Kane and Abel

I've just finished reading Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel, a 545 pages book from cover to cover. Frankly, it was my first time to read Archer's book and also first time to be able to finish such long book within 3 days with my son around. 

The book, being one of the bestsellers of Archer's and also one of the best liked book by Archer himself has made its imprint into my heart for the past few days. Archer's skill in weaving the plots and characters in the story made you want to bury your head in the book and do nothing else. And so was the guilt of letting my son watch Toy Story 2 while I finished the last chapters of the book this morning. 

From the start of the story, you would be captured by how Archer carved out the first character in the story, Wladek or later known as Abel. Then you would also fall in love with William, described as tall and handsome and many more...

There are a few that I don't quite like about the story. First, should there be so many adultery or involvement of sex in the story? The plots themselves are sufficient to entice one to read on without having so many of the "seductive" ones. Another dislike was on how Archer kills the characters in the story. You just could not fall in love with the characters because soon it would be killed. That's how sad the story was. I have to admit I cried more than three times reading the story. It hurt me to know that Leon has to die due to his protective action of shielding Wladek from the butt of a rifle; Florentyna has to die after being raped by 16 Russian soldiers, William's father death in Titanic, and so on...The story is filled with bloodshed and deaths. 

The last part of the story, which I wanted it to be a happy ending turned out to be sad - William died before he managed to see his daughter-in-law and grandchildren for the first time! I was devastated. How could Archer end the story like that? I mean, isn't the feud between William and Abel long enough to make them kindle and be friends before one of them die? 

And the father-daughter relationship between Abel and Florentyna made me mesmerised those moments I shared with  my late Dad. Dad was so much like the aged Abel, just that he was not as shrewd. But how I wish that the story would end as in Abel knew that William was his benefactor and that should kindle the rivals between both of them. 

Overall, the story made me cry and made me built walls around myself and it would be for days before I could rejoin the real world again for the general election. It is painful to live in a self-made world. I guess this is what people called, "detachment anxiety" from the world we have created through reading a story, just like how Harry Porter had also deeply injected into my heart. Oh, how could these people write into others' hearts? I should learn...

TITLE      : KANE AND ABEL
AUTHOR : JEFFREY ARCHER