New York - reading schedule and discussion

[Meg]

The book really fell apart in the end. I think it was actually cheesy bringing up the belt.
I really wanted to some historical perspective involving the Native Americans.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Meg wrote: "The book really fell apart in the end. I think it was actually cheesy bringing up the belt."

I agree. To have the belt get vaporized when the twin towers fell was just...tacky.

[Irene]

I agree also. Well, I am not sure I would go as far as to say that it fell apart in the end, but only because I never thought it was held together through out. To have the belt disappear for several generations and bring it up at the end was artificial. I think Rutherfurd can be checked off my list of future authors to read. Of course, as soon as I type that, some GR group I am in will pick one of his books to read and guilt will kick in. LOL.

[Irene]

So I wonder if the main character was the belt?

[Taylor]

I wondered that about the belt too, Irene. I wish, though, that the author had done more with it. It would have been a better book if he had. It seemed to have great significance at the beginning of the book but then just became this almost meaningless item that was handed down through the generations. And then disintegrated!?! I would've liked to have seen it come full circle back to its Aboriginal roots.

The other thing that bugged me about his book was how anglocentric it was. The constant parade of nations really drove home the point that this was really a story about rich white people.

[Meg]

Well I think he through in the Italians to show they weren't all rich. Also there was a pretty big part devoted to the slaves. A parallel between the three in detail would have been a major improvement

[Taylor]

But it was like: Aboriginals - check, Italians - check, African Americans - check, Jews - check, etc. The lack of continuity with any and all of these families made their stories less meaningful for me.

[Meg]

I agree

[Irene]

Yes, we had the African slave family early on and ended up with the Puerto Rican lawyer, so we had the required people of color. But, whether we were talking about the Irish or Italian immigrants of the 1800s or the Jewish and Puerto Rican families of the 1900s, every family (with the exception of the slave family and the Native American characters) ended up moving into affluence within a generation: Ivy League lawyer, OB-GYN, political heavy weight, etc. Even Mary the Maid is wealthy by the end of her life.

The belt was just odd. If it were a symbol of the continuity of the family line, passed along from that first generation to the 21st century, maybe a tangible representation of memory or family story, why does it evaporate in 2001? The family story and family line continued.

[Rebecca]

I felt the same Taylor. I also agree Meg. He could have done more with it. I believe his disorganization of themes ended up boring when it came to the starting of Ellis Island. Putting the Hispanics at the end did it for me. Cramming the World Trade Center at the end was ridiculous. Gotham's storyline left me puzzled. I easily understood the Master's family. But I think he threw Gorham and his wife in at the last for the sake of the necklace and 911 events. I finally finished today and happily let it slide down the book drop. I had wanted to read Sarum originally but I will pass on it and his other works.