13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like Fine Wine.........., April 11, 2005
How often does one ever reread "popular" fiction? This novel has remained firmly ensconced in my memory, and, consequently, I decided to revisit it some thirty-five years later. Very quickly it became clear why I had never forgotten the book as it contains all the elements that can make "popular" fiction such an enjoyable experience: well written prose, a captivating plot, unexpected twists, and, ahem, scenes of substantial sensuality. I cannot recommend it too highly!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very engrossing and absorbing, August 28, 2004
I find it hard these days to really get into a book, so I put down about 10 in the past year. But this one is VERY ABSORBING, you keep wondering what the characters are going to do next. It is interesting (I'm writing in August 2004) about the hobbies/words used/way they think in the years beginning in 1940 and ending 1968. For those of us born after those years, we tend to think of those years in black and white and that THEY were VERY OLD FASHIONED, however, they're the same as us, just in a different time in the world.
This is pretty light reading, some parts contrived - a little Danielle Steel'ish (which I hate), but I'm saying some parts are a little too...well...perfect. Not real life. Very long book too. But you will stay absorbed till the end - kind of a surprise ending too.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A page-turner, hard to put down, December 14, 2009
This review is from: Rich Man, Poor Man (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel's plot takes the reader through the highs and lows of the Jordache family, from 1945 to 1968, through the lives of its cleverly drawn and vigorous characters.
Most of the plot is propelled by Rudy Jordache's rise from a slummy district of a small upstate New York town to wealth and the beginnings of a political career, but for me the most sympathetic character is Tom Jordache. Tom, after a life of being knocked around and ending up in trouble, finally wins out over his unloved beginning; wins out over his "whole rotten life" (as he calls it, in a conversation with his uncle), and finds a measure of peace. Gretchen and Rudy, his sister and brother, are less admirable, but somehow the reader doesn't despise these characters; all the siblings are ably and realistically drawn, and their stories are consistently interesting.
I don't look for deeply profound 'meanings' and revelations in bestselling books like Rich Man, Poor Man; just a good story well told. It's a big, robust, multi-generational family saga, and Irwin Shaw tells it excellently.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No