book data
373 ratings, 4.01 average rating, 41 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
October 8th 1987
(first published 1996)
by Viking Adult
binding
Hardcover, 456 pages
literary awards
PEN/Faulkner Award (1988)
isbn
067081489X
(isbn13: 9780670814893)
description
T. Coraghessan Boyle, returns to his native New York State with this darkly comic historical drama exploring several generations of families in the Hu...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 541)
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone, esp. history geeks
Dramatic, hilarious and harrowing tales of parallel fates of many generations of Dutch, English and Native Americans from colonial New Amsterdam/New York to 1960's Peterskill. TC Boyle mixes expert storytelling with fascinating accounts of the history of the Hudson River Valley. His accounts of daily life under Dutch feudalism in New Amsterdam (well before the arrival/rule of the English) are unforgettable. Boyle's writing is fantastic - juxtaposing grand, classical language with a hilarious sor...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
T.C. Boyle is a great reader's author without being pulpy. I've loved many of his books, but this one has so far been my favorite (_Tortilla Curtain_ is a close second, and _Drop City_ and enjoyable third).
It's a disjointed epic spanning many centuries along the Hudson River Valley and surrounding areas. There are lots of characters, and lots of time shifts between chapters, but Boyle is able to tie it all together into a great story about the oft-untold colonial influence in our own count...more
It's a disjointed epic spanning many centuries along the Hudson River Valley and surrounding areas. There are lots of characters, and lots of time shifts between chapters, but Boyle is able to tie it all together into a great story about the oft-untold colonial influence in our own count...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
This is the first Boyle book I've read. I went to the library to pick up Drop City (hippies in Alaska, awesome), but got this one instead - it was longer, looked more interesting.
Well, I was right about the long part. It's the kind of book the jacket-writers would describe as a "sweeping multigenerational epic", with a three-page opening section listing the "Principle Characters". The story switches back and forth ...more
Well, I was right about the long part. It's the kind of book the jacket-writers would describe as a "sweeping multigenerational epic", with a three-page opening section listing the "Principle Characters". The story switches back and forth ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
Same Grecian vacation. I was on a T.C. Boyle kick. This one's an epic several hundred years of nastily entwined family history, plus a ghostly plague of hunger, and some tall tales. American mythology. While the last 100 or so pages got a bit muddled, it's still worth it, as Boyle always is. When people name the best writers working today, Boyle is on my list. High on it. I can't think of anyone else who reinvents himself so successfully from book to book and story to story. Each time, it's like...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
People who can read a hard book and not be put off by it.
Just finished. This is a very slow start. It definately picks up interest and speed as the story progresses. It's as if Boyle had a plethora of characters in his mind and didn't know which story he wanted to focus on for the first 50 pages. Then he seemed to narrow it down and start to focus the story. We're reading this for book group, and while everyone was a little lukewarm about it, no one absolutely hated it. It's a challenging read and it's a very crowded story. There is no open, ai...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
World's End (Contemporary American Fiction) by T.C. Boyle (1990)
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1988
This is one of my top five favorite books in contemporary fiction. First of all, it's set in the area where I grew up. Second, there are several plots with different characters that take place: a) when Native Americans inhabited the area; b) during the1940s as unions were forming when my parents were in their heyday; and, c) during the volatile times of the 1960s and 70s. The way Boyle intertwines his cast of characters is like nothing I've read before, or since.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
I'm sure this is more of an indication of the type of reader I am, because I trust Boyle's storytelling. I have no idea what's going on. I can't keep track of the 3,000 characters in 2 different eras all with the same last names and all with Dutch or Indian unpronouncable names.
A lot of people I know loved this book and put it as the best of his work, but I just had to put it down. I will stick to it. But very little of this book is adhering to my memory.
A lot of people I know loved this book and put it as the best of his work, but I just had to put it down. I will stick to it. But very little of this book is adhering to my memory.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This is the book that kickstarted my ongoing love affair with T.C. Boyle. A sprawling, decades-spanning tale following two warring families, World's End follows the Van Warts and the Van Brundts as they stake their claims on the lands and related fortunes of upstate New York. The characters are quirky without ever becoming cartoonish, the plot sweeping and fantastic without ever resorting to cliche. Boyle is one hell of a writer.
Read in March, 2006
recommends it for:
People who like historical fiction and/or satire
This is one of the few books that I like more in retrospect then I did while reading it. A bunch of its images and feelings have not only stayed with me, but have actually gotten stronger the further I get from it. Lots of good father/son stuff as well as an awesome analysis of why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor, even over 20 generations.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Colorful characters, starting with an aimless 20-year of Dutch descent who loses his foot in a motorcycle accident at the site of an ancient Native American (grave?). It follows backward in time to his ancestors to 17th century New York. There's definitely some magical realism at work here - but I found the novel funny and moving.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This is another great TC Boyle novel..Takes place in the Hudson Valley in the 17th and 20th century. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, which is why he gives you a 'cast list' in the beginning. I really got into it. It's a good story of Indians and whites through the centuries.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
AMAZING. stop what you're reading now and start reading world's end. t.c. boyle is an amazing author; this book is well researched and totally engrossing. bawdy in the best of ways. makes me want to cry for the hudson river valley. i love new york's history!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
i really like it's overall themes about class and generations and family. and i enjoyed the first two thirds alot.
but the last third felt like more an attempt to end it rather than continue the interesting quirks that i loved in the beginning.
lost it's voice.
but the last third felt like more an attempt to end it rather than continue the interesting quirks that i loved in the beginning.
lost it's voice.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Sort of depressing and predictable story of rich man gets richer and poor man gets poorer, more desparate, and all together worse off through no fault of his own. His fate has already been decided for him. History repeats itself.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1995
Inventive and funny about life in the Hudson River valley in 3 different time periods -- early Dutch settlement, the 1930s, and "today." Hysterical scene about Dutchman who eats himself to death calling for "more pie."
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
What a sprawling look at americana. This amazing novel spans many generations and 200 years of life in America. The way Boyle weaves his character's traits from one generation to the next was incredible. Great book
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
While I was a little bit disappointed with the length of the story, it kind of goes on a little bit longer than I thought necessary, it's still an incredible page turner.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
Class conflict along the Hudson River in three eras. Features colonial dutch tenant farmers, 40's communists, and 60's hippie environmentalists.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 1998
A great tale of intertwined families through the generations in New York's Hudson Valley. From what I remember, I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 120 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 17 people's shelves)
fiction (on 16 people's shelves)
1001 (on 8 people's shelves)
1001-books (on 5 people's shelves)
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die (on 4 people's shelves)
own (on 2 people's shelves)
novels (on 2 people's shelves)
new-york (on 2 people's shelves)
book-group (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
currently-reading (on 17 people's shelves)
fiction (on 16 people's shelves)
1001 (on 8 people's shelves)
1001-books (on 5 people's shelves)
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die (on 4 people's shelves)
own (on 2 people's shelves)
novels (on 2 people's shelves)
new-york (on 2 people's shelves)
book-group (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
groups with this book
