KANE AND ABEL - Jeffrey Archer

This is one of my earliest reads. It was in my early teens when I’d considered myself ready for serious novels and this was the book recommended to me by a lot of people. And now I can actually understand why! Although it is not my personal Jeffrey Archer favourite, it definitely is among the top few. The best part of the book according to me is the fact that though it is comparatively voluminous, it does not for one moment feel repetitive. There is so much story crammed in those 550 odd pages that it easily maintains its pace throughout.

Even though, obviously, I couldn’t relate to the storyline, being born much after the book came out and in a totally different part of the world, there is a sense of realness in the story. The plot, the circumstances and the consequences appear to be completely plausible.

The diversity captured by the book is clear in the very first instance when Jeffrey Archer starts with the birth of two kids, one the son of a rich and powerful banker in Boston and another an orphan adopted by a poor Polish family after his mother is found dying by the road. However, Archer develops both these characters equally beautifully, along with the others who come into their lives. While Abel endures hardship, tragedy and oppression and finally manages to immigrate to America and build a successful hotel chain, Kane takes full advantage of his birthright and receives the finest education and becomes the leader of one of America's oldest and most powerful banks, albeit suffering a series of tragedies of his own. Although their lives run parallel as they establish their careers, there are moments when their lives intersect. Eventually, they confront each other in a business situation that ends up affecting both their lives forever and leaves them with just one goal in their lives: to destroy each other. As the conflict unfolds between them for the bulk of their adult lives, both are stunned to find that the biggest price ends up being paid by those they love the most.

However, sometimes it felt like too much importance was given to finance and banking, and business transactions between the two. That sort of deviated from the main plot of the story. Also at times some chapters become so long that you forget what was happening in the other character’s life. But there were other chapters which were so compelling that you didn’t want to leave that character’s story.

Partly responsible for the success of this book is the point that never has he favoured any of the two protagonists. Although I did tend to like one more than the other at different times in their lives, altogether, they are both shown in shades of grey. They are both not completely justified for all their actions, but totally understandable. My take: this is definitely one of those books you cannot afford to not read!