Jeffrey Archer : Novel : Kane & Abel

Kane and Abel is a story of two men and their desire to be the best in their field. Until fate crosses their paths.
William Kane is sone of Richard Kane, a second generation banker and the CEO of Kane and Cabot Bank. Richard is excellent at his job and is running the bank with atmost efficiency when a freek accident to the world biggest ship takes his life.
William grows up without his father and only stories of his fathers achievements. He has set a goal that he shall be atleast as successful as his father.
William grows up with his best friend, a Lester. They share a great bonding. William joins the investment banking division of Kane and Cabot with the desire to be at the helm of the Bank.
Wladak, born to unknown parentage, is picked up by a polish family which works for the baron of that area.
Wladak has the ability to pick up things very fast and starts to outsmart boys in his school. Baron who has lost his wife and has a son who needs some compition, picks up wladak and makes him stay with his son. Wladak asks his sister floryetina to come along.
Wladak grows up as an intelligent kid with lots of ambitions. Until Poland is invaded by Russians and they are held captive for 3 years. Then follows a series of mishaps for wladak.

What happens to wladak and what turns does William's life take is the rest of the novel.

Me thinks
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This is a typical Jeffrey Archer Novel. The story takes you through the lives of the main characters of the novel right from their birth.
I am impressed with the story telling ability of Archer. Great Novel. You cannot put it down till you have turned the last page.
No wonder that Kane and Abel is treated as great piece of work.

But there were couple of things that I was not happy about..
(1) The war episode was totally unnecessary. William and Abel's connection with the war during the later part was totally out of place. The author wanted to make a point but it was very feeble.
(2) Richard and Floryentina's story is a stereotype story and hinging on it to conclude your book is not what i expected.
I was impressed with the initial and middle section of the book. I did not expect Kane and Abel to behave the way they did. Is it just me or Polish people really behave the way it was portrayed or it was just Able who was the way he was...


I would give it a 7 out of 10. Great book but the ending without Richard and Floryentina whould have been a much better one. Story was about Kane and Abel and it should have ended with Kane and Abel.

Jeffrey Archer : Short Stories : A Quiver Full Of Arrows

A Quiver Full of ArrowsThis short story collection by Jeffrey Archer has 11 stories bundled up.


Story 1 : The Chinese Statue
Sir Alexander Heathcote rose from an officer in the British foreign office to become an Ambassador. He was deputed to china to represent London. He took great pride in his new assignment because it gave him the opportunity to see a vast and beautiful country. Alexander is a great admirer of Ming dynasty and appreciates the time and life of Ming dynasty.
One day he sets out into the inners of Chinese village, along with his interpreter. He meets a sculptor who is busy going about his job. Alexander is fascinated by the old man's job and expresses so.
The old man, not used to praises, let alone by a foreigner is floored. Out of sheer happiness he takes Alexander inside and shows him a statue from 15th century Ming dynasty.
What follows next is the rest of the story.


Me thinks
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This is my first Short Story collection of Jeffrey Archer. After reading his novel First Among Equals, I had great expectations from this book. But I was slightly let down. I was expecting a great punch. An arrow from the Quiver should have shot me through. But nothing of that sort happened. The story started and got over with a small twitch by a needle.
I was saddened that the first story did not start as I had expected.

I would give it a 5.5 out of 10.

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Story 2 : The Luncheon
The first person, is an author. The whole story is from the eyes of the Author. He is pleasantly surprised when he sees a lady waving at him and greets him with a hug in a literary guild party. Author is not able to place the lady. In the nick of time he remembers her as Susan whom he had met sometime back.
What follows is the recollection of the past encounter.

Me thinks
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I was totally dejected. How can you call this a story. It was a simple narration of an incident. It lacked the punch, the anxiety factory, the aaha factory. I was thoroughly disappointed to say the least.
It also proved my long held notion that "In a short story collection the second story will be a compete disaster". This book simply reiterated my belief and that too with full force.

Should I rate this story !!! anyways I would give it a 2 out of 10.

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Story 3 : A Coup
Senhor Eduardo Francisco de Silveira has come to Nigeria on an ambitious project. He is planning to build the capital of Nigeria. It is a very huge project even by Edurdo's standard. He is leaving no stone unturned.
Eduardo's company is the largest construction company in Brazil. However his rival Manual Rodriguez claims his company Rodriguez International is the biggest.
On landing in Nigeria, he heads to his hotel room. When is about to step into the elevator, he freezes in his path when he notices Manual in the lift.
What follows next is an interesting sequence of event that take place in Nigeria.

Me Thinks
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This story brought back some color on my cheeks :)
This story felt as if it deserved to be called a story. It had the punch and the strength of an arrow. Though it could not pierce me as I had built a shield of hopelessness. But it did crack the shield.

I would give it 6.5 out of 10.

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Story 4 : Old Love
William Hatchard Philippa Jameson have joined New College under James Blake to study English Language and Literature. Far from being good friends they were bitter rivals who competed ferociously in each and every class, each and every competition.
By the end of first year, every one had a feeling that these two will never compromise on anything. Their rivalry brought out the best out of both of them as they put in all their efforts to be on top.

What follows next is an interesting tale which looks at the lives of both William and Philippa across generations.

Me Thinks
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I was totally floored by the story. I was completely absorbed in the story.
When the story finally got over, I could not believe that the story actually ended...
I was almost in tears at the end of the story.
Very touching and very hear warming story of two people and their lives.

I would give 9 out of 10

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Story 5: The Perfect Gentleman

The first person, journalist and author from London, is in New York chasing a writer for a biography. He meets Edward Shrimpton in the Metropolitan Club which occurred by chance. The journalist and Edward decide to have a lunch the next day.
Late in the evening the journalist meets his father's friend Eric McKenzie at the Metropolitan club. During their dinner the journalist mentions to Eric about his meeting with Edward. Eric gets interested. Eric tells him that Eric was a national champion in Backgammon gave. Edward was an undisputed champion of backgammon until he played the game on that fateful day.
Eric asks him to question Edward about the game as it was still unknown why he lost the game on that day.

What follows is the conversation between the journalist and Edward.

Me Thinks
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An interesting story. I liked the story. Not as powerful as "A Coup" and "Old Love" but great read nevertheless.

I would give it 6 out of 10.

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Story 6 : Broken Routine
Septimus Horatio Cornwallis has one of the most boring lives. He is an insurance claim settler and his daily routine is fixed to the dot. Right from the time he gets up till he sleeps his life is so monotonous that if you follow him for a week you would know what he must be doing in the next few years.
One fine evening his routine gets broken when his boss asks him to stay little longer and he misses his train. He takes a different train which is completely packed. He gets hold of a seat and settles down only to find a teenager sitting in front of him.

What follows is an interesting non-verbal communication between the two.

Me Thinks
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Awsome !!!
This time the arrow hit with a bang, and pierced me through. Though I have read about this punch in a different context, in a different story somewhere else but i was not prepared for the ending and it took me by surprise.
Considering that this short story collection was first printed in 1980, I feel this particular punch was created by THIS story and it has been used by others in their stories.

I would give an 8.5 out of 10

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Story 7 : One Night Stand
It is the story of Adrian and Michael. who are very close friends and have literally lived together their entire life. They share a perfect bonding until they meet this lady.

Me thinks
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A passé story.

I would give it a 4 out of 10.

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Story 8 : Henry's HiccupHenry is the son of Pasha of Egypt. The wealthiest person in Egypt.
The story revolves around Henry's live pre and post pasha's death

Me thinks
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There was no story here. Except the realization by Henry that life is not the same as he thought it was.

I would give it a 5 out of 10.

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Story 9 : A Matter of principle.Sir Hamish Graham runs a construction company and is pretty successful at that. But the downturn has affected his company and one of his managers asks him to take up the Mexican project for which Mexican government has put up advertisement.
The story revolves around the Contract and the discussion between all the stakeholders of the project.

ME thinks
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Amazing story with a personal Mexican touch, that Hamish fails to pick up.

I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

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Story 10: The Hungarian ProfessorThe first person, sportsman is in Hungary to participate in a sports meet where he has a chance meeting with an old man who has great interest in England.
They keep chatting about England, their culture their climate, interesting places.
The old man invites the sportsman to his house for a dinner.
What follows next is an interesting conversation between the two about England.

Me thinks
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Awsome !!
I was totally absorbed in the story. The arrow will hit you only if you are careful in reading the last part of the story and keeping the context of the story at the back of your mind.
Brilliant protrayal of the old man.

I would give an 8.5 out of 10

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Story 11: The First MiracleTo say anything about the story would be to give away the story.
Lets just say that history is made up of many interesting twists and turns.

I would give the story an 8 out of 10
( I had to Google around to understand the significance of the story. Great story indeed!!!)



Summary
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A great collection. A must read.
My Favourites: 4,3,6,10,11,9

Over all I would rate the book at 7 out of 10. It is a must read.

Novel : Jeffrey Archer : First Among Equals

Charles Seymour was unlucky to be born 8 minutes later to his brother which deprived him of the earl status,a castle in Scotland, 22000 acres of somerset. But Charles had the potential of both the brothers put together, and the desire to succeed in life. He understood early in life that he would have to work that much harder to earn his place in history.

Simon Kerslake was born to a solicitor who did everything possible to get his son educated in the best of schools. Simon was known for his tanacity. He was not one of those who would leave things the way they were. When he applied to Oxford and missed a seat in History, he was determined and waited in front of the Admissions office. At the first opportunity he met the admissions officer and convinced him that the seat left vacent by one of the other students should be given to him as he narrowly missed a seat at oxford.

Raymond Gourd, aka Ray, was born to a butcher. He used to stay with his Grand Mother in a room on the first floor. She was the person whom he admired the most. His father could not afford his education. His mother somehow managed to squeeze him through. The day he gave his first speech in front of the audience he got a standing ovation, the first ever. Every one was so moved that the clapping continued for a very long time. It was the story of his grand mother. And the title of the speech was, the day I become the prime-minister.

Andrew Fraser was a born politician. His father was from teh Conservative party and represented one of the sections of scotland. It was taken for fact that Andrew would one day inherit his father and represet the reagon as a conservative. Little did his father know that Andrew had different plans.



My Impression
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I have been reading 30 pages each day for the past 15 days. I was so involved with the novel that I felt as if Charles, Simon, Ray and Andrew had become my second family.
I could easly realte to the characters. I became part of their desires, ambitions, success, failures.
I could feel the happiness, sadness of Louise, Kate,Elizabeth, Joyce, Fiona, Dunkinn, Amanda.
I could appreciate the characters Ronnie, Reynolds.

The Novel effortless moves between the private and public lives of these Conservative and Labour Party MPs. The desires of each of the 4 MPs. The election results which lift or dampen their hopes of gaining a bigger foothold in the British Parliament.

The rise and fall of the First among equally indeed.I was totally Involved with their activities.
I would consider it a fine piece of work by Jeffery Archer. Very Engaging.

I would give an 8 out of 10 and a thumbs up for the novel.