Point Books As Captains and the Kings
| Original Title: | Captains and the Kings |
| ISBN: | 0449205622 (ISBN13: 9780449205624) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh, Harry Zieff, Bernadette Hennessey Armagh, Elizabeth Healey Hennessey, Charles Desmond, Rory Armagh, Mary Armag, Marjorie Chisholm, Ed Healey, Sean Armagh, Courtney Wickersham, Tom Hennessey, Katherine Hennessey, Kevin Armagh, Honora Houlihan, Miss Emmy, Claudia, Martinique |
Taylor Caldwell
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 816 pages Rating: 4.13 | 17647 Users | 307 Reviews
Declare Containing Books Captains and the Kings
| Title | : | Captains and the Kings |
| Author | : | Taylor Caldwell |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 816 pages |
| Published | : | April 1989 by Fawcett Crest (first published 1972) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Romance |
Interpretation Conducive To Books Captains and the Kings
This is a great surging novel about the amassing of a colossal fortune, the political power that comes with it, and the operation of a curse laid on an Irish-American dynasty and the ruthless driving man who founded it.Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh was thirteen years old when he first saw America through a dirty porthole on the steerage deck of The Irish Queen. It was the early 1850's and he was a penniless immigrant, an orphan cast on a hostile shore to make a home for himself and his younger brother and infant sister. Some seventy years later, from his deathbed, Joseph Armagh last glimpsed his adopted land from the gleaming windows of a palatial estate. A multi-millionaire, one of the most powerful and feared men, Joseph Armagh had indeed found a home. CAPTAINS AND KINGS is the story of the price that was paid for it in the consuming, single-minded determination of a man clawing his way to the top; in the bitter-sweet bliss of the love of a beautiful woman; in the almost too-late enjoyment of extraordinary children; and in the curse which used the hand of fate to strike in the very face of success itself.
Once again, Taylor Caldwell has looked into America's roistering past as a setting for a drama of the consequences of savage ambition - and its meaning then and now.
Rating Containing Books Captains and the Kings
Ratings: 4.13 From 17647 Users | 307 ReviewsNotice Containing Books Captains and the Kings
3.5 stars, really. It would have been 4 but for the oddness of a key issue in the narrative: out of nowhere (it appeared to me; I am told I may have missed a whole part of the storyline - see below), we suddenly learned of the man who had cursed our main protagonist's family - but the narrative of that happening and how and why was never included. Yet, from its first mention, this curse was referenced over and over again in the rest of the story. Weird.I had to stop reading Captains and Kings. While I really enjoy the detail and fine editing of books written in the 70s, I couldnt deal with the amoral main characters and Caldwells characterization of women. Particularly casting Miss Emmy as complicit in her sexual abuse without any nuance to her character. Maybe I didnt listen to enough of the book; I had 24 hours of listening left when I stopped. Also her description of characters while wonderfully detailed, often bordered on eugenics. A
I often wondered that Ms. Caldwell did not meet with an untimely day after her vivid description of the Joseph Kennedy Clan. But what a book! I read this many years ago and have always been fascinated by her ability to tell a story.
Ok--Be very careful with Taylor Caldwell books. She has geared these toward women who want hardcore romance--if you know what I mean. It is usually brief I hear, but the point of her books is not about "heaving bossoms" it's to educate the average reader about governments and what goes on behind the scenes. She is very educated and a very talented writer and usually writes about a specific conspiracy. They may sound strange but I would highly recommend any of her books (minus the bedroom scene)
I don't even know where to start with this book. My dad told me about it years ago. Its not exactly one you find lying around on library shelves waiting to be checked out. And, in fact, I only have a copy because I borrowed it from my dad... and HE only has a copy because my sister found it at a thrift store. Anyway- back to reviewing it.First- beware it is what I call "old" writing. What I mean by that is it is more of a Margaret Mitchell or MM Kaye style than say a modern day popular author.
Way too long, way too everything. Almost went the way of atlas shrugged when the message was becoming more important than the storytelling. Great character development, its one shining point; admittedly, didnt much like the characters though. Been awhile since I stuck with a book that really wasnt working for me.
Captains and the Kings, Taylor CaldwellCaptains and the Kings is a 1972 historical novel, by Taylor Caldwell, chronicling the rise to wealth and power of an Irish immigrant, Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh, who emigrates as a penniless teenager to the United States, along with his younger brother and baby sister, only for their parents to die shortly afterwards. Joseph Armagh befriends a Lebanese immigrant, and both are taken under the tutelage of an American plutocrat. An inter-generational saga
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