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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Most boring book ever! Where is the conflict? Where are there hard to achieve goals? Where are the memorable characters?
I truly enjoyed how several families were kept in mind over the centuries and how we followed those descendents. However, there should have been more focus on a diverse group of individuals to follow. The majority of the book focused on the Master family, while interesting, they were also extremely wealthy, whereas the majority of the population of New York do not consist of "old money" or the upper class in general.
Though I enjoyed learning about the history of New York, none of the characters were particularly memorable. With such a huge cast, that's important. Pages 500-750 were quite good, but the other 600 didn't do that much for me.
A very long book but I loved being so engrossed in this families lives. I am a tad bit obsessed with all things NY (even though I have never been) and I loved being involved in the events that took place. This author is so descriptive that you really feel like you are there. Even though the families were made up the events were actual events and I really enjoyed the history lesson!
DNF. It's not that I didn't enjoy this book, and I might give it another go at some point in the future, but I don't have the time or the energy to invest in this right now. The author has set up a heck of a Chekov's gun, and two chapters later it still hasn't gone off. (Doesn't seem like much, but this book is a freaking brick, the chapters are so long.) That's a lot of tension, more then I can bear when I have at least a dozen other books waiting for me.
Not as good as Rutherford's Paris but a good read.
Este libro me pareció genial! Me tomó bastante tiempo leerlo porque es extenso y toca todos los períodos de la historia de Nueva York, desde la llegada de los Europeos y su relación con los pobladores originarios, hasta el atentado a las Torres Gemelas. Así y todo, si hubiera tenido mil páginas más, también las hubiera leído con gusto.
Me atrapó la forma en la que está contado, a través de distintas generaciones de una familia, y distintos personajes secundarios, cuyas vidas siguen estando conectadas aun con el paso de los años. En muchos capítulos se puede ver como la personalidad y la forma de relacionarse de la gente, está fuertemente influida por el contexto que se vivía.
Desde hace mucho tiempo me interesa la historia Norteamericana, y este libro es justo lo que buscaba, ya que va marcando los hechos claves y los personajes históricos reales que fueron parte de esos hitos. En ocasiones me quedé asombrada de la cantidad de cosas que cambiaron en 100 años, me hizo preguntarme qué será de nuestro mundo en 100 años más? Todo puede cambiar!! Seguramente en algún tiempo pareció inimaginable que se aboliera la esclavitud, o en otro grado de importancia,que los viajes a Europa duraran solo horas. Y sin embargo, tarde o temprano los cambios llegan.
En resumen, gran libro, la dosis justa de historia y ficción, y el puntapié para seguir buscando fuera de este libro más datos sobre algún momento puntual de la historia de New York que nos interese.
Me atrapó la forma en la que está contado, a través de distintas generaciones de una familia, y distintos personajes secundarios, cuyas vidas siguen estando conectadas aun con el paso de los años. En muchos capítulos se puede ver como la personalidad y la forma de relacionarse de la gente, está fuertemente influida por el contexto que se vivía.
Desde hace mucho tiempo me interesa la historia Norteamericana, y este libro es justo lo que buscaba, ya que va marcando los hechos claves y los personajes históricos reales que fueron parte de esos hitos. En ocasiones me quedé asombrada de la cantidad de cosas que cambiaron en 100 años, me hizo preguntarme qué será de nuestro mundo en 100 años más? Todo puede cambiar!! Seguramente en algún tiempo pareció inimaginable que se aboliera la esclavitud, o en otro grado de importancia,que los viajes a Europa duraran solo horas. Y sin embargo, tarde o temprano los cambios llegan.
En resumen, gran libro, la dosis justa de historia y ficción, y el puntapié para seguir buscando fuera de este libro más datos sobre algún momento puntual de la historia de New York que nos interese.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a solid 3, soft 4.
The writing itself was not very compelling. The first few sets of characters were fantastic but they soon become very predictable and two-dimensional. The book focuses strictly on the upper elites, and even when poorer people are introduced, they somehow always come into money. The book also fell into some heavy lags at points in which it was hard to get through even 3 or 4 pages. The ending was especially rushed, and it felt like the author did his own gerrymandering to fit in 9/11 to the detriment of the overall story.
What saved this book overall was the setting. Mighty New York. Witnessing the Big Apple transform over time was fantastic! The level of research that must have gone into this can only be described as astounding. I even found myself looking events up that I didn't really know about. It is because of this that I will read the other books by this author -- to see the shapes of cities change as the story is told. In that aspect, the book is a strong 5.
The writing itself was not very compelling. The first few sets of characters were fantastic but they soon become very predictable and two-dimensional. The book focuses strictly on the upper elites, and even when poorer people are introduced, they somehow always come into money. The book also fell into some heavy lags at points in which it was hard to get through even 3 or 4 pages. The ending was especially rushed, and it felt like the author did his own gerrymandering to fit in 9/11 to the detriment of the overall story.
What saved this book overall was the setting. Mighty New York. Witnessing the Big Apple transform over time was fantastic! The level of research that must have gone into this can only be described as astounding. I even found myself looking events up that I didn't really know about. It is because of this that I will read the other books by this author -- to see the shapes of cities change as the story is told. In that aspect, the book is a strong 5.