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soft_rains's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
anaariel24's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book years ago and forgot about it until I read Snow in August and realized I'd never listed this book.
The story starts in Ireland across the ocean. The character follows his father's killer across the ocean. He is granted eternal life in New York, but there is a catch. He MUST stay in New York, until he meets a certain woman. The novel takes us through the major eras of New York City and it's development. (If anyone watched the few episodes of New Amsterdam on Fox, it was a total take off of this book). The book is well written, descriptive, and the characters are amazing. The book starts when New York is still New Amsterdam and ends with 9/11.
The story starts in Ireland across the ocean. The character follows his father's killer across the ocean. He is granted eternal life in New York, but there is a catch. He MUST stay in New York, until he meets a certain woman. The novel takes us through the major eras of New York City and it's development. (If anyone watched the few episodes of New Amsterdam on Fox, it was a total take off of this book). The book is well written, descriptive, and the characters are amazing. The book starts when New York is still New Amsterdam and ends with 9/11.
pianorunner421's review against another edition
4.0
I tried to read this last summer and could not get into it. It was recommended by someone I really respect do I tried again. I am so glad I did! This book took me on an amazing journey combining folk lore with history. 606 pages of time well spent.
laurendahl's review against another edition
4.0
Actually 3.5 stars. The writing was well done and most of the time the main character was a compelling protagonist. My disappointment lies in the fact that there is very little of New York City's history in this book. It goes over a few major points and references people that were major players in one or two different eras, but I had hoped to walk away with a deeper knowledge of NYC's past. What you get is an interesting take on religion, revenge, and mortality.
naomilemoyne's review against another edition
3.0
Many the words I want to use to describe this book include -udge: Trudge. Drudgery. Sludge. The book started out fascinating, if overly dramatic, but getting through the last half of the novel was a long and mildly painful experience for me. The scope of this novel is admirable, but results in a slog through NYC's history that devolves, toward the end, into a long blur of nostalgia and summary. If Hamill were to have paused Cormac's story in the 1840s, left out the section describing the 1890s, skipped straight to the 200os, and cut 75% of Cormac's summaries of the past, I don't think the novel would have suffered significantly.
Cormac as a character felt more like a symbolic blank slate onto which the city's history is transcribed than a person with actual character traits--he never became a familiar presence to me as a reader. By the end, he was unrecognizable from the young boy at the beginning of the story, which I suppose was partially the point, but I would have liked for our narrator to become a recognizable presence instead of, essentially, a shape-shifter.
Hamill does, however, give a thoroughly researched and fascinating account of New York's growth as a city, especially in its earlier years, and I think this made the novel worthwhile reading for me. I liked his depiction of New York as a melting pot, with people from every different background ending up there, although Cormac's eventual union with Delfina ends up being some really heavy-handed symbolism for the confluence of cultures/people. While getting through this novel was exasperating, it was also an intriguing read.
Cormac as a character felt more like a symbolic blank slate onto which the city's history is transcribed than a person with actual character traits--he never became a familiar presence to me as a reader. By the end, he was unrecognizable from the young boy at the beginning of the story, which I suppose was partially the point, but I would have liked for our narrator to become a recognizable presence instead of, essentially, a shape-shifter.
Hamill does, however, give a thoroughly researched and fascinating account of New York's growth as a city, especially in its earlier years, and I think this made the novel worthwhile reading for me. I liked his depiction of New York as a melting pot, with people from every different background ending up there, although Cormac's eventual union with Delfina ends up being some really heavy-handed symbolism for the confluence of cultures/people. While getting through this novel was exasperating, it was also an intriguing read.
andreayoung's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.5
jilliancurran28's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75