Date Finished: Unrecorded
My Rating: 2/5
DISCLAIMER: I think Jeffrey Archer is a knob.
Right then, with that disclaimer out of the way, I can safely say that I wasn't particularly looking forward to reading this book.
However, it was an easy read for a lengthy book. I read the 30th anniversary edition, which I realised afterwards isn't exactly the same as the original, but I assume it's similar enough. I ain't reading it again! I didn't like the main characters particularly, although the story of Abel would have made for an interesting book in itself. This is the story of two people from very different starts in life, who were born on the same day; one into privilege and the other into poverty. Anyways, as luck should have it, their paths cross and the story becomes one of misunderstandings and revenge and all sorts of exciting things like that. I found it quite predictable, and it relies heavily on coincidence, but at the end of the day I read it quickly so couldn't have hated it. Archer is clever enough to make neither character worse nor better than the other. For very different reasons they were both ambitious to the point of ruthlessness, and I think Archer was probably aiming for empathy with both characters, but actually I didn't really care about either of them.
So, who should read this book? This would probably make quite a good holiday novel if you see it at an airport, but generally I'd say those who are impressed by people with power and money. Or bankers.
Next book: Katherine, Anya Seton
No comments:
Post a Comment