Scan barcode
A review by topdragon
Paper Money by Ken Follett
3.0
Ken Follett began his successful rise as a best-selling author with the publication of [b:Eye of the Needle|92364|Eye of the Needle|Ken Follett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327939511s/92364.jpg|395229] in 1978. However, that was not his first novel. Paper Money was written just before, in 1976, and is described by the author in the introduction as “the best of my unsuccessful books.”
Maybe, but it still didn’t work too well for me. This caper novel lacked a central character but instead told the story from a number of different characters’ point-of-view. We have bankers, newspaper reporters, legislators, crooks and more. Each chapter is devoted to a single hour of the day, and the whole thing is told in chronological order. (Yes…long before the TV series “24” did this). For me though, dividing everything into the various characters’ viewpoints made the plot very choppy and unconnected. Some of the chapters were quite enjoyable while others were not, depending on the character involved. I’ve read other novels that employ this method and they have worked well but this one lost its cohesion early on. Follett shows signs of excellent story telling here and there but to me, it seemed obvious this is an early effort.
Recommended for Follett completests but others will be taking a risk.
Maybe, but it still didn’t work too well for me. This caper novel lacked a central character but instead told the story from a number of different characters’ point-of-view. We have bankers, newspaper reporters, legislators, crooks and more. Each chapter is devoted to a single hour of the day, and the whole thing is told in chronological order. (Yes…long before the TV series “24” did this). For me though, dividing everything into the various characters’ viewpoints made the plot very choppy and unconnected. Some of the chapters were quite enjoyable while others were not, depending on the character involved. I’ve read other novels that employ this method and they have worked well but this one lost its cohesion early on. Follett shows signs of excellent story telling here and there but to me, it seemed obvious this is an early effort.
Recommended for Follett completests but others will be taking a risk.