1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tale Told in a Rush, October 17, 2001
"On again, and the track flies beneath the swift hooves of the horses." The only reason to read this is if you love Cendrars poetry and just can't get enough of it. This book has great moments especially in the early going icluding that first glimpse of our hero in small Swiss village, as well as Sutters arrival in New York and his various careers in various kinds of swindling. Cendrars paints an interesting portrait of a man who learns all he needs to know about America from conversations had in bars. His listening gains him crucial bits of information that will shape his destiny. The journey west is great Cendrars writing full of gusto and energy but the accelerated pace of the telling only remains exciting while Sutter is in motion. After he settles down the hectic style doesn't carry the story or tell it nearly as well as it should be told. Gold is an unfinished work, an attractive but only partially completed manuscript. Interesting attempt to tell a story applying Cendrars poetic breakthroughs to novel writing though only partially successful. For Cendrars completists only. Moravagine is a much more satisfying novel by this wild Swiss traveler-poet.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Wonderful, August 10, 2011
This review is from: Gold: Being the Marvellous History of General John Augustus Sutter (Paperback)
I believe the other two reviewers miss the mark in that it is not where Cendrars takes us as much as how he gets us there. Crisp, adventurous prose that puts you squarely on top of a train rushing down its tracks. The style fits the man it is written of and along the way we get a beautiful and accurate portrait of the disconnects between our ideals about man, society, and justice and the way things actually occur. This is truly a marvellous alternate history. This is a minor masterpiece.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
riches and ruin, July 22, 2001
This review is from: Gold: Being the Marvellous History of General John Augustus Sutter (Paperback)
This one is a real curiosity and you may have trouble finding an English-language version of it in print. Cendrars was a poet and leader of the avant-garde in Paris in the teens and twenties. Though born in Switzerland, he traveled widely, almost restlessly, and his poetry is distinguished by its focus on action. Gold, also known as Sutter's Gold, which is perhaps his most famous prose work, seems at least partly autobiographical, as the story of John Augustus Sutter so closely resembles the basic pattern of the author's own life. Sutter too was Swiss, but he abandoned his family and emigrated to America, pulled ever westward, he eventually became extremely wealthy and one of the founders of modern California. But then gold was discovered at the site of his famous mill, and his land was overrun by hordes of 49ers. He spent the rest of his life trying to recoup his losses, through lawsuits and pleadings to the U. S. Congress, but died without ever receiving a penny.
Cendrars relates this tale in a brisk and lively manner, taking us through Sutter's life at breakneck speed. The style is almost telegraphic as he dices 121 pages of story into 16 chapters of 74 sections. That doesn't leave him much time to develop any grand themes; the most I came away with was the rather silly notion that, though eager Europeans fled to America seeking opportunity and wealth, even if they struck it rich they were ultimately ruined. France may only have been his adopted country, but this attitude reflects the bitter, envious soul of a native.
GRADE : C+
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
