Customer Reviews

Rich Man, Poor Man (Guided Reader)

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I first read a Chinese translation of "Rich man, poor man" in China. After I went to New York City, I immediately found a copy of the book. The book is the story of a poor family in up state New York, from the depression years to the fifties. The father was a German immigrant and the mother was raised by an orphanage. The family operated a bakery shop. One of the 3 children, Rudolph Jordache was raised with a lot of love and was the hope of his parents. The other two children didn't get much love from their parents who fought with each other constantly. All of the children had to depend on their own to find a way to live in this world, since their parents could not give much guidance and could not support them for going to colleges. Rudolph was handsome, hard-working, and very disciplined. He later became a self-made millionare and a politician. His sister Gretchen Jordache became a columnist and later worked in the movie industry in Hollywood. The youngest child Tom was not as lucky as his brother and had frequent troubles with the law. I read the book at least 3 times. Initially, every page was exciting, dramatic, and funny. After 2 rounds, I started to notice that the author added quite a bit of soap opera type of ingredients to his book, which are not necessarily bad. The novel has a great story that everybody can relate to. Many of the characters and events are depicted very very vividly, and very dramatic. It was adapted to a TV mini-series in 1967. The mini-series was a sensational hit and did very well in the Emmy's. I wish the mini-series could be available in video format. Nick Nolte played Tom Jordache, Jean Simmons played Gretchen in that mini-series, according to the records. The author Irwin Shaw wrote a sequel named "Begger, Thief". It was more sacastic and more profane than the original. The power of the realism shown in "Rich man, poor man" was lost to some degree. The always motivated and hard-working character Rudolph Jordache in "Rich man, poor man" became a millionare whose only job seemed to be saving his various relatives from trouble. Still, "Begger, Thief" is distinctively a Shaw novel. Good story that are exciting and fun to read.

This is a wonderful book, spanning the lives of a dysfunctional family - their loves, their lives, their triumphs, their failures. The characters are fantastically developed. I left this book craving more. Fortunately, Beggarman, Thief is available for those like me that didn't feel like RM/PM should have been over. I fell in love with the characters and just didn't want to leave their lives! I truly enjoy books that delve into the lives of its characters over many years. This one succeeded beautifully in keeping my interest over decades of story - it didn't try to "cram" too much in, while at the same time providing enough information to hold the interest, I believe, of even the casual reader. Worth every minute and highly recommended!

A superb story that spans two generations of an immigrant family that settles down in america to pursue their dreams.

I first read a Chinese translation of this book in China. After I came to New York, I immediately found an English version. The book is about the story of an immigrant family from New York up state from the depression years to the fifties. The family operated a bakery shop. The 3 children didn't get much love from their parents who fought with each other constantly, and had to struggle to make ends meet. All of the children had to depend on their own to find a way to live in the world, since their parents could not give them support, and not much guidance either. I read the book at least 3 times. Initially, every page was exciting, dramatic, and funny. After 2 rounds, I started to notice that the author added quite a bit of soap opera type of ingredients to his book, which are not necessarily bad. However, it is still a great novel. A great story that everybody can relate to. Many of the characters and events are depicted very very vividly, and very dramatic. It was adapted to a TV mini-series in 1967 and it was a sensation. I wish the mini-series could be available in video format. Nick Nolte played Tom Jordache, Jean Simmons played Gretchen Jordache in that mini-series, according to records.

Author Irwin Shaw had a sequel named "Begger, Thief". It is more sacastic, more profane. A lot of the powers of the realism shown in "Rich man, poor man" was lost. The interesting, up-lifting character Rudolph Jordache in "Rich man, poor man" became a millionare whose only job was to save his various family members from trouble. Still, "Begger, Thief" is distinctively a Shaw novel. Good story that are exciting and fun to read.

the fiction is was written iwrn shaw it was the population in the us. in `70