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107th out of 535 books
—
557 voters
North River
by
Pete Hamill
It is 1934, and New York City is in the icy grip of the Great Depression. With enormous compassion, Dr. James Delaney tends to his hurt, sick, and poor neighbors, who include gangsters, day laborers, prostitutes, and housewives. If they can't pay, he treats them anyway.
But in his own life, Delaney is emotionally numb, haunted by the slaughters of the Great War. His only d...more
But in his own life, Delaney is emotionally numb, haunted by the slaughters of the Great War. His only d...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
June 11th 2007
by Little, Brown and Company
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Jun 20, 2009
Elizabeth (Alaska)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
5-star-reads
I knew before I finished that I would score this one 5 stars. It's a love story, but so much more than a love story. Dr. Jim Delaney and Ruth Verga are people you would be proud to know. Not because they are such perfect people (they're not) but because deep down they are good, honest, and courageous people. There is a short interview with the author in the edition I read, and he says he made the Greenwich Village neighborhood one of the characters of the story. Aha, I thought, that's at least p...more
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This book is a must read for any one who lived and loved in Brooklyn after the war.
Pete Hamill has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you are a part of the story.
Fantastic read.
Pete Hamill has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you are a part of the story.
Fantastic read.
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New York City of the mid-1930s is in the grips of the Great Depression and Dr. James Delaney is alone with his work. While he tends to the sick and injured all around his neighborhood, his daughter has left for Mexico and his unforgiving wife has vanished. But when Delaney returns home one snowy night, he finds his three-year-old grandson in front of his house with a note from his daughter. Overwhelmed, Delaney hires a tough Sicilian woman named Rose to take care of the boy. Can he make things w...more
Overall this was a good read with some minor annoyances.
A 40ish Irish doctor in the West Village in the Great Depression. His wife has gone missing for a year, their marriage was not blissful since WWI (some 18 years before), his daughter is flighty married to a Mexican revolutionary. The daughter dumps off her 3 year old son and journeys to Spain in search of her husband. The lonely doctor takes in the boy and hires a 30ish Italian woman to care for him. Of course they all bond and he comes to...more
A 40ish Irish doctor in the West Village in the Great Depression. His wife has gone missing for a year, their marriage was not blissful since WWI (some 18 years before), his daughter is flighty married to a Mexican revolutionary. The daughter dumps off her 3 year old son and journeys to Spain in search of her husband. The lonely doctor takes in the boy and hires a 30ish Italian woman to care for him. Of course they all bond and he comes to...more
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I enjoyed this book. It's not as good as "Forever", another of Hammill's books, but it is written in a similar style and does well at making the reader feel as if they are in New York in the 30s. The characters are rich and Hammill does a good job at moving the plot along at a quick pace. I lost track of the time in the book periodically and had trouble really understanding why Delaney was in this predicament. The true richness of this book, however, are the characters themselves. Hammill is won...more
Life is layered. Humans seamlessly move hour by hour through family life, commuter life, work life, social life, whatever else life, and then go home again for family life. Our minds flit from one subject to another without anyone around us realizing we are thinking about pain, wondering about life, experiencing beauty, seeking love. We’re seldom noticed and never congratulated for retaining sanity as long as we remain reliable.
Through Hamill’s writing I sat on the reliable shoulders of Dr. Jam...more
Through Hamill’s writing I sat on the reliable shoulders of Dr. Jam...more
Read my full review at .
Dr. James Delaney is our compassionate and kindly and downright likeable protagonist, spending his days caring for the sick of Manhattan's West Village--regardless of their ability to pay him for his services. At home, however, he is both lonely and alone, left by both his wife, who disappeared over two years earlier, and his daughter, who ran off to Mexico with her exotic husband and infant son. When that grandson, now three years old, shows up on his doorstep one snowy...more
Dr. James Delaney is our compassionate and kindly and downright likeable protagonist, spending his days caring for the sick of Manhattan's West Village--regardless of their ability to pay him for his services. At home, however, he is both lonely and alone, left by both his wife, who disappeared over two years earlier, and his daughter, who ran off to Mexico with her exotic husband and infant son. When that grandson, now three years old, shows up on his doorstep one snowy...more
Let's see. How much misery can pile up in the Irish immigrant world of 1930's New York City? Let's look at Dr. James Delaney. Wounds in WWI scotched his career as a surgeon, his wife walked into the North River (lower Hudson) and disappeared, his patients hate their lives and ignore his advice,a gangster patient is mad at him for treating competitor, and his daughter has just dumped his grandson Carlito on him while she goes off to Spain.
Oops, strike the last. Carlito's arrival is his redemptio...more
Oops, strike the last. Carlito's arrival is his redemptio...more
James Delaney is a struggling physician , practicing on Manhattan's Westside, in the middle of America's worst depression.He is a veteran of WWI and has the scars to prove it. He lives in the ethnic boiling pot that made the West Side of Manhattan famous. He is a doctor to all who seek his help, whether they can afford to pay or not. However , he was apparently no help to his wife, Molly or his daughter, Grace.
They have both left him. Molly, because she was angry with his going off to war and...more
They have both left him. Molly, because she was angry with his going off to war and...more
Doctor Delaney returns home one snowy day to find his 3 year old grandson inside the front door of his house. His daughter, Grace has left a message, she has gone off to Europe to try to find her Mexican husband. Jim Delaney is angry she has left with no prior warning. A friend finds a woman, Rose to help him look after Carlito. Jim's wife, Molly left without a word several years prior, she was last seen walking down a pier and it is suspected she committed suicide. Jim had enlisted in WW1 even...more
Wonderful, lovely, atmospheric story! This book has hung around my head even though I finished it over a week ago. I bought it on a whim (judging the cover, I guess) a few years ago, but never got around to reading it. It's about a neighborhood doctor from the West Village in New York City. He's haunted by his choice to enlist in the First World War and the repercussions of that choice. As the book opens in Depression-weary 1934, his wife is missing and his only child has married and left the co...more
I read Pete Hamill books for many reasons, but one is because I love to see how he plays out his adoration for New York City. The city is more than a location for Hamill, it is a character in his writings. The man is in love with the place, its setting, history, people, quirks and sites. Through him, I get glimpses into the New York of the past, in the days before chain stores and globalization. It's one of the main things that keeps me reading Hamill -- he keeps declaring his love, and I keep e...more
I can’t understand why no one has yet made this novel into a film. Though I checked, I can’t even find any information about the novel being optioned for a film. That’s a shame.
Set in New York City in the 1930s, "North River" tells the story of Dr. Delaney and his practice in the “old neighborhood,” including patients with mob connections. His demons include his voluntary service in World War I and the disappearance of his wife, the love of his life, and his daughter, who mysteriously leaves her...more
Set in New York City in the 1930s, "North River" tells the story of Dr. Delaney and his practice in the “old neighborhood,” including patients with mob connections. His demons include his voluntary service in World War I and the disappearance of his wife, the love of his life, and his daughter, who mysteriously leaves her...more
I really enjoyed "Snow in August" which I read many years ago. I think Pete Hamill is a wonderful writer. This book gives a real sense of the sights, smells and atmosphere of NY in the 1930s New York, as well as the interrelationships of the Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants.
The plot was not as gripping as I would have liked. A middle-aged doctor, whose wife disappeared, is left with his 3 year old grandson, (temporarily abandoned by his 20 year old daughter who went to Europe in search of h...more
The plot was not as gripping as I would have liked. A middle-aged doctor, whose wife disappeared, is left with his 3 year old grandson, (temporarily abandoned by his 20 year old daughter who went to Europe in search of h...more
This is the first time I read some of the other reviews before adding my own. Despite the influence, I still find it to be a three star book. In my first Hamill novel, I found that his delivery for the characters was very straightforward. They held a superficial depth (oxymoron?) for the most part, never quite getting to a point where the reader could condemn or sympathize. As I read, I found myself wanting to feel sorry for Dr. Delaney, and wanting to think of Grace as a horribly irresponsible...more
This book was strange for me. It was interesting enough that I wanted to keep reading it, but when I finished I realized it wasn't really that good. I think the problem for me was that the book seemed like it was leading up to something really big. I kept waiting and waiting for it, but it turned out to be extremely anti-climatic.
Storytelling is an art and Pete Hamill is an Old Master. This book doesn't rush toward some grand conclusion or have a plot twist 3/4 the way in. It just tells the story of a broken man put together again by a small boy and an immigrant Italian woman.
The 'Dottore' find his grandson on his step with barely a word from the boys mother except to watch over him while she looks for her husband. The doctor has no idea what to do with the boy as his days are filled with patients, housecalls and memori...more
The 'Dottore' find his grandson on his step with barely a word from the boys mother except to watch over him while she looks for her husband. The doctor has no idea what to do with the boy as his days are filled with patients, housecalls and memori...more
This is a story about a doctor during the Depression who helps everyone, regardless if they can pay him or not. He's a good guy who's wife disappeared, and his daughter dumps off his grandchild while she searches for the father. Since he can't take care of the child on his own, he hires a nanny-type person, only to find love again. It's a good story, I was very into it until about half way when I just wanted it to end because I couldn't really figure out the direction the writer was going in. I'...more
I read Forever by Hamill and felt like it took forever to read it. But I decided to give Hamill another try. This book was fantastic! The whole thing was so moving. A man loses a wife (she disappears) and a daughter (she moves from NYC to Mexico) and he spends his days as a doctor helping others. One day he finds a child, his grandson, with a note that his daughter, the childs mother, is leaving the child while she tries to find her husband. The man is unable to take care of the child so he hire...more
I was looking for was typical Hamill: gritty and sharp.
And the first couple of chapters led me to believe I was going to get just that. But then the story devolved... almost to the point of being a Chick Book with nice, safe, predictable characters with an ending to match.
One thing even more off putting than the story's predictability was Hamill's obvious respect for the Tammany Hall machine that still had power in the early '30s. I don't think I've ever heard Tammany Hall referred to without...more
And the first couple of chapters led me to believe I was going to get just that. But then the story devolved... almost to the point of being a Chick Book with nice, safe, predictable characters with an ending to match.
One thing even more off putting than the story's predictability was Hamill's obvious respect for the Tammany Hall machine that still had power in the early '30s. I don't think I've ever heard Tammany Hall referred to without...more
Pete Hamill's book, 'North River' is peopled by a cast of Runyonesque-type characters who should be both colorful and interesting, but, somehow, come across in this story a little flat. Perhaps that was a reflection of the times: the 1930's, at the height of the Depression.
I love New York City, and reading about its history. The only thing I seemed to learn about New York from this novel, however, is that Washington Square was once a potter's field. I didn't know that.
I seem to remember enjoying...more
I love New York City, and reading about its history. The only thing I seemed to learn about New York from this novel, however, is that Washington Square was once a potter's field. I didn't know that.
I seem to remember enjoying...more
I really loved this book. One of the best I've read in a long time. I totally enjoyed the author's detail to the NYC neighborhoods. Manhattan seemed like it was another character in this beautiful WWII historical fiction novel. I was fascinated by the life of this doctor who made house calls, made peace with gangsters in the mob, and raised his 2-year-old grandson with the help of a feisty Italian woman. It had enough mystery and innocent romance to keep me hooked everyday. In fact, I couldn't w...more
Set in the early 1930's in New York, Dr. Jim Delany has returned to his medical practice after serving in and being wounded in World War I. But he feels empty and lonely. His wife has deserted him, and his daughter has eloped with her Mexican husband. His life suddenly changes when he finds his 3 year old grandson on his doorstep--his daughter has gone to find her missing husband. Delany hires an illegal Italian immigrant, Rosa, to act as the child's caregiver while he tends to his practice. Pre...more
Not many books set in the Depression era are as rewarding and uplifting as this story. Dr. James Delaney finds his three year old grandson abandoned on his doorstep by his flightly daughter who goes off in search of her revolutionary husband. The good doctor, barely able to support himself must now find a way to care for his grandson while maintaining his neighborhood practice which also caters to memebers of the mob. Into his life comes a young Sicilian woman to care for his grandson and remind...more
Jul 15, 2009
Lou
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
any former New Yorker who misses sometings about the city.
Recommended to Lou by:
TomParker
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is my second Pete Hamill book. After "Downtown" I promised myself to read more of his material but got sidetracked. Now I am so happy to have re discovered him. Some things just ring true with New Yorkers: going up town, lower east side, delis, the Met, the Train ( subway), crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, jumping off piers, playing in the "street", tough guys, good guys, food, the aroma of food...I remember his columns in the papers and the book reads like loca...more
I loved this book. Another reviewer described it as "cozy" and I agree. A literary masterpeice it is not - it's just a good, simple, lovely story. I love NYC, and enjoy reading books where the city is a main character, and the author's vivid descriptions made you feel as if you were right there. The interactions between Carlito and his "Ga'Paw" are tender and precious. My only complaint is that the ending felt rushed, like he had to wrap it up in a hurry. I was sad when the book ended, like leav...more
Oct 06, 2009
Tracy Wilson
added it
I liked the story and the characters. The author didn't want to commit to either the deep emotional drama nor into the action of New York gangsters but rather chose to balance between the two. The result was an interesting story with lots of potential but little punch. I kept waiting for something to happen, to bust the low tension wide open but in the end it fizzled out to something of a "whew, that was close! Good thing A,B,and C didn't happen!" As a reader, I would have liked A or B to happen...more
I love Pete Hamill and the way he writes puts me right in the story. This is a great novel that I didn't want to end!
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This book was a cozy, best friend; I looked forward to reading it each night after a long day and a hot shower. It is a simple yet amazingly written story about a Doctor dealing with the disappearance of his wife, the sudden appearance of his grandson, gangsters and a new Italian love.
I felt lost a few nights after completing the book, trying to find a replacement for such a well-crafted tale. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading some good fiction which elegantly incor...more
I felt lost a few nights after completing the book, trying to find a replacement for such a well-crafted tale. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading some good fiction which elegantly incor...more
I find this book to have the same feeling that I got from reading the book Angela's Ashes last year. It has that very brisk and ominous old style New york city tone that sets up perfect and ample mental visualizations for the reader. The plot is also very interesting because most of the books I read don't usually set up a doctor to be the protagonist, especially a doctor in the 1930s where there was very little medicine. The author also includes great aspects of characterization, giving Doctor D...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Beyond North River | 2 | 28 | Feb 29, 2012 05:01pm |
Pete Hamill is a novelist, essayist and journalist whose career has endured for more than forty years. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. in 1935, the oldest of seven children of immigrants from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Catholic schools as a child. He left school at 16 to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a sheetmetal worker, and then went on to the United States Navy. While serving in t...more
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