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    Nueva York
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    Nueva York
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    Nueva York
    Ebook1,368 pages31 hours

    Nueva York

    By Edward Rutherfurd

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    "Los 400 años de Historia de la ciudad de Nueva York se conforma de miles de historias, escenarios y personajes extraordinarios. Partiendo de la vida de los indios que habitaban sus tierras vírgenes y los primeros colonos holandeses hasta llegar a la dramática construcción del Empire State Building o la creación del edificio Dakota en el que vivía John Lennon. Durante la Guerra de la Independencia de los Estados Unidos, Nueva York fue territorio británico; tiempo más tarde, los neoyorquinos crearon canales y vías ferroviarias que abrieron las puertas a la America del Oeste. La ciudad ha estado en el centro del huracán en buenos y malos momentos, como lo fueron el crash del 29 o el ataque del 11 de septiembre. Grandes personajes han poblado su historia: Stuyvesant, el holandés que defendió Nuevo Ámsterdam; Washington, cuya presidencia arrancó en Nueva York; Ben Franklin, que abogó por la América británica; Lincoln, que dio uno de sus mejores discursos en la ciudad...Pero, ante todo, para mí, se trata de la historia de gente ordinaria: indios locales, pobladores holandeses, comerciantes ingleses, esclavos africanos, tenderos alemanes, trabajadores irlandeses, judíos e italianos llegados vía Ellis Island, puertorriqueños, guatemaltecos y chinos, gente de bien y gángsters, mujeres de la calle y damas de alta alcurnia. A estos personajes, la mayoría de ellos anónimos, los descubrí cuando me documentaba para el libro. Eran una milésima parte de todos aquellos que llegaron a Nueva York, a América, en busca de la libertad algo que, la mayoría acabó encontrando." Edward Rutherfurd

    LanguageEspañol
    PublisherRoca editorial
    Release dateOct 17, 2010
    ISBN9788499182100
    Author

    Edward Rutherfurd

    Edward Rutherfurd nació en Salisbury, Inglaterra. Se diplomó en historia y literatura por Cambridge. Es el autor de Sarum, El bosque, Londres, París, Nueva York, Rusia, Rebeldes de Irlanda, Príncipes de Irlanda y China. En todas sus novelas Rutherfurd nos ofrece una rica panorámica de las ciudades más atractivas del mundo a través de personajes ficticios y reales que se ponen al servicio de una investigación minuciosa en lo que ya se ha convertido el sello particular de autor.

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    Reviews for Nueva York

    4/5

    519 ratings49 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is one of my all-time favorites. One of those books you really don't want to end! If you live in New York or have ever visited New York, this is a must read!
    • 4/5
      Accurately described as a sweeping saga - I learnt much about New York history through the stories of several families over their generations.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsThis is a novel that follows multiple characters through 400+ years in New York City. Primarily, we follow the same family(ies) through the generations. Starting in the 17th century with a Dutch family (and we also follow African Americans, Irish, Italians…), we follow from grandparent to grandchild (for the most part) and we see the characters through colonization, slavery, the Civil War, Tammany Hall, The Triangle Factory fire, the Depression, up to and including 9/11.I listened to the audio, and for me, audios narrated by a male voice aren’t always exciting for me; add to that, the length of this one (I also tend to have trouble with very long audios), and I was pleasantly surprised. I waffled between rating this 3 stars (ok) and 3.5 (good), as there were parts where I lost interest. I think I rated “Sarum” 3 stars, and though it was a number of years ago, I do think I preferred “New York”. In some ways, with the different characters (though all family), it felt a bit like short stories – some situations and characters I found more interesting than others. It did end on a strong (but very difficult) note with 9/11.
    • 4/5
      “Charlie shrugged. ‘Maybe I'm just being a novelist.’ Novelists liked to imagine the interconnectedness of things -- as though all the people in the big city were part of some great organism, their lives intertwined.” — Edward Rutherfurd, “New York”Edward Rutherfurd gets personal twice in his 2009 novel “New York,” and the lines above mark the second time. Commenting on one of his characters he is also commenting on himself and on what he is attempting to do in this novel and all the others he has written: to imagine the interconnectedness of things — as though all the people in the big city were part of some great organism, their lives intertwined.He succeeds admirably, even more so than he did in an earlier Rutherfurd novel I read, “London.” The reason may be simply that New York City has a much shorter history than does London. In his novels he follows a few fictional families through the entire history of a city, country or region, conveying important details of history while displaying how key events impact his characters and then showing how these characters impact the lives of descendants who will not remember them. That task can be daunting in a place with as long a history as London. New York, however, has been around just a few hundred years, and so some of his characters can stay around for several chapters in some cases, and readers can follow more closely as one family member passes the baton to the next generation.Rutherfurd's main characters are part of the Master family, some of whom lived in the city when it was still called New Amsterdam at the time of Peter Stuyvesant. The family business prospers, and the Masters become part of the New York elite. They witness the Revolution, the impact of slavery on the city, the Civil War, major fires and the blizzard of 1888, the arrival of large numbers of immigrants, the Great Depression and, eventually, the terrorist attack on the twin towers. The author mixes in families representing different groups, including blacks, Irish, Jews and Puerto Ricans. In a sense, Rutherfurd demonstrates that the history of New York City is also the history of the United States.The author errs here and there in his massive novel. At one point, for example, he writes that "General Grant had just smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg." Grant was attacking Vicksburg at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg. Later the British author rites of a family going to the beach for a few days, saying it "was one of the best holidays they'd had in years." Americans normally refer to such days away from home as vacations, not holidays.This novel proves totally absorbing, demonstrating as much as any novel can the "interconnectedness of things."And as for the other time Rutherfurd gets personal. He pokes fun at himself when he has one of his characters say about another, "Of course ... he was never a gentleman. He even wrote historical novels."
    • 4/5
      I've trusted this author before ("London", "The Forest") as researcher and tour-guide-through-time of the locales he writes about. New York has long interested me, so this novel was not to be resisted. Each chapter offers a vignette of New York at a different stage in its history, often advancing several years and sometimes to the next generation of families central to the narration. You don't visit with characters for very long before they're sequentially moved offstage, but you do see the unfolding of family fortunes through the centuries, like descending a family tree from its highest limbs to the present day at its roots. Accepting the setting as the novel's focal point rather than its characters, this structure works."New York" is about a city and its growth. It begins with New Amsterdam in the 17th century, and winds up with the events of 9/11. Only on the macroscale do I have a gripe, noting there's a skewing of the pace and degree of detail that favours the first half of the timeline. It's most evident when you take the example of war coverage. I was expecting to read about New York's role during the American Revolution; what I didn't expect was a full detailing of all events leading up to the war and the war itself, told from both sides. The Boston Tea Party, Valley Forge, Saratoga, etc. - it's all in there. That's a strong contrast with the Civil War, which is only briefly visited in comparison and where the story centers on the Draft Riots. World War II is barely mentioned in passing - no scenes of troop ships, no ticker tape parade at war's end.On the microscale, there is much to appreciate throughout. There is a very good capturing of a slave's perspective in one of the early chapters. I enjoyed the Ben Franklin 'teasers' prior to his actual appearance, and the cameo by the Albions from "The Forest", as well as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Caruso the Italian tenor, J.P. Morgan and other significant historical figures. Irish, Italian, Jewish and Puerto Rican immigrants are all well presented. Skyscraper construction in the 1920s and 1930s received its fair due. There are interesting details around how the stock market operated, then and now. The final chapters profile upscale characters who don't represent the Everyman of New York, but are a necessity for setting up the 9/11 sequence.Historical fiction is a great genre for combining learning and entertainment, provided it steers close to actual fact. Rutherfurd remains very steadily on the factual side. The fiction in this novel is only a garnish, but it's enough to ease the journey: there's a world of difference between googling the origin of the name Bronx (Bronk's) on the Internet and 'witnessing' its naming. Straight history rarely conveys the sense of what it was to be there in that time and place. Throughout this novelized telling I felt fully present in a way that no straightlaced 'city-ography' can capture.Constantly in the shadow of the late James Michener (and to whom he makes some fun references here, as if to acknowledge it), Rutherfurd is almost always considered the lesser talent. I always know Michener's characters more intimately and find them better rounded, but Rutherfurd is at least his match in terms of historical research and its non-obtrusive insertion into the flow of a story.
    • 5/5
      Picked up this book while traveling - needed a big book to keep me occupied. I realized that I had read AND enjoyed Sarum years ago. Now that we have family living in NYC it was interesting to learn more about that huge city!I sure learned a lot about the history - Rutherfurd is surely this generation's James Michener!!!Enjoyed the book tremendously - am now looking forward to reading Rutherfurd's other books!
    • 4/5
      This is my first time reading this author and I was thoroughly impressed. His style in which in combined his story with actual historic events was impressive and it kept the story moving. Following the families throughout the generations provided an outlook on how some things are today. I was concerned that the story wouldn't be developed as much as it was but Edward has a great respect for detail. His writing style is one that I have to say is my favorite. When placing a story around historical facts there has to be detailed information. I definitely can't wait to read another of his books.
    • 5/5
      New York, The Novel is an excellent read. Rutherfurd follows generations of several families from the Dutch period all the way up to the tragic events of 911. I admire Rutherfurd’s handling of the numerous characters in the book, which spans 350 years. Despite the brevity of our time with each generation, we get to know the characters fairly well before we move on to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I often think that novels such as this would do a better job of giving s sense of history to young students than the typical textbooks we employ within our school system. Bravo to Edward Rutherfurd on a job well done!
    • 3/5
      Well, there's around two weeks of my life when I could have been reading other books that I won't get back, but I FINISHED A BOOK BY EDWARD RUTHERFORD!
    • 3/5
      History and more history. Only my New York state education kept me going.
      Some parts really good and others dragged. I liked the England setting better.
    • 4/5
      I approach an Edward Rutherfurd opus with a bit of trepidation, knowing as I do that so engrossing a story teller writing on such an epic scale will compel my time and attention regardless of what else beckons. As a native New Yorker, I anticipated finding this work particularly engaging but it exceeded even my expectations. Across the seismic shifts of history, Rutherfurd illuminates the evolution of a small colonial outpost into a world class city. Along the way, he introduces hosts of diverse, engaging characters who bring New York in all its many guises to life. At the heart of his story is the sometimes chaotic, always fascinating struggle for freedom and prosperity that has characterized New York through the centuries and continues to set it apart today.
    • 5/5
      I’ve read all of Rutherfurd’s work, and in my opinion he has been accurately described as a latter day James Michener. I’ve found some of his work outstanding (Russka and The Rebels of Ireland) and some, not so much (The Forest). In this work, Rutherfurd takes on a very rich topic, the city of New York as it has existed over the past 350 years.As I noted in my review of The Rebels of Ireland, in my opinion Rutherfurd is most effective when chronicling a 300-400 year time frame, as opposed to Michener’s more standard span from prehistory to the present day. Doing so gives him the opportunity to more fully develop the characters and maintain a more cohesive story thread. Such is the case with this fine work, which examines the rich history of the city of New York, from roughly 1650 until the present day.Rutherfurd tracks development of what is present day New York by following the Master family, from the early days of Dutch New Amsterdam through the terrorist attacks of 9/11. All of the high points of American history are touched upon as they impacted the city and its inhabitants. Of particular interest are cameos in which various immigrant nationalities are spotlighted including the Irish, Italian, German, Jewish and Puerto Rican perspective.Even the period surrounding the American Revolutionary War, an era which I have studied extensively, contains new insights through focus on the Loyalist Master family, a viewpoint I’ve never encountered despite having read dozens of works on the Founding Fathers and the history of the time.I imagine that inhabitants of the city, or even those who have visited more often than myself (I’ve been 4-5 times), would find the novel even more enlightening, as development of certain areas of the city, with which I am otherwise unfamiliar, are very well developed. Terms like Upper West Side, SoHo, Greenwich Village, Five Points, Harlem, I’m sure have more meaning to those who live in and around the area. In any event, I highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or wishes to learn more about the city of New York, its history and its people.
    • 3/5
      Starts with Dutch and Indians in NYS and ends a few years after WTC disaster. Follows generations of a few families though some are dropped along the way and other intersect through the years. Enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      "New York" is a well researched, wonderful inter-generational saga that spans several centuries, from the mid 1600’s until 2011. It traces the generations of several families through feast and famine, prosperity and poverty, hope and despair. Many of the characters develop and reconnect seamlessly and realistically, as time goes by.The amazing history of New York is told wondrously in this novel, while adhering to the facts perfectly, albeit using a mixture of real and fictional characters. Several families meet again and again, generation after generation, notably the Masters and O’Donnells, the Kellers and the Carusos, even though their relationship and past connections to each other often remains unknown to all, but the reader.Occasionally, the author creates an “aha” moment for the reader, when he introduces a little known fact and it becomes a painless, teaching moment, like how a street or a river got a name, or who founded a certain part of New York, or who saved the city from a stock market crash. The author’s subtle presentation of facts, important incidents and details, is never burdensome or tedious. The weaving together of both real characters (Tammany, J. P. Morgan, Roosevelt, Koch, Lincoln, Washington, Franklin, Douglas, Kennedy, King, to name just a few that appear throughout the narrative), and fictional characters is never contrived. It isn’t like the history books that can bore you to death with facts, and yet, it is filled with all of the necessary accurate information to create a clear picture of New York’s evolution and rise to the megalopolis it is today.New York’s foundation is illuminated with such clarity and portrayed with such vigor, that the narrative simply flies by with lively images of life there. The Indians, the privateers, the Dutch, the English, the Irish, the financiers, the soldiers, the gangs, all play a role in the account and all fit in seamlessly, so the reader really understands how New York and its environs came to be and comes to understand all of the people who populated the area in the beginning- from the mid 1600’s onward- and the kind of courage needed to survive as New York City and America grew.The reader of this audio is one of the best. He does a fabulous job as he is able to throw his voice into each character with authentic accents and precise emotion to fit the moment. He relates the brutality and difficult history of so many things like slavery, the Revolution, the Civil war, the suffrage movement, prohibition, the Civil Rights movement, the Depression, the rise and fall of the stock market, the rise of terrorism with the World Trade Center bombing and its eventual collapse, all with perfect and appropriate inflection, feeling and accent.I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to painlessly learn the history of New York and even the United States, since New York was such a major part of its development, while having the added pleasure of reading a wonderful piece of historic fiction that will be memorable and not easily forgotten.
    • 4/5
      read-alike for Michener, Follet's Fall of Giants
    • 5/5
      I love when a novel drags you into a character's drama in the first two pages! I have a real affinity for the way Rutherfurd ties people and families together over the generations. It has a very buddist feel to me - that we are all connected throughout time. Cried with fear for these characters and the thousands of New Yorkers like them during the 2001 chapter. I love when a book evokes that kind of deep emotion.
    • 4/5
      As a new New Yorker, I found this book to be quite fascinating. I'm not usually much for historical fiction, but it gave me a perspective on the city that I didn't have before. I'm going to seek out his other books to see if I enjoy them just as much.

      That being said, it felt a little thin on the 20th Century end of the novel. Perhaps because so much time was spent on the 17th & 18th centuries there wasn't enough time to delve into the last 50-75 years, but certainly there wasn't the same level of detail as there was in the first half of the novel.
    • 4/5
      Sweeping tale of New York city that follows the same formula as his other novels. The first of half of the book deals with the Dutch traders and the American Revolution and is excellent. The intertwined stories of these early New York families catch the imagination and don't let go. However the second half of the book is dissappointing. Ellis Island, World War 2, and the terrorist attacks are given far too little attention. The common thread of the historical artifact passed through the generations loses steam as time marches on. Perhaps for a city with this much history 2 books would have been warranted - similair to his treatment of Ireland. I enjoyed this book a great deal but expected so much more.....
    • 5/5
      This is another great book by an excellent author, all about (yes doesn't take a genius to work it out!) New York!It starts in 1664 and culminates in 2001 at the World Trade Centre.It is a story of fiction for the most part, and tells the stories of 3 or 4 families down through history. Here and there it got a little bogged down with political stuff but I suppose if you are telling the story of a vast city such as New York this is going to happen, but for the most part it had me hooked on the characters lives and loves.An excellent read, very meaty, and I can well recommend it to anyone with an interest in "The Big Apple" or indeed general history.
    • 5/5
      Wow, what an amazing undertaking!I have read all of Rutherfurds' books to date, and find him one of my favorite writers. New York did not disappoint.I grew up in NYS, and lived in New York for about 6 years. And I have to say that I gained more history in Rutherfurds, book than in all the years I took NYS history!The Dutch shaped the trading industry of New York, but the English shaped the financial. Both histories are vital to how New York has survived the centuries; and remained as vital as it is in the world. Any number of the historical situations that happened could have brought the city to it's knees and ended its reign. However, due to its diversity in industrial, trade and financial markets, it survived and prospered. I, at first, was sad at the coming and goings of different families, as they intertwined with the Masters. However, I finally realized that they each had their particular place in that area of the book, and the times it was focusing on.I felt most of the female characters were terrible people, but towards the end of each segment, they showed backbone and strength, and made me reevaluate their character.Some things I found interesting- the Revolutionary period, having the son and father at odds politically. The Draft Riots and how corrupt the reasons behind it, and how wide spread they were. The Civil War photography. The rise of the artistic community and refinement of the cultural life of New York. Plus so much more.I think when reading this, one needs to remember it is not about the history of New York, but rather the historical events in New York that shaped the Master family, and their relationships with the dominant peoples of the times they were in. One thing I also will mention, Rutherfurds' treatment of 9/11 was wonderful. I have to admit I was very moved; it was a hard time for me personally and those who loyalty never leaves the City, even if they do.
    • 4/5
      Michener-like in its grand scale, but it becomes very personal too. Fun, interesting facts about NYC: One discovers that there actually was a wall along side Wall Street at one time, for example. For a 860-page book, it moves very quickly.
    • 5/5
      Another simp[ly amazing book from Edward Rutherfurd! I eagerly awaited the publication of this book, and it certainly did not disappoint. Rutherfurd is a master of this genre, bar none!
    • 5/5
      I've read several of Rutherfurd's historical novels, they never disappoint. And neither did New York. I've been a New Yorker all my life, and I can honestly say that I learned things from this book that I never knew before. I especially enjoyed how he tied in the relationships of the various families beginning in the 17th Century and continuing down to the present. Thanks, Edward, for another enjoyable history.
    • 2/5
      I very much enjoyed this sweeping account of New York, from start to present, but found it more of a collection of individual tales of different eras than a sweeping saga through the centuries. There were no bridges between the tales which served to make the book discontinuous rather than a single piece.
    • 4/5
      This book sparked my interest because I'm from upstate New York and loved how I could imagine my ancestors living throughout the past 300 years. I liked how Rutherfurd chose to allow me to follow generations of specific families throughout the development of New York City, even referring to areas beyond the central city. The incorporation of historical facts, varying socioeconomic statuses, and genuine human emotions kept my attention throughout the book. The ending was my favorite, as it left me thinking about my life, my ancestors, and my history. "New York: The Novel" inspired me to research my genealogy, allowing me to pass on my history to future generations.
    • 5/5
      Another historical saga with intertwined families by the author who is, for me, the leading living exponent of this genre. This gives a good feel for the rich cultural diversity and breadth of New York and demonstrates its well deserved place as one of the world's great cities. The only slight surprise was that the chapters on the 20th century skirted round the edges of all famous events between the Wall Street crash and 9/11. Not a criticism, as that is not the point of the novel, but I was a little surprised. This will never be my favourite Rutherfurd as I am ultimately more interested in British and Russian history than US history, but a fine read. I'd like to visit NY now.
    • 5/5
      If you enjoy historical fiction, you will love this book. I learned quite a bit about the beginnings of New York...things I don't remember learning in school. Such as, I did not know that the Dutch had such an influence in the beginning of our nation's most important city. Also, the author will never know this, but he helped me fill in a tiny bit more of the puzzle on my family tree. Edward Rutherfurd is one of my favorite authors.
    • 5/5
      I grew up in northern New Jersey, so the history of New York is fascinating to me. Edward Rutherfurd tells the story of people living in the city, starting in the 17th century when the settlement was called New Amsterdam and was governed by Peter Styverson and ending in the 21st century when Rudy Giuliani was mayor. The novel focuses on the Master family, but also looks at other families whose lives were intertwined with the Masters. I thought Rutherfurd did an excellent job of mixing history with fiction.When I lived in the New York area, I went to the city often. I loved the museums, the theater scene from the small groups in store front theaters to the Broadway shows, and I went to countless concerts in Central Park and at the Fillmore East. I spent hours in the libraries, especially the main branch on Fifth Ave and the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. But despite loving the city I didn't know much about its history. I had no idea about the early connection to the slave trade, Spanish Harlem was just a song to me, and I knew next to nothing about the financial district, especially during the years leading up to the depression. New York covered those aspects of the city in a way that held my attention. I loved the book for that.I saw in some of the other reviews complaints that Rutherfurd did not spend time with the African American families living in the twentieth century. He did cover their experience, especially during the pre civil war years, but those families were only mentioned briefly during modern times. I don't agree with that criticism. Rutherfurd chose to write a story about the Master family and if he left their story for too long the plot would have lost its continuity. He covered the Italians and the Irish during the years when those nationalities were the bulk of the immigrants. The African Americans were in the city from early on, just as the English were. Another novel about their experience in New York would be equally fascinating, but this novel was primarily about the English experience. Perhaps he could have spent more time with the Puerto Ricans families, given their importance to modern New York, but he did touch on that experience and I learned a good deal. He discussed the Lenape Native Americans, but as with many of the other groups that section was from the point of view of the European (Dutch) settlers.My chief complaint comes down to a single word. Here's the line from late in the book:He'd been fortunate to get a low number in the lottery and avoided the draft.The word I object to is low. Rutherfurd was talking about the 1970s here and anyone who lived through that period knows that a low number meant you were going to war, not the other way around. The problem with this mistake is it stops the reader who knows its wrong and casts doubt on the accuracy of the rest of the book. But I'm still giving this book a five star rating. Overall, I loved it.Steve Lindahl - author of Motherless Soul and White Horse Regressions
    • 5/5
      It is a gorgeous historical fiction in a wonderful written language. The story about New York is extending to the last 350 years. It starts with the first Dutch merchants and ends with their New Yorker's descentants. It's not only the history of a single city but also the Amerikan Independency. It narrates the most important American progress and on the other hand the City's development. It's carefully discribed how the buildings and old Manhatten could have been in the 17th and what major transformations it took up until now. On the basis of a family chronicle it was very easy to dip into the story and also to learn about different social points of view. Money and its rise and fall is not only in our days a major subject but also in the earlier time this family was depended on it. All the important Wall Street affairs can be found in this story aswell.
    • 5/5
      As always, Edward Rutherfurd's books are seeped in fact, fantastic fiction, and are as utterly believable as fiction. Loved it. Loved recognising all the areas and buildings described in the book. The characters were perfectly described - loveable and villainous at the same time.