Do You like book The Rise Of David Levinsky (1993)?
Cahan, an immigrant himself does a great job in depicting an immigrant-laden New York City and the demeaning jobs these people had to do in order to make a living. While the trivial things that lead up to David’s success within the buzzing Clothing industry seem a bit convenient, it does add to some kind of feeling that God is watching over him even though the more successful he becomes, the more David forsakes his Jewishness and all it meant to him back in the early years of his life. Read my full review here: http://lookonmywordsyemighty.blogspot...
—Jonathan
It isn't especially well-written and the characters not especially well-drawn - I usually require at least one of those elements to be remarkable, if not both. I think the story - a rather typical story of a poverty-stricken immigrant making good - would have been better in the third person rather than the first person. It is said to be autobiographical, but I think it is only partly so. It comes from the writer's own experiences, certainly, but perhaps as much the Jewish immigrant experience in general as the Cahan's. I did not know the establishment and growth of the New York garment industry would be of interest to me. There is just enough history of it together with the advent of unionism to provide a backdrop.I seem unable to say why I liked this, and yet it kept me reading. Perhaps it was the late 19th Century time period. This author has a couple of other titles that might prove interesting, and I'll keep them in mind for the future. Almost, but not quite good enough for 4 stars.
—Elizabeth (Alaska)
This book was interesting in showing the difficulties of having an Orthodox Jewish background in Russia, then immigrating to the U.S.A., then trying to figure out how to make money and survive economically while you are learning a new way of living in a different culture.The aspects I disliked in this book were that the protagonist is a capitalist who takes advantage of his workers, illegally breaks union rules, hates socialism and all efforts to improve the life of working people, is proud of his ability to lie and manipulate others to his own advantage, and is sexually pushy to a nearly abusive extreme. This story shows the life of a man who I would consider despicable as a person if he was alive today. Knowing the context of his life and history, I can understand that he just had no emotional intelligence and no proper upbringing (both his parents die early on), but really, this guy gives Jews a bad name and is an example of the kernel of truth of stereotypes.
—Shelley
