Book Review
Aug. 28th, 2007 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariBilly Bathgate
by E. L. Doctorow
Doctorow's prose style is surprisingly smooth and hypnotic, making this book about a boy's rise through the ranks of organized crime in the 1930s a wonderful read. I was pleasantly surprised by the way Doctorow made both his protagonist and his story clear-sighted and balanced. Billy never deludes himself about the ugly and violent side of gangland life even while he is attracted by and continues to pursue it. Doctorow also gives a lot of attention to the emotional and psychological experience of involvement of organized crime without losing any narrative drive.
by E. L. Doctorow
Doctorow's prose style is surprisingly smooth and hypnotic, making this book about a boy's rise through the ranks of organized crime in the 1930s a wonderful read. I was pleasantly surprised by the way Doctorow made both his protagonist and his story clear-sighted and balanced. Billy never deludes himself about the ugly and violent side of gangland life even while he is attracted by and continues to pursue it. Doctorow also gives a lot of attention to the emotional and psychological experience of involvement of organized crime without losing any narrative drive.
