Kane and Abel
by Jeffrey Archer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeffrey ArcherEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-13
ISBN: 0312995059
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Kane and Abel
Book Review: One of the best books I have ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
In my review of Archer's book "As the Crow Flies" I mentioned that I had avoided this author for years because some snobbish critic had written off Archer as "kitsch for the masses." In hindsight, this critic is probably the type of person who would consider apple pie, sex, and puppies to also be highly over-rated and not for those of refined taste.
My only regret is that I paid any attention to this critic and consequently didn't discover Archer earlier. He is a wonderful storyteller, and Kane & Abel ranks among the very best books I have ever read.
The story is a multi-generational saga of two men, born on exactly the same day, in entirely different circumstances. One, a priviledged Bostonian whose future as a banking magnate has already been charted for him. The other, a Polish orphan who is literally left to die in the woods when his mother dies in childbirth.
The saga traces the circumstances of Kane (the Bostonian) and Abel (the Pole) as their vastly differing lives progress from boyhood, to young adult, and eventually intersect when Abel approaches Kane for a desparately needed loan to save a floundering hotel chain. So begins a rivalry that will last the rest of their lives. Threaded amidst the story are also numerous smaller dramas, such as between Kane and his step-father, Abel's harrowing childhood and escape from a Siberian concentration camp, and both men's estrangement from their children.
Archer tells the story brilliantly, and manages to conceal a surprising detail central to the conflict between the two main characters until the very end of the story, causing us to see the story in an entirely different light and reflect over the character's lives with a poignancy that I have rarely encountered in fiction. In typical Archer fashion, the characters are developed quite fully and he rarely glosses over years or decades in their lives, instead walking alongside each character's ups and downs without ever letting the story bog down. By the end, we feel like life-long companions of the two men.
Abel, in particular, was a beautifully crafted and developed character - though somewhat unscrupulous - and as a result of this book, it sparked a renewed interest in learning more about my own immigrant grandfather who arrived, like Abel, at Ellis Island in the early part of the 1900s. I have oftened imagined what the immigrant experience must have been like, and this book heightened my imagination. I am quite certain there are more than a few "Abels" out there who came to this country with nothing more than the clothes on their back and through hard work and almost unbelievable tenacity, achieved the American dream. My grandfather was one of them, although on a much smaller scale than the fictional though believable account of Abel.
The book spawned two sequels (The Prodigal Daughter and Shall We Tell the President) that follow the life of Abel's daughter, Florentina. I read them, but did not find them to be as enjoyable as this book. The book was also made into a 3-part mini-series back in the 1980s with Sam Niell as Kane and Peter Strauss as Abel. I had moderate difficulty finding the DVD set of this mini-series, eventually locating some on eBay. I ordered it and enjoyed it, but it simply could not compare to the book. I also read somewhere that the book was so popular in Europe that it was made into a weekly TV series on BBC for awhile.
In short, all of the popular acclaim for this book is well-founded. It is an outstanding story told by an outstanding storyteller. Don't let the 1979 publication date dissuade you either. The book is quite timeless, as with any good story. I highly recommend it. If you only read a single book by Jeffrey Archer, this is the one.
Summary of Kane and Abel
William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless polish immigrant-born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world-are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Two men - ambitious, powerful, ruthless - are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fueled by their all-consuming hatred. Over sixty years and three generations, through war, marriage, fortune, and disaster, Kane and Abel battle for the success and triumph that only one man can have...
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