Read Online Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy by Caroline Kennedy & Michael Beschloss - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Caroline Kennedy & Michael Beschloss
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the"—what is it?
The address to—
"To the People of—"
Bristol. 2
That's it, and well, all things through there, you know, he just—of course, that was a different winter. He'd just have days and days in bed to go through all that.
You gather he'd done this as a child—been a great reader?
Yes, I know he'd read Marlborough 3 when he was about ten or eleven, because in his room at the Cape, which he's had since he was a boy, those books were in a little bookshelf by his bed—all old, sort of mauve backs. And he was always sick and in bed. He had scarlet fever. Then one year, he had some—either asthma or blood trouble—anemia or something, when he went out to Arizona.
That was when he left Princeton. 4
Yeah. Then there was another summer—you know, he'd always been reading—all these things—and he used to give me books when we were going out before we were married. I remember the first one he gave me was Sam Houston by Marquis James— The Raven . Then he'd give me John Buchan— Pilgrim's Way —lots of John Buchan. 5 But he was just always reading, practically while driving a car.
Would he ever read novels besides thrillers?
Listen, the only thrillers he ever read were about three Ian Fleming books. No, I never saw him read a novel.
Did he really like Ian Fleming much, or was that sort of a press—
Oh, well, it was sort of a press thing, because when they asked him his ten favorite books, he sort of made up a list, and he put in one sort of novel. You know, he liked Ian Fleming 6 —I mean, if you were in a plane or you're in a hotel room and there's three books on your bedside table—I mean, he'd sometimes grab something that way. There was one book he gave me to read—something about "time"—it was a novel where someone goes back in the eighteenth century and uncovers a mystery. 7 It was just a paperback book he'd found in some plane or something—the last two books he told me to read this fall—he was reading The Fall of the Dynasties 8 and—
Edmond Taylor.
And Patriotic Gore 9 he kept telling me to read—neither of which I've gotten around to.
Patriotic Gore, particularly, is a marvelous book.
I still haven't read it. But you know, he was reading all that in the White House, and I was growing illiterate there.
It is a matter of constant mystery, because he was surrounded by all these academics who supposedly read books all the time. None of us ever had time to read books, and he would say in a slightly accusatory way—ask us about books that had recently come out that none of us had read.
Every Sunday, he'd rip three pages out of the Times book section, with an "x" around what I was to get. You know, it'd be rather interesting to look over my bills from the Savile Book Shop, because all these things I'd order that Jack would say to get. And you know, on the weekends all the time, he'd be reading—
It would be fascinating. Are the bills somewhere?
I have all the bills. I suppose they're—and Savile Book Shop has a list. What else would he— For instance, at Camp David sometimes, if it was a rainy day or something, he'd stay in bed in the afternoon. Well, he'd go through two books.
He read very fast.
Yeah.
He did at one time take a fast-reading course. Did that make any difference? 10
Well, that was so funny, because it was about like this tape recorder. Bobby came down with—Bobby had been over to Baltimore and gotten all this equipment with a little card you put in and the line runs down it. Well, we did it about once. You know, you're meant to speed up and answer questions about three crows—how many crows in the cabbage patch, or something. I think we did it twice one Christmas vacation in Florida, and then stopped. So he never really did that.
It was mostly history and biography.
Yeah.
Why not novels, do you suppose?
I think he was always looking for
The address to—
"To the People of—"
Bristol. 2
That's it, and well, all things through there, you know, he just—of course, that was a different winter. He'd just have days and days in bed to go through all that.
You gather he'd done this as a child—been a great reader?
Yes, I know he'd read Marlborough 3 when he was about ten or eleven, because in his room at the Cape, which he's had since he was a boy, those books were in a little bookshelf by his bed—all old, sort of mauve backs. And he was always sick and in bed. He had scarlet fever. Then one year, he had some—either asthma or blood trouble—anemia or something, when he went out to Arizona.
That was when he left Princeton. 4
Yeah. Then there was another summer—you know, he'd always been reading—all these things—and he used to give me books when we were going out before we were married. I remember the first one he gave me was Sam Houston by Marquis James— The Raven . Then he'd give me John Buchan— Pilgrim's Way —lots of John Buchan. 5 But he was just always reading, practically while driving a car.
Would he ever read novels besides thrillers?
Listen, the only thrillers he ever read were about three Ian Fleming books. No, I never saw him read a novel.
Did he really like Ian Fleming much, or was that sort of a press—
Oh, well, it was sort of a press thing, because when they asked him his ten favorite books, he sort of made up a list, and he put in one sort of novel. You know, he liked Ian Fleming 6 —I mean, if you were in a plane or you're in a hotel room and there's three books on your bedside table—I mean, he'd sometimes grab something that way. There was one book he gave me to read—something about "time"—it was a novel where someone goes back in the eighteenth century and uncovers a mystery. 7 It was just a paperback book he'd found in some plane or something—the last two books he told me to read this fall—he was reading The Fall of the Dynasties 8 and—
Edmond Taylor.
And Patriotic Gore 9 he kept telling me to read—neither of which I've gotten around to.
Patriotic Gore, particularly, is a marvelous book.
I still haven't read it. But you know, he was reading all that in the White House, and I was growing illiterate there.
It is a matter of constant mystery, because he was surrounded by all these academics who supposedly read books all the time. None of us ever had time to read books, and he would say in a slightly accusatory way—ask us about books that had recently come out that none of us had read.
Every Sunday, he'd rip three pages out of the Times book section, with an "x" around what I was to get. You know, it'd be rather interesting to look over my bills from the Savile Book Shop, because all these things I'd order that Jack would say to get. And you know, on the weekends all the time, he'd be reading—
It would be fascinating. Are the bills somewhere?
I have all the bills. I suppose they're—and Savile Book Shop has a list. What else would he— For instance, at Camp David sometimes, if it was a rainy day or something, he'd stay in bed in the afternoon. Well, he'd go through two books.
He read very fast.
Yeah.
He did at one time take a fast-reading course. Did that make any difference? 10
Well, that was so funny, because it was about like this tape recorder. Bobby came down with—Bobby had been over to Baltimore and gotten all this equipment with a little card you put in and the line runs down it. Well, we did it about once. You know, you're meant to speed up and answer questions about three crows—how many crows in the cabbage patch, or something. I think we did it twice one Christmas vacation in Florida, and then stopped. So he never really did that.
It was mostly history and biography.
Yeah.
Why not novels, do you suppose?
I think he was always looking for
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