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What Members Thought
It's funny, I just looked back at my review for Drop City, and somehow I want to write almost an identical review for this book even though the story is totally different. For me, reading Boyle is really not so much about the quality of the story he tells, but rather the way he tells it like no one else. His prose reminds me of a powerful waterfall . . .it's just water flowing over a cliff right, but somehow it evokes a certain feeling of awe in you when you look at it. Even though water alone o
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Nov 29, 2017
Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ...
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books
This book was exquisite. It had characters I loved because I wanted them to be my friends. It had characters I loved to hate because they were so arrogant and selfish. It had characters who made me think. And the story was full of history that I knew very little about and found myself googling with the hope of learning more. It was thick with symbolism, most of which I recognized but didn't know how to analyze. T. C. Boyle wove together stories that took place over 200 years apart and made it fe
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Wow. That was a whirlwind ride of a book. I really enjoyed the back and forth narration between the past and present. The way that the past manifested itself in the present and vice versa was slightly eerie. The sins of the fathers, as it were. History repeating itself, ad infinitum. This generational tale is still swirling around in my brain. I have not read anything quite like this book.
This novel jumps back ad forth through time from 17th century colonial Dutch/English New York, and then to the same area (and the descendants of the original colonists and natives) in the early 20th century and the mid 20th century.
As might be expected, but largely unknown to the characters, the descendants have personalities/character flaws similar to their ancestors'. The wealthy patroons (and then landlords) stay well off, rude, and rather arrogant. The stubborn (Jeremias and Wouter) produce ...more
As might be expected, but largely unknown to the characters, the descendants have personalities/character flaws similar to their ancestors'. The wealthy patroons (and then landlords) stay well off, rude, and rather arrogant. The stubborn (Jeremias and Wouter) produce ...more
BOTM, Nov 2017. Story of generations of Dutch that settled the New York area. A family saga (two families actually) and it goes back and forth from early settlement (1600s to to the 1960-70s). I really enjoyed learning about the Dutch and the early years of the New York area. I thought the author did a great job of putting the history into his characters. Rating: 4.375.
Another of the 1001 books that I'm glad that I read but not sure that I appreciated as much as I should have. Way too many characters with outlandish names and spread over too many generations for me to keep up with. In spite of that, there were some spots that I really enjoyed reading.
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May 13, 2011
Charisma
marked it as to-read
Nov 23, 2017
Diane
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
20th-century,
1001-done,
1001,
historical-fiction,
pen-faulkner-award,
family-saga,
kindle,
2017-reads
Jan 25, 2016
Kyle Mahoney
marked it as to-read
May 28, 2017
themis
marked it as to-read-before-you-die
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-to-read-before-you-die
Oct 30, 2017
Mindy aka serenity
marked it as to-read
Dec 28, 2017
Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount)
marked it as 1001-tbr
Jun 01, 2019
Yvonne
marked it as to-read
Dec 20, 2019
Sorobai
marked it as to-read
Sep 07, 2014
Kayla Tocco
marked it as to-read
