As I've mentioned before, one of the great things about The List is that every so often I come across a book that I wouldn't otherwise have read but that I very much enjoyed. "Kane and Abel" is the latest such novel.
The reasons I wouldn't have considered it are probably pretty obvious - being written by a Tory and being about two unabashed capitalists, it was never likely to appeal!
And yet I enjoyed it a great deal. It covers a great sweep of history, moves at a good clip, and has two mostly-sympathic, albeit very definitely flawed, main characters. Granted, it waxes rather nostalgic about the American Dream in a manner that is charmingly naive, but that can be mostly forgiven. Yes, parts of it are a nonsense (albeit much more now than when it was published), but the fantasy wish-fulfilment can probably be excused for the good of the plot.
But what makes the novel work is the parallel tracks of the two main characters and the conflicts between them.
At present, it stands as the candidate for book of the year. Recommended!
#24: "Kane and Abel", by Jeffrey Archer (a book from The List - fourteen to go)
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