Thursday, October 05, 2006

KANE & ABEL by Jeffrey Archer

Kane & Abel is a remarkable tale of two extraordinary men,one born as an orphan struggling to take his first breath on the unfriendly soil of a forest while the other brought into world safely in hands of a highly ambitious father to inherit his millions and..his sharp business acumen.

Born on the same day but in different parts of the world,leading lives so completely disparate that only fate could bring them both together or..Jeffrey Archer's typewriter(or maybe MS word :) )

While one conformed effortlessly into his father's shoes to extend the legacy he was left with delivering every bit of what was expected of him while the other was gathering pieces of his shattered dreams,bearing the loss of everyone he loved & bending the leering jaws of death to build his grand empire..

Their lives intertwined by destiny(& Mr. Archer's genius) to save,to hate & finally,to destroy each other in the backdrop of an all consuming World War II & Great Depression of America,giving us a story that'll be remembered for years to come..

Very well written & engaging,the best thing about the book is undoubtedly its story & then its language.The language isn't very articulate but nevertheless exudes intelligence.Unlike John Grisham,Archer doesn't engage you with unnecessary & tedious(read useless) details,often leaving things for the readers to comprehend making it even more interesting!

Here's one excerpt:

"He turned to go home & saw an old man standing a few yards away in a black coat,with a hat pulled way down on his head,& a scarf around his neck.Not a night for old men,thought William,as he walked towards him.And then he saw the silver band on his wrist,just below his sleeve.In a flash,it all came back to him,fitting into place for the 1st time.First the Plaza,then Boston,then Germany & now fifth Avenue.The man turned & started to walk towards him.He must have been standing there for a long time because his face was red from the wind.He stared at William out of those unmistakable blue eyes.They were now only a few yards apart.As they passed,William raised his hat to the old man.He returned the compliment,and they continued on their separate ways without a word."

One thing I didn't like about the book is Archer has been very partial to the character of Abel :/& kane's end wasn't justified at all! :(
I wonder if it's sequel 'The prodigal Daughter' too will concentrate more on Abel's daughter,sidelining Kane's son. :/

Someone once told me he had read all of Archer's by the time he was 20.Well..this might be my first but I'll surely read them all,while I'm 20.. ;)

1 comment:

DreAmgiRL said...

hey, i read this book some time back and liked it a lot... i guess u must read the prodigal daughter and shall we tell the prez as soon as u cud find time..

btw, i too am 20 :)