Couldn't get through this book. Each chapter was a not only a different cast of characters but also a different time period...he jumps around from the late 1800s to 1200 and back to the 1300s etc. It was much too distracting for me and made it difficult to get to know and care about the characters. ( )

París
Edward Rutherfurd
Publicado: 2012 | 745 páginas
Novela Histórico Intriga Romántico

Edward Rutherfurd ha encandilado a millones de lectores con sus fabulosas narraciones sobre generaciones distintas de habitantes de ciudades míticas. En esta ocasión ha escogido la más magnífica de todas: París. París se desarrolla a través de las historias de pasiones, lealtades divididas y secretos guardados durante años de personajes tanto ficticios como reales, con el escenario de esta gloriosa ciudad como fondo. Desde la construcción de Notre Dame a las peligrosas maquinaciones del cardenal Richelieu; de la resplandeciente corte de Versalles a la violencia de la Revolución francesa y las comunas parisinas; del hedonismo de la Belle Époque, cuando el movimiento impresionista alcanza su cénit, a la tragedia que supuso la Primera Guerra Mundial; de los escritores de la Generación Perdida de los años 1920 a los que se podía encontrar bebiendo en Les Deux Magots durante la ocupación nazi; de los luchadores de la Resistencia y de la revuelta estudiantil de mayo de 1968… Una novela que es en realidad un mosaico impresionante, sensual y arrebatador.

2.5 stars

Like many of Rutherfurd’s books, this is historical fiction that takes place over centuries, this one in Paris.

I listened to the audio and it was unfortunate it wasn’t in chronological order, like the others by him I’ve read. It was harder to follow as it jumped around. The storyline I found the most interesting was the building of the Eiffel Tower. Next to that, parts of the WWII storyline were good. Otherwise, I kind of got lost in the rest and wasn’t quite sure what was happening. I don’t know if much time was spent on Napoleon or the French Revolution, though they were both mentioned a few times, but if there was a longer storyline around those, I missed them. Being such a long book over many generations (and the back and forth in time didn’t help), it was hard for me to figure out who was who and how they were related. When I thought I had it, he’d flip to another time period and characters, then by the time we came back, I’d have forgotten. ( )

This is another of E. Rutherfurd's epic novels of historical fiction. I enjoyed it thoroughly, except that I was a bit puzzled (and slightly annoyed), though, to see that the author decided to forgo his usual format (like in "Russka" and "London", for instance) of chronological order of events, and so the chapters in "Paris" were jumping from 1800s to 1200s, then back and forth again. I couldn't see the value of that. ( )

Engrossing! This book is unputdownable. I picked it up intending to read only a couple of pages while the Kindle recharged. The next thing I knew I was 200 pages into the book and knew that I would not read anything else until I finished it.

Paris is a historical fiction novel by Edward Rutherford. It covers 1,000 years of history by telling the sagas of six families. The families interact with famous people from their eras in order to bring the reader some familiarity with Parisian history. I have read 2 other historical novels by Rutherford and both told their stories chronologically. Paris skips back and forth in time but I found it is easy to follow.

There are many, many historical details that are clearly explained. If you want to know why plaster of paris is named such, read this book. What about the building of the Eiffel Tower? Here, you will discover everything that went into its construction by following characters who were hired to work on it. While the book covers two wars, I was glad that the fighting scenes were short. I don't like war stories much. The plague and the Spanish Flu also appear as well as the world exhibitions that were held in Paris and the rise of feminism.

I LOVED this book and cannot recommend it more highly to historical fiction fans. Do not be put off by its 800 pages. Most of Rutherford's books are over 1,000 pages so Paris is a short story. ( )