Rating: 
Summary: I think it works...
Review: It's true this book is perhaps a little more all over the place than it needs to be -- did we really need those bizarre commentaries on popular songs? -- but I can't understand why so many people are calling it boring, or impossibly difficult. While it's true there's a whole lot going on here, and you often have only a vague sense of the connection between all the parts, I think that's a good thing rather than a bad thing. There's a whole lot going on, but it's all enjoyable and not terribly abstruse. And the mild sense of confusion one feels in trying to piece together the connection between the multitude of themes -- theorizing and retheorizing about exactly how all the parts are supposed to fit together -- isn't so much frustrating as it is intriguing.The thing that struck me most about this work was the fact that I found myself immediately taken in by almost all of the many narrative strands, and was happy each time one of them resurfaced. (The exceptions being the commentaries on songs, and possibly the passages narrated by Wittgenstein which struck me as being written by someone who had a less than tight grasp on the man's philosophy.) All of the characters were sympathetically and richly drawn -- quite a feat considering how infrequently we meet with most of them -- and all of the ruminations were beautifully written which makes up for the fact that very few of them had anything truly original to say. I'm not sure how original Doctorow thought his ponderings on physics and metaphysics were supposed to be -- I'm guessing he knew their level of sophistication and originality very well. The originality, I think, was meant to come in where it's suposed to come from in a novel -- from the stories of particular lives. And these stories -- both on the individual level, and as a conglomerate -- succeeded in injecting the book with real originality and even brilliance.
Rating: 
Summary: Midlife crisis
Review: Doctorow puts forth an incoherent, self indulgent, self doubting missive that I normally would have put down after 50 pages. However having found one reader who hailed the book, I perservered, never again! Why Doctorow would want to share his obvious midlife crisis is beyond me. This is not a book about self realization and discovery as much as it is about lamentation and confusion. Impossible to follow as a stream of subconsciousness, those who "love" the book will say its too deep and complex for the reader who dismisses it. They will use terms such as post modern and innovative. In reality, its a simple book about the confusion we all feel as midlife passes us by and we question what all of it has meant. Doctorow doesn't have any of the answers. He just keeps repeating the questions. This book failed on just about every level for me. It didn't make me uncomfortable or reflective. It only made me wonder if Doctorow has sought professional help yet or not. I too have these questions but appparently I'm more comfortable with the uncertainty of the answers. Well all great writers are allowed a loser. Even Shakespeare wrote "Titus Adronicus". Perhaps like "Titus", "City" will gain cult status on academic campuses where it will be hailed as a classic post modern work reflective on the origins of the universe, man, religion and other great questions. Then again maybe not.
Rating: 
Summary: City of Confusion
Review: Perhaps I was reading about the election in Flordia, as I am just as confused with both the City of God and the State of Florida. On reading the reviews of Doctrow's book I continued to feel somewhat stupid, as I have little understanding of what the author was trying to convey in this stream of consiousness. I sense the author was putting us to some kind of test and no one has indicated that the Emporer has no clothes. Harry Potter is looking better everyday and, in his favor, he is too young to vote!.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh!
Review: I can't remember the last time I failed to finish a book. Even with the worst of plotlines and/or writing styles I usually stick it out until the end. I closed this book after 50 pages and am not going to try again. The narration suffers from too many speakers and no way to identify them. Is the rebelious priest having an affair with the wife of a wealthy art patron? Or was that the journalist speaking? Who was looking for stolen church artifacts in the restaurant district? The book had some wonderfully written passages - but these don't count for much if the author refuses to let you know WHO IS SPEAKING!!!! I love a book that challenges your intellect, but this book was ridiculously difficult - if you make your readers work that hard, you're going to lose a lot of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Metaphysics for Postmoderns
Review: This is a brilliant book, only partly a novel, important to read and often thrilling, but not consistently compelling. Several motifs appear. Most resolve into the body of the piece, but a few remain frustratingly obscure. Doctorow's theme is our craving for transcendental and romantic meaning despite the failure of religion. While many postmoderns give a pass to "organized" religions in favor of a vague spirituality, Doctorow knows that if the metaphysical holds any meaning for mankind it must be vetted--tracked and challenged in all its sobersided and pop manifestations--by a community of seekers. City of God invites us in. It is Doctorow's gift that he can connect difficult theological and cosmological ideas and render them simply and vividly for his readers. We get a close-up view of the bleeding edge of contemporary philosophy. While we cannot expect closure to his tale, we can appreciate his wise guidance.
Rating:
Summary: City of God - Nobel Material
Review: As in Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow has, once again, brought his talent and brilliance to major events of the twentieth century. With City Of God, his body of work is worthy of Nobel recognition. The holocaust has caused a major upheaval in Jewish and Christian communities. Doctorow has captured the reaction to it by thinking people in both religions. Write On!
Rating:
Summary: more convoluted than the brain
Review: This book, which I anticipated so much, having read a lot of other Doctorow, disappointed. Much of it felt to me like an introduction and I kept waiting for it to take off. I confess to not finishing it, so maybe it does do that later in the book, but it seemed to be starting and starting and starting...I wanted to be interested but couldn't find the story, at least not before I gave up. Give me the Book of Daniel or Ragtime or Billy Bathgate any time...City of God was under-edited and excessively self-conscious, like Doctorow was saying, "aren't I clever?" No, not this time.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Doctorow is one of my favorite authors, thus my disappointment with this book was keener than it would have been had not the writer been of such great stature. I did not finish this book. I was completely bored by all the philosophyzing and was confused by the random organization. I REALLY hated the pages dedicated to the lyrics of popular songs. What was the point? I certainly hope that Doctorow's next effort will measure up to his past works.
Rating:
Summary: City of God
Review: This is a virulent anti-christian diatribe. Why is Doctorow so angry and mean spirited? He also rants about Hitler in an alarmingly demonic way which to me only makes the whole problem of evil all the murkier. Not recommended to spiritually inclined persons of any belief. Others may find his lucid discussions of astrophyics worth the muddy rest along with a lot of sleaze.
Rating:
Summary: It's worth the work!
Review: Like many of the previous reviewers, I was also tempted to give up without finishing...but then I would have missed the extremely satisfying passages in the last few pages of the book. Such as, Seligman's testimony challenging orthodox devotion as ancestor worship, and the insufficiency of our "praise" language for our Creator, in the light of the staggering amounts of modern knowledge and understanding of the universe. Also, the conversation of Pem and Everett, immediately following, as they discussed Seligman as a kind of modern day prophet. And Sarah's take on our evolving definition of God...looking toward new possiblities in the continuing journey toward faith. And Pemberton's petition to God in his wedding speech, envisioning the torments of hell. WHAM! Well, this more than makes up for all the hurdles, and even for the lack of closure regarding the mystery of the cross on the roof of the synagogue. Anyway, do we really want to know how it got there ? This book makes you think and question, and ultimately hope. I'm glad I happened upon it.
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