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Forever: A Novel
by: Pete Hamill

List Price: $14.99

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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316735698
ISBN: 0316735698
Label: Back Bay Books
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 640
Publication Date: 2003-11
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Studio: Back Bay Books
Sales Rank: 26574

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
This widely praised bestseller is the magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains...forever. Through the eyes of young Cormac O'Connor--granted immortality as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan--we watch New York grow from a tiny settlement on the tip of an untamed wilderness to the thriving metropolis of today. And through Cormac's remarkable adventures in both love and war, we come to know all the city's buried secrets--the way it has been shaped by greed, race, and waves of immigration, by the unleashing of enormous human energies, and, above all, by hope.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A Story That Stays With You
If you're in the mood for some haunting, absorbing and relevant fiction, try this one. It spans over 3 centuries and 2 continents. It has history, drama, magic, romance and humor. Cormac O'Connor is a young Irishman whose contented family life in the early 1700s is thrown into chaos with the loss of his parents. His one aim is to avenge the deaths. He pursues the perpetrator across the Atlantic to Manhattan. His father's teachings have given him the motive and the means to accomplish his mission. In the midst of this, however, he meets a variety of significant characters, and one of these encounters irrevocably changes his path. The plot enables the reader to travel with Cormac through the centuries in Manhattan, never leaving the island. I will avoid mentioning the reason for this, because ... Read More

Rating:

- passionate and profound novel
I absolutely fell in love with this novel. It was heart breaking and blissful at times with descriptive landscapes that made you fall in love with the city of New York. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to swept away.

Rating:

- An epic story for the Big Apple
I bought this book because I am interested in all things New York (ok, I live in the Big Apple), and because Hamill appeared several times on the PBS series about the history of the city. He is a thoughtful guy, and his knowledge of the history of New York allows him to weave a complex story that spans centuries and focuses on some of the least known episodes, leaving the well known ones as background. Except, of course, for the finale, which deals with 9/11 (and is surprisingly personal and well done). You do have to suspend your disbelief when it comes to how exactly the central character gets to live for centuries, therefore experiencing the city's history first hand, and I did find the many references to Irish folklore and magic a bit too much. Still, it is a heck of a book that will keep ... Read More

Rating:

- Compelling history ... fascinating story ... but ...

... What a sad existence. To live for almost 300 years.

I found myself constantly reminded of the comment made by Angus Tuck, the father in the novel 'Tuck Everlasting' who said 'What we Tucks have you can't call it living. We just... are. We're like rocks, stuck at the side of a stream...'

While I absolutely loved learning about the evolution of New York City and Pete Hamill has obviously done his research well, I had a hard time identifying with the personal and religious convictions that drove Cormac O'Connor to follow the Earl of Warren across the ocean and to commit to killing not only this obviously deserving human being, but all of his unborn (and presumably innocent) male heirs as well.

To me this smacks far too much of the type of fanaticism ... Read More

Rating:

- One of my favorite books of all time.
I'm not a literature critic or expert by any means but I just loved this book. The Irish and American history, the characters, the love stories, and the concept of what it might be like to live forever but still look about 40 yrs old the whole time.
Highly recommended.

Books : Forever: A Novel