California Gold

Rating:
Summary: Addictive Page Turner
Review: California Gold has it all! Lust, greed, amition, and historical tie-ins all in one! I have read and re-read this wonderful work of fiction 6 times at last count. I never become bored with it. In fact, some of the book's fabulous historical references have even lead me on some great adventures as a tourist in both San Francisco and the Los Angeles area.

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read!
Review: California Gold is a story about a man named Macklin Chance. It has a mixture of love, war, and excitement. I love reading this book. I would recomend this book to any of my friends.

Rating:
Summary: Another great John Jakes novel.
Review: CALIFORNIA GOLD is the story of Macklin Chance, who like many others of his day, journeys to the land of California with the hopes of finding a new life and fortune. It is the start of the gold rush, and Macklin, along with thousands of others, help build the state of California in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Macklin starts from the bottom and works his way to the top,and along the way he encounters the men that helped build California: Leland Stanford, Randolph Hearst, to name a few.

As in all John Jakes novels, CALIFORNIA GOLD is filled with a lot of history and a lot of great characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I do not feel it's Jake's best. I felt the ending was a little disappointing - can't explain it but it felt wrong to me - but otherwise this was one of those books that I couldn't put down. A must-read for all John Jakes fans!

Rating:
Summary: Another great John Jakes novel.
Review: CALIFORNIA GOLD is the story of Macklin Chance, who like many others of his day, journeys to the land of California with the hopes of finding a new life and fortune. It is the start of the gold rush, and Macklin, along with thousands of others, help build the state of California in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Macklin starts from the bottom and works his way to the top,and along the way he encounters the men that helped build California: Leland Stanford, Randolph Hearst, to name a few.

As in all John Jakes novels, CALIFORNIA GOLD is filled with a lot of history and a lot of great characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I do not feel it's Jake's best. I felt the ending was a little disappointing - can't explain it but it felt wrong to me - but otherwise this was one of those books that I couldn't put down. A must-read for all John Jakes fans!

Rating:
Summary: Not Jake's best, but a FINE EFFORT!
Review: I'm a big John Jakes fan. His historical fiction is always easy to read, sweeping, passionate and infused with memorable characters, fictional and real. CALIFORNIA GOLD has many of Jakes' familiar elements, but on a reduced scale. The KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES is his crowning achievement, of course, and those books dare to cover the entire first 150 years or so of American history. The NORTH AND SOUTH saga is in many ways the best work of fiction about the Civil War ever written. It makes history burst off the page, and the characters live that history in a way that makes it immediate.

The real problem (which costs the book the one star) is that CALIFORNIA GOLD just doesn't have that kind of sweep and immediacy. It does a fine job showing how California developed after the Civil War era into the glorious state it is today. Jakes, as always, isn't afraid to paint things both good and bad. The railroad's importance to the development of the state is accentuated...as is the horrendous monopoly that railroad exercised. But for all the grandeur, it is frankly hard to care all that much about the history being presented to us. The book has great characters, usually memorably presented in a few brief sentences so that when they reappear 300 pages later, we remember exactly who they are. Our hero, Macklin Chance, is a character we root for, faults and all. He is faced with many terrific obstacles, including several villianous characters, both male and female. It isn't hard to cheer for the guy when things go well and wince when things turn ugly.

Jakes has an easy-going writing style. We know we're getting spoon fed history with our melodrama, but we don't mind...he knows how to make it IMPORTANT to our story, not just a sidenote (although there are literally some sidenotes to start each chapter...they are a type of Cliff Note to California History, and must be read to follow the developments in the novel.) But it feels just a little rote. Some passages, such as the violent polo match leap right off the page. Others, such as the discovery of oil, are fumbled a bit...they could have held more emotional payoff.

All in all, it's a solid read and a good introduction to Jakes. You don't have to jump into an entire series. But it makes me WANT to have a new Jakes series to read. Most certainly there are better historical novels out there, and surely many that are more "literate" or "learned," but few will entertain you and divert you more. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Not Jake's best, but a FINE EFFORT!
Review: I'm a big John Jakes fan. His historical fiction is always easy to read, sweeping, passionate and infused with memorable characters, fictional and real. CALIFORNIA GOLD has many of Jakes' familiar elements, but on a reduced scale. The KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES is his crowning achievement, of course, and those books dare to cover the entire first 150 years or so of American history. The NORTH AND SOUTH saga is in many ways the best work of fiction about the Civil War ever written. It makes history burst off the page, and the characters live that history in a way that makes it immediate.

The real problem (which costs the book the one star) is that CALIFORNIA GOLD just doesn't have that kind of sweep and immediacy. It does a fine job showing how California developed after the Civil War era into the glorious state it is today. Jakes, as always, isn't afraid to paint things both good and bad. The railroad's importance to the development of the state is accentuated...as is the horrendous monopoly that railroad exercised. But for all the grandeur, it is frankly hard to care all that much about the history being presented to us. The book has great characters, usually memorably presented in a few brief sentences so that when they reappear 300 pages later, we remember exactly who they are. Our hero, Macklin Chance, is a character we root for, faults and all. He is faced with many terrific obstacles, including several villianous characters, both male and female. It isn't hard to cheer for the guy when things go well and wince when things turn ugly.

Jakes has an easy-going writing style. We know we're getting spoon fed history with our melodrama, but we don't mind...he knows how to make it IMPORTANT to our story, not just a sidenote (although there are literally some sidenotes to start each chapter...they are a type of Cliff Note to California History, and must be read to follow the developments in the novel.) But it feels just a little rote. Some passages, such as the violent polo match leap right off the page. Others, such as the discovery of oil, are fumbled a bit...they could have held more emotional payoff.

All in all, it's a solid read and a good introduction to Jakes. You don't have to jump into an entire series. But it makes me WANT to have a new Jakes series to read. Most certainly there are better historical novels out there, and surely many that are more "literate" or "learned," but few will entertain you and divert you more. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining Historical Fiction!
Review: In California Gold, John Jakes has once again created a very engrossing story wrapped in lots of interesting history about California. As usual, his plot moves along at a brisk pace and he introduces many interesting characters -- both fictional and real-life. The main character, James Macklin Chance, is one of Jakes' more memorable ones. I'm sure you'll enjoy how he comes to California as a young man, poor financially but rich in ambition, and his adventures in building one fortune on top of another. If you enjoy historical fiction, and especially if you're a John Jakes fan, do yourself a favor and get a copy of California Gold. You'll be richer for the reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: A Perspective Regarding History
Review: There are some people that feel that reading fiction is a waste of time. For people giving a second thought to this line of thinking, this would be a book worthy of attention.

Understanding history requires a context that cannot be defined with a simple equation or any number of footnotes. Fiction makes this possible and John Jake's efforts in this book should be noteworthy as well as entertaining.

As with anything worth value it will be debated sooner or later again and again from numerous perspectives that never come together. This is the thing that makes this interesting. If you have an interest in history and how if effects us as far as where we are going it should be viewed as having fun, as it is going to repeat itself again and again given human nature.

Given the effort given in producing this book I am a little surprised at the few reviews it has been given on this board. History, political science and the interactions of how personal relationships are masterfully presented in this book. Sure it a work of fiction. Presenting the perspectives how people being part of it could not be done any better than what was presented in the tale this book presented.

Of coarse this is just my opinion.

Rich

Rating:
Summary: A Good Historical Novel!
Review: This was certainly a book that you could enjoy. This book also gave you a good picture of the history of California. This book chronicles the rise from poverty to massive riches for a young man from Pennylsvania. He first grows immensely wealthy by taking part in the oil industry of California. From making big money in petroleum he moves into the citrus industry. He is able to continue making money in the citrus business. His next step is in water rights. This novel also tells of some of his lady loves that he becomes familiar with. Also interesting is some of the potent enemies that he gets in the state of California. This is a good depiction of wealth and power gained in the Golden State. If you read this book you will read a good story as well as get a good history of the state of California. It is also very unique the way that John Jakes uses some historical figures from these days in this story. Read this book,you will not be dissapointed.