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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece!, 23 Sep 2008
Once it is known that 'The new Lehane' is in bookstores should be enough to make booklovers rush out to buy a copy. Their money will be well spent, as The Given Day is a work of art. It is much more than just an excellent book, it is fine literature. The Given Day, which takes place primarily in Boston just after WWI, is an epic story of family greed, love, power, hardship, lust, hope and politics. It tells the story of two families -- one white, one black -- swept up in the maelstrom of revolutionaries, anarchists, immigrants, ward bosses, Brahmnins, the Boston police department and ordinary citizens, all engaged in a battle for survival and power. As interesting and powerful as the plot is, Lehane's strongest accomplishment is the cast of unforgettable, true-to-life characters he has created. You'll meet beat-cop Danny Coughlin, Boston Police Department royalty and the son of one of the city's most beloved and powerful police captains. Luther Laurence, a black man on the run after a deadly confrontation with a crime boss who works for the Coughlin family. Nora, the Irish immigrant who was taken in by the Coughlins and is the love of Danny's life, as well as many other very credible multidimensional characters. Lehane does such an excellent job in describing these characters that I felt I was right there alongside them feeling all of their joys and sorrows. In addition, Lehane expertly weaves into the story many real-life influential people of the era -- including Babe Ruth, Eugene O'Neill, leftist Jack Reed, NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois, Mitchell Palmer, Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge and an ambitious young justice department lawyer named John Hoover. The Given Day is over 700 pages of reading pleasure and a book that I most highly recommend to you. It is a masterpiece of historical fiction!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lehane at his best, 1 Feb 2009
The Given Day
I have read Dennis Lehane's crime fiction for years and was getting a bit impatient waiting for the next title. News of The Given Day upset me a bit. A historical novel not a crime fiction book. Attempts by writers to cross genres usually ends in tears, I thought.
Not this time. This book is a truly amazing piece of work. There are rightful comparisons above to Doctorow, but I would put this one up there with Dos Passos's USA and Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. It really is that good.
I'm not going to attempt to review the book. There are strong summaries in all the preceding reviews. I'm just going to say: this will probably be among the top ten books of 2009 and anyone who doesn't make the effort to read it really will be depriving themselves to an extent they don't deserve. Buy it, you'll love it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the wait? You betcha, 8 May 2009
It's been a long time since this man's last but what a way to come back.
If you like crime novels you will love this!
If you like historical novels you will love this!
If you are interested in social and political history you will love this!
If you like literary novels you will love this!
If you like a thumping good read you will love this!
Rumour has it that Mr Lehane will be writing a series tracing these themes through the twentieth century and if they are anything like this start then they'll be brilliant. Just one thing Dennis; I'm 51 and I'd like to see the finish before I peg out.
Quite why this sells respectably rather than by the lorry load really puzzles me. Forget the garbage like Archer and buy this.
The novel ends (NOT a plot spoiler, honest)with the words
"What a day. What a city. What a time to be alive."
One can only reply.
"What a book. What a writer. What a joy to read!"
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