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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
‘’Big river, calling him to thenorth.Big sky, calling him to the west. Land of many rivers, land of many mountains, land of many forests. How far did it continue? Nobody knew. Not for certain. High above the eagles, only the sun on its huge journey westward could ever see the whole of it.’’
Edward Rutherfurd is a master of Historical Fiction. He is a writer who communicates the time and place to perfection, an artist who communicates the feelings of his vast cast of characters to such an extent that you are able not only to recall their names with ease but their personality, their ideals and course in life as if they were people you have met in daily life, relatives, friends, family. I have yet to read another writer’s books whose 1500+pages go by like a breeze in the course of four days. And when it comes to Historical Fiction, I am an expert in the genre, thank you very much.
‘’When there is a little breeze, listen to the voice of the wind sighing in the pine trees. Then you will hear me.’’
A wampum belt becomes the beacon in the epic story of the true capital of the USA, New York. The Metropolis, the Modern Goddess, the Land of Dreams and Hopes and Chances and Sorrows. Paying the utmost respect to the history of the city, her people, their religions (and Rutherfurd has always been a writer who treats Christianity with absolute respect unlike other writers…), we are gifted a monumentary journey within the heart of the modern world. Divided into five chapters, dedicated to a specific era, guided by British, Dutch, Italian, Jewish, Puerto Rican families, the entire history of New York passes before our eyes.
‘’’[...] that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’’
Abraham Lincoln
Along the families that are the heart of the novel, meet Henry Hudson, Captain Kidd, Andrew Hamilton, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Enrico Caruso, Rockefeller, and a multitude of characters that shaped the USA and our world as we have come to know it. Visit Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building, the Islands, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Gramercy Park, Central Park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, the Statue of Liberty, the Flatiron Building, the Museum Mile. Marvel at (my favourite) brownstones, feel the buzz, the multiculturalism that defined the city, its almost anarchic personality, the Arts, the Opera, the musicals, the literary scene and the hypocrisy of the old money families. Divided and united in its differences, New York is the result of God’s absolute inspiration.
‘’When the invitation to the Seder was recited, not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, it stuck him with great force that, of course, these were exactly the proceedings that Jesus must have followed at the Last Supper. And as he considered the crisp New England Episcopalians he knew so well, he wondered how many of them truly understood the rich Middle Eastern texture to which their own religion belonged.’’
1664: The British and the Dutch, divided by religion, united by ambition. The birth of Manhattan, the customs of the Native Americans, the slaughter they suffered, the nightmare of slavery.
1735-1790: Glimpses of Boston and Philadelphia through the eyes of spirited young women, the Quakers, the War of Independence (brought to mind the exceptional film The Patriot with the one and only Mel Gibson).
1825-1896: The bond between London and New York, the Civil War, the battle of Gettysburg, and Lincoln’s famous address, the end of slavery, the impact of the Great Famine of Ireland, the immigrants, the Riots of 1863, the rising of Wall Street.
1901-1987: A new century is seen primarily through the eyes of an Italian family. The tragedy of the Triangle factory, the Great War, the Crush of 1929, WWII, the Jewish immigrants facing constant anti-semitism, the Civil Rights marches, the Vietnam War, the drugs, the assassinations, the seismic political changes on both sides of the Atlantic.
2000-2009: The boom of the economy, the threat of the Y2K bug, the unimaginable tragedy of 9/11.The fear and hope of a new world rising…
New York is waiting for you, safe in the hands of an exceptional writer.
P.S. To the ‘lady’ who called the novel ‘trash Historical Fiction’’: Excuse me, (not really…) your favourite writers are Nora Roberts and Kristin Hannah. Are you EVEN SERIOUS? The only thing that is trash is your opinion and your reading taste. Or, rather, your lack of it. So shut up!
‘’Let us have faith that Right is Might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to doo our duty as we understand it.’’
Abraham Lincoln
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/
I have enjoyed many of Rutherfurd's books and this is no exception. I enjoyed the characters but at times I feel he stayed too long with one and then not long enough with another. Overall i really enjoyed this book.
While I enjoyed this book, it struck me as I finished it that just as I was identifying with a given character, the narration switched to twenty or thirty years later. Any one of these sections could have been developed into a full-blown novel, and I would have been fine with it. As it was, portions were quite unsatisfying.
Interesting, but not my fave novel by Edward Rutherford. I would recommend Russka.
I've always enjoyed Edward Rutherford's books. This one is no exception. His combination of historical events with the lives of his own characters brings the evolution of New York alive. Brings you from the edge of Manhattan to post 9/11. Great read.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just didn't like this. The story wasn't engaging, the history was kind of boring, and the tone was very condescending.
I liked this better than Sarum but not as much as London. This was a well written book, but I felt some of the vignettes dragged on a bit. I felt that this book was easier to follow in regards to the families than Sarum AND London. He did hit the major historical turning points. Maybe if I was a New Yorker this book would have really done it for me, but I am biased towards the Second City.
3.8. The author obviously did a lot of research. Characters were interesting to follow.
Another centuries-spanning work of fiction by Edward Rutherfurd, and the first one he's done looking at a U.S. city.
Most Edward Rutherfurd books span at least a millennium, and often have dozens of characters, making up several families, that weave in and out of the story as he jumps from time period to time period. This keeps his books fast-paced and intriguing, despite the number of pages.
New York, however, only spans about 350 years. We jump in after Dutch colonization, and follow it from there. Because of this compressed timeline (strange to call 350 years compressed, but in an ER book, it is) and the fact that the book still has the same amount of pages, we rarely make big leaps of time. He also didn't have enough time to set up several different families to follow generationally. Because of both of these things, the book feels much more like one very long story than his previous works, and basically follows one family, the Masters, with a couple cameos by other families who may not last more than 1 or 2 generations. This means that if there's a certain character you hate, or get sick of, then settle in, cause they're probably sticking around for 200 pages or more. (Rose Master, I'm looking at you!)
I wish that this book had been set up more like his other ones, which are quick and easy reads, despite their page length. However, this book is still a lot of fun, especially if you are already a Rutherfurd fan and like this type of historical fiction. There were times that I got very very into the story, to the point of not wanting to put it down, and times (like the 9/11 storyline) when I got genuinely emotionally involved, and other times when I just thought "Is the revolutionary war EVER going to end??"
3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Most Edward Rutherfurd books span at least a millennium, and often have dozens of characters, making up several families, that weave in and out of the story as he jumps from time period to time period. This keeps his books fast-paced and intriguing, despite the number of pages.
New York, however, only spans about 350 years. We jump in after Dutch colonization, and follow it from there. Because of this compressed timeline (strange to call 350 years compressed, but in an ER book, it is) and the fact that the book still has the same amount of pages, we rarely make big leaps of time. He also didn't have enough time to set up several different families to follow generationally. Because of both of these things, the book feels much more like one very long story than his previous works, and basically follows one family, the Masters, with a couple cameos by other families who may not last more than 1 or 2 generations. This means that if there's a certain character you hate, or get sick of, then settle in, cause they're probably sticking around for 200 pages or more. (Rose Master, I'm looking at you!)
I wish that this book had been set up more like his other ones, which are quick and easy reads, despite their page length. However, this book is still a lot of fun, especially if you are already a Rutherfurd fan and like this type of historical fiction. There were times that I got very very into the story, to the point of not wanting to put it down, and times (like the 9/11 storyline) when I got genuinely emotionally involved, and other times when I just thought "Is the revolutionary war EVER going to end??"
3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4.