very important piece of information that I will impart to you. When someone writes a comparison novel about your life, do not let them compare you to Abraham Lincoln. You will never measure up, friends. Abraham Lincoln eclipses us all.
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day, which was the focal point of David R. Contosta's book. Abraham Lincoln was born into abject poverty, his mother died early, his father was relatively shiftless. His father hired him out to the neighbors to work. He had ONE YEAR of formal education. ONE YEAR. He went on to read for the law, become a politician, and president. Three of his four children died (one after his own death), he wrote all his own speeches, he is the only one of our presidents who was actually involved in a battle while he was president. He made hard decisions and acted on them. He grieved for the losses of our country in the Civil War and spoke openly to the country about the the hard issues. His fatal flaw seemed to be his wife. Mary Todd was bipolar as far as I can tell. She chased Lincoln into the street with a knife when they lived in Springfield. Her manic spending sprees forced Lincoln to work desperately until he became president and Mary Todd was able to hide her spending, though it never stopped until Robert Todd committed her to an asylum several years after the death of Lincoln.
So while reading Contosta's book, you are bowled over by the accomplishments of Lincoln. Then you have Darwin, who begs the title Little Lord Fauntleroy, if ever anyone did. He was raised by his very wealthy father to be a Doctor, but Darwin wasn't really interested in that. He then studied for the clergy (where, interestingly, he pronounced that "every word of the Bible was the literal truth"). He next decided to head out on a five year voyage on the HMS Beagle, where he visited the Galapagos and had his evolutionary epiphany. After he arrived home, his father bought him a place in London, which he found too noisy, so his father bought and renovated a home for him in the country. He even made the decision to move the road which traveled by his home two miles away so as not to disturb him. When asked to attend a debate, awards ceremony, anything involving public recognition of his work, Darwin stayed at home taking sunlamp treatments. He did not engage in ANY conflict. I am not knocking Darwin's wealth, the sons of many wealthy men accomplish far less. I am knocking the misfortune of comparing his life and lifestyle to Lincoln. None of us is as unfortunate as Lincoln. That breed of misfortune has become extinct, I am afraid. When Lincoln and Darwin are compared, however, Darwin comes off as severely lacking. Its not really his fault, its just that Lincoln is so much better.
Another thing that irritated me about Darwin, (who is not a man to be sneezed at, until he is compared with Lincoln) is that when he was formulating his evolutionary thesis he was so nervous that he would lay in bed for days vomiting while his wife (a winner!!!) read soothing poetry to him and had their two nannies keep their children very quiet. His wife was a winner. She was Darwin's first cousin and was a quiet refined soul. She bore ten children to Darwin, one who died of TB and another who died quite young and was thought to have Down's Syndrome. Emma Wedgewood (yes, those Wedgewoods) Darwin ran an efficient and quiet household that consisted of ten servants. Darwin's valet was his closest friend and when Darwin took breaks from writing, they played billiards together. Sometimes Darwin went to stay at a beach spa when he was particularly troubled about his work. Darwin is just such a foil to Lincoln that I feel that Contosta made a poor choice.
I have tried to think of better comparisons. Here are a few: Lincoln/ Churchill, Lincoln/ Ghandi, Lincoln/ Napoleon, Darwin/Alexander Fleming, Darwin/Galileo, Darwin/Hawking.
These are all great men in their own right, but Lincoln, LINCOLN!!!!!
Interesting facts that I learned from this book that will emerge in my small talk party conversations:
1) The Scopes trial was completely staged. Scopes didn't even teach science and never taught evolution. It was just to bring publicity to Dayton.
2) Abraham Lincoln often slept at his law office to get away from his wife
3) The Lincoln's were not into disciplining their children.
4) Darwin never said we came from apes. He only insinuated a common ancestor.
Contosta's book was interesting, but it read like a dissertation that became publishable. Exciting, I bought the book used from Amazon, and when I opened it to begin reading, 7 dollars fell out. YAY!!!! I love cash. Pictures I am posting are of Lincoln and Darwin's birth places and their wives. I am starting on
The Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Society. If you want to know more about Lincoln in a fun trivia kind of way, I recommend
Assassination Vacation by Sara Vowel. It was so fun, and so positive, and I felt like I knew the characters well.
