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Lights: Despair, Faith, and Hope on Broadway
A literary work of fiction based in the decade of the 90s in Times Square, New York. It describes the life of a family growing up; as the city tries to reinvent itself, as it has done so many times before in its long history. From being the "armpit of New York", can it be transformed into an entertainment mecca for live theater for the millions and how will it transform the lives of the people who live there..
270 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2014
334 people want to read
About the author
Rajiv Kapoor
8 books42 followersRajiv Kapoor was born in New Delhi. He was educated by the Jesuits at St Xavier’s, and graduated with Honors, from The University of Delhi. Rajiv Kapoor did his MBA in International Business from Penn State and is now settled in the US. He has traveled across most states of India, when he was working on modernization of Rice Mills, and understands their diverse culture and history. This book is a historical fiction, dedicated to his city of birth. His extensive research dives deep into a critical moment, in India’s long history, for his latest Historical Thriller “The Peacock Throne Wars” honoring the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence and his beloved Dilli!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 12, 2014
I received Lights on a goodreads giveaway.
First thing first, I visited New York once and let's just say some on the details in this book was like visions going through my head from my past. The author did a good job by giving description of each place and details. He can set that mental image in your head about what he wants you to understand. The story line and characters are good! Lights, give you a excellent events and people, and I feel like they are brought to life! What I really like was that the story starts the young children off young and as the book progress you can basically "watch" them grow up and face their everyday struggles. Vera, the mom, is very passionate, and personally I feel like that you got to read the struggles that she goes through to raise her children alone, can be related to most moms (without the famous part of course).
Second, I want to say is that I notice grammar, as well as, punctuation errors in this book as well. They were easily noticeable and felt like they were just small minor things, that could've been fixed.
In all, I really liked the book. It has a great storyline as well as visionary details!
First thing first, I visited New York once and let's just say some on the details in this book was like visions going through my head from my past. The author did a good job by giving description of each place and details. He can set that mental image in your head about what he wants you to understand. The story line and characters are good! Lights, give you a excellent events and people, and I feel like they are brought to life! What I really like was that the story starts the young children off young and as the book progress you can basically "watch" them grow up and face their everyday struggles. Vera, the mom, is very passionate, and personally I feel like that you got to read the struggles that she goes through to raise her children alone, can be related to most moms (without the famous part of course).
Second, I want to say is that I notice grammar, as well as, punctuation errors in this book as well. They were easily noticeable and felt like they were just small minor things, that could've been fixed.
In all, I really liked the book. It has a great storyline as well as visionary details!
set-aside
November 29, 2014Lights got my attention with its beautiful cover--which I think is bold yet simplistic in its approach--and with its subtitle's references to faith and hope, two overall themes I read about often.
Yet, upon starting the novel and later looking through more of it, I found that the book could have used another round of editing, at the least to make the characters' dialogue/speech natural and realistic, according to who they are and where they're from, and to correct the errors in grammar, punctuation, etc. The unusual style and wording of the narration and dialogue gave me the sense of reading about a story and not reading the story itself, and I decided not to continue.
I've little doubt that there's a heartfelt message of faith and hope in this novel that other readers may enjoy.
____________
I received a free copy of this book, for which I give my honest review, through Goodreads First Reads.
Yet, upon starting the novel and later looking through more of it, I found that the book could have used another round of editing, at the least to make the characters' dialogue/speech natural and realistic, according to who they are and where they're from, and to correct the errors in grammar, punctuation, etc. The unusual style and wording of the narration and dialogue gave me the sense of reading about a story and not reading the story itself, and I decided not to continue.
I've little doubt that there's a heartfelt message of faith and hope in this novel that other readers may enjoy.
____________
I received a free copy of this book, for which I give my honest review, through Goodreads First Reads.
May 29, 2015
I found this book moving and inspirational.
This story was also very well written and gripping, well done.
This story was also very well written and gripping, well done.
November 9, 2014
I received Lights as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
A onetime Broadway star turned struggling single mother, Vera Lights struggles to raise her two children, Henry and Loretta, on the gritty streets of 1970s/1980s New York City. As Henry and Loretta grow, they face their own challenges and seek out their own roads to success in life.
I wanted to like this one--the premise is intriguing, and the author wrote a lovely, personalized note in the front of the book. However, it suffers from a serious lack of editing. Little things jarred me out of the story--erroneous capitalization and punctuation, referring to teams as the "NY Giants" or "NJ Devils," using "etc.," and pulling whole (cited) passages from websites are just a few of the issues at hand. Moreover, the dialogue just doesn't flow like normal conversation, and the book seems to flip from fictional storyline to nonfictional commentary without any transition. That said, the author clearly knows a lot about the harsher side of life in NYC during the book's time period, and with some more research and professional polish, I think this could be a very interesting read.
A onetime Broadway star turned struggling single mother, Vera Lights struggles to raise her two children, Henry and Loretta, on the gritty streets of 1970s/1980s New York City. As Henry and Loretta grow, they face their own challenges and seek out their own roads to success in life.
I wanted to like this one--the premise is intriguing, and the author wrote a lovely, personalized note in the front of the book. However, it suffers from a serious lack of editing. Little things jarred me out of the story--erroneous capitalization and punctuation, referring to teams as the "NY Giants" or "NJ Devils," using "etc.," and pulling whole (cited) passages from websites are just a few of the issues at hand. Moreover, the dialogue just doesn't flow like normal conversation, and the book seems to flip from fictional storyline to nonfictional commentary without any transition. That said, the author clearly knows a lot about the harsher side of life in NYC during the book's time period, and with some more research and professional polish, I think this could be a very interesting read.
August 1, 2014
I found Lights to be a good, easy, summertime read. Below are some of the parts of the book I really enjoyed:
>Details of New York City: I never knew how bad things were in Times Square before reading this book. The descriptions of the city really bring it to life and show how bad things were prior to the NYC prior to the revival of the arts. The mix of fiction and non-fiction played well when it came to the city.
>Deeper themes discussed: Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed Henry's character. While he wasn't the main character, I liked how the author dived into different deeper discussions on poverty, prisons, and reasons for crime across the city.
>Uplifting storyline: I'm not a big fan of depressing novels. If you like happy endings, this is a story for you.
>Details of New York City: I never knew how bad things were in Times Square before reading this book. The descriptions of the city really bring it to life and show how bad things were prior to the NYC prior to the revival of the arts. The mix of fiction and non-fiction played well when it came to the city.
>Deeper themes discussed: Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed Henry's character. While he wasn't the main character, I liked how the author dived into different deeper discussions on poverty, prisons, and reasons for crime across the city.
>Uplifting storyline: I'm not a big fan of depressing novels. If you like happy endings, this is a story for you.
August 8, 2014
I loved this book...the author truly has done his homework on NYC. ... And the rebuilding of Broadway and the theatre district. The story of a single mom and the struggles of raising two children. They go through some rough times and you feel the pain as you read through the book. The story flows very well with each character developed, but pulls together in the end nicely.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews