Paloverde

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I actually haven't read this book in years, but it is one of my all time favorites. I love the historical background that the author uses- you get a real feel for Los Angeles as it was at the turn of the century. The characters are very real and have much depth. A great book for a couple of afternoons under a tree or at the beach. This book will stay with you for a long time after you read it.

Rating:
Summary: Multi-generational California epic
Review: I began to read this book 2 days ago and could not put it down. It is the story of the birth of a city, Los Angeles, which coincides with the settling of the area by two prominent families, the Deanes and the Van Vliets. Through marriage, these two families merge and produce adventurous men who gamble everything on risky business ventures and beautiful women. The Van Vliets take center stage, and the story follows the lives of two brothers, Bud and V3 (short for Vincente.) The older brother Bud is a confident, take-charge sort who intimidates his more introverted younger brother, V3. The younger man always feels that he is in his brother's shadow and so he constantly strives to match Bud in business and in love. This inevitably pits the two brothers against one another, and their sibling rivalry results in rash actions which have consequences on each succeeding generation of the family. The background setting of early Los Angeles is the perfect one for this epic novel, and the well-developed plot and characters make this 25-year-old book one which deserves to be rediscovered by today's readers.

Rating:
Summary: Multi-generational California epic
Review: I began to read this book 2 days ago and could not put it down. It is the story of the birth of a city, Los Angeles, which coincides with the settling of the area by two prominent families, the Deanes and the Van Vliets. Through marriage, these two families merge and produce adventurous men who gamble everything on risky business ventures and beautiful women. The Van Vliets take center stage, and the story follows the lives of two brothers, Bud and V3 (short for Vincente.) The older brother Bud is a confident, take-charge sort who intimidates his more introverted younger brother, V3. The younger man always feels that he is in his brother's shadow and so he constantly strives to match Bud in business and in love. This inevitably pits the two brothers against one another, and their sibling rivalry results in rash actions which have consequences on each succeeding generation of the family. The background setting of early Los Angeles is the perfect one for this epic novel, and the well-developed plot and characters make this 25-year-old book one which deserves to be rediscovered by today's readers.

Rating:
Summary: Hazy in Memory, but Clear-Cut In Influence
Review: It was actually several years ago I read this book - a friend of mine had just finished it and recommended it to me.

Prior to telling me about the context of the novel, she had noted several times: "I just finished reading this book the other day, and it has done nothing but perturb me ever since. For some reason I cannot stop thinking about it." It is books like the one she was then rather abstractly describing that pique my interest, so I asked if I could borrow her copy of it, for my own enjoyment (and judgment). I began reading it that afternoon while trying to pass the time at a local theatre rehearsal. Needless to say I was absorbed - the prose was stunning! Poignant, written without regret; magnificently and sharply outlined by the dolorous contemplations of each character.

The plot of the book is vague in my mind. I remember some of the subplots very specifically, however, down to even the most intimate details. It is a love story, but one far too literary to be deemed simply a 'romance'. The novel itself takes place over the course of about three generations in the life of a California family. There is much tenderness and brilliance present - it is ultimately a clever book with a tragic ending. I would like to read it once again, and feel what I did the first time. It did not "perturb" me afterward like it did my friend, but it did leave a weighty impact.