Kane and Abel

- by Jeffrey Archer

This is the story of two protagonists - William Kane and Abel Rosnovski, told from their birth to their grave. Each was born continents apart to very different fortunes on the same day. They had little in common, except the zeal to succeed in life.

Abel Rosnovski's mother died giving birth to him in a forest. A small boy who was hunting mistook the cries of labor to be that of an animal in pain and went to investigate. Finding the little boy with the umbilical cord still attached, he takes his hunting knife and severes the cord and takes the little boy to his mother, who already had eight mouths to feed with little means to do so. She christened him Wladek and took care of him, along with her other children. He is different than all his siblings of his adopted family and was always keen on learning and studying, thus finding himself in a Baron's castle as a competition to his only child, Leon, and getting private education. When a war broke out and the castle was taken over, Baron and all alive in his castle were taken prisoners of war. Thus, in a short span of time, Wladek, who was carefree in a castle found himself in a dungeon, with no hope but death to set him free. Eventually, he was taken to a Russian prisoner camp from which he escapes and travels to America, with nothing but a silver arm band, given to him by the Baron on his dying bed. Thus the small boy from Poland reaches America with hopes of succeeding in life.

William Kane was born in a banker's family. His father, Richard Kane was a millionaire and the chairman of Kane and Cabot bank and he was destined to be his prodigy from the moment he was born. During Richard's travel in Titanic, William loses his father when he was barely seven and he vows to be everything his father was when he grew up and so he does. Eventually, by the time he reaches Harvard, he has built himself a reputation of being a shrewd investor and makes himself a small fortune by investing in stocks before he even had his first pay check. He harbors an ambition to be the chairman of the Lester bank, the then largest bank, owned by his best friend's father, Charles Lester.

Abel on the other hand has a harder life than William, working his way through the ranks as a waiter and learning English during night, while working in the morning. Being a waiter to the corner table, allowed him to be privy to some interesting conversations which allowed him to invest intelligently in stocks. Eventually, fortune favors him in the form of David Leroy, who insists that Abel become the manager of his Richmond group of hotels. And thus Abel gets his first big chance. One tragic day, David Leroy unable to find a backer who can pull his hotels out of trouble and failing to secure any financial backing after approaching Kane and Cabot bank, commits suicide, leaving Abel the owner of the Richmond group of hotels and in charge of a sinking ship.

Abel, despite his valiant attempts could not find any backers and thus, he meets William Kane who was already working in Kane and Cabot, appealing his bank to reconsider backing him up, showing his proposal as to how he intends to bring the Richmond hotels out of trouble, if he could get a chance. William does try to persuade his bank to back Abel without much success and hence had to issue a notice of thirty days to find a backer or close the hotels. Abel, after his meeting with William, pledges that he will destroy William Kane, as he believes that Kane did not give him or David Leroy a chance and hence resulted in Leroy committing suicide.

And thus begins the tale of Kane and Abel, two different protagonists, one a born millionaire and other a penniless Polish immigrant and how fate brings them together and how they progress from two strangers to arch rivals and eventually to their destruction.

Jeffrey Archer does a phenomenal job in weaving a web of intricate emotions in the back drop of banking and investments, with two very likable protagonists, who in their own justified way, were bent on facing each other off. Spanning three generations of Kane and Abel, this story unfolds at breath taking space, through the times of war and depression, through Hitler regime and America's rise, yet never having a dull moment. As a reader, I could hardly favor one protagonist over the other. The ending was beautiful and poignant and so befitting these characters of Kane and Abel, that it did have my heart weeping for them.

I loved the book, for its story and its portrayal of biblical Cain and Abel. It is a brilliant novel and a must read for all those who enjoy a good story.

Happy reading, fellow readers!!

Harry Potter

- By J.K.Rowling

When I was introduced to Harry Potter series, I was twenty three. I have never heard of the name Harry Potter before that. And being an avid reader, I tell you, most of my friends were surprised that I have not read Harry Potter by then. So, I took their word and read a couple of chapters of Harry Potter and Philosopher's stone in Crossword and was hooked. I picked the entire series that day and completed the series in three days and nights. I tell you, I could not believe that I lived in a non-Harry Potter world until then. And since then, I have read Harry Potter enough number of times that it should be recorded as a crime, honestly! But when it is Harry Potter, written as J.K.Rowling has done, it is a crime to NOT have read it, oh, at least a million times!! So, now you know, I am crazy about this series.

J.K.Rowling created a magical world that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. She created adventures that are thrilling and characters that are easy to connect with. As thoroughly enjoyable as the stories are, the relationships and the values portrayed throughout the stories, kept me hooked to them. These books have made such phenomenal character study for me.

Harry Potter, for his experiences, should have been bitter with life, should have wanted to throw tantrums and scream at the unfairness of it all. Yet, he manages to be a grounded person with amazing strength of character and phenomenal amount of grit that should raise goosebumps for anyone. Parallel to him, his nemesis, Voldemort, with similar background grows to be cunning, solitary, dark, friendless wizard hell bent on destroying the world. Harry finds himself with friends who are loyal, courageous and generous, while Voldemort is surrounded by people who are afraid of him, whom he mistreats as servants rather than confidantes.

The books all lead to the grand showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Voldemort is a supremely powerful wizard, who crossed the realms of dark magic and considers himself unbeatable. Harry Potter is still studying in the school of witchcraft and wizardry. He is a novice in magic. The fight between these two should have been completely one-sided, yet Harry's ability to still love despite everything life has shown him, gives him the one strength that Voldemort did not have. His determination to stand up for the greater good despite all the odds, his perseverance when the ride gets bumpy, his trust in his friends and his kindness to all magical creatures alike make him a cut above Voldemort. And hence, the showdown was a phenomenal ride for me.

Aside from such thrilling tale of two wizards, these stories also teach a lot of values:
- life can be difficult, but with loyal friends, it could turn out to be a fascinating adventure
- that sometimes, evil may have the upper hand, but in the end, good will always triumph
- that no matter how small you are and how naive you are, persistence and hard work will pay dividends in the end
- that no amount of love is enough and to keep loving despite all odds is a tribute one can give to one's life

Every time, I am compelled to read the series as a whole. I could never stop myself with just reading a single book of the series and every time I choke up by the ending. I am overwhelmed with the emotions that gush up by the time I am done with the series. Every time, they rage wildly inside me from the beginning, turning into a mini tornado as the series progresses. Love, hate, anger, despair, surprise, heart break, joy and triumph - all ride in one huge rainbow until the very end and burst out like sparkles at the very end.

There are a lot of characters in the novels and most of them are quite dear to me. Hermione Granger, the little miss-know-it-all and Ronald Weasley - with his surprising courage and loyalty, Harry's two best friends through his adventures, who stand with him until the very end, form an integral part of this series. The relation between these three is fabulously portrayed and is quite entertaining to the readers. Weasley twins are hilarious pranksters who liven up the sometimes dull moment. Albus Dumbledore is another favorite character of mine, who is a genius with prodigal skill and the master behind the triumph of good in the end. Dobby, the house elf! Ah, I was in tears when he died. Severus Snape - I share a love hate relationship with this character, but to borrow Harry's words- he is one of the bravest character of the series. Sirius Black -this is one character I absolutely want a bit more of!! It just wasn't enough. Harry should by all means have had more time with him. But that is just a testimony to J.K.Rowling's penmanship in creating characters that are so enjoyable and loving.

I urge everyone to read the phenomenon called Harry Potter and enjoy the ride into the realms of magic. It is beautiful and brilliant.