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The Store
Thomas Kingston, with a few hundred pounds, borrowed and saved, opened his first small shop in 1860. Through bankruptcy and blackmail, through fraud and fire, through family conflicts and his own passionate adventures, he held to his dream - a dream of a store where a person could buy everything he would ever need from birth to death. And Kingstons rose to such supremacy that it became known throughout the world as THE STORE.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 29, 2016
I do not like contemporary stories. And this book was no exception. For the first third of this book I was intrigued beyond belief and absolutely excited to see the outcomes of the main characters.
They were a strong and colorful bunch with a lot of interesting and realistic obstacles.
But through the last two thirds of the book the story took an annoying turn. Not enough attention was paid to the main characters and many thoroughly entertaining and interesting sides were brought in only to be stomped out after a few chapters. There was a saddening lack of connection with the main cast who had started out so prosperously. The main character was very driven at first but throughout the book become obsessed beyond forgiveness. Not only did he have some harsh (though I'm sure historically correct) views on woman but seemed to lack a single shred of conscience.
After the first third of the book the obstacles tended to center around his own short comings - such as the insatiable hunger of his own penis and being incapable of keeping his tongue to himself whenever the moment presented itself.
The 'strong' females of this book were merely romantic interests and nothing more proved by the fact that - when presented with an obstacle any woman would sharpen their deadliest claws at - these woman simple licked their wounds and tucked tail.
This book had so much potential to go so many places but it avoided serious story plot lines like the black plague. It was written so beautifully, using colorful and century appropriate language without being boring or flowery. The style of prose flowed together like melted butter on toast and it saddened me so much when I realized the story wasn't going to improve.
Finished it nonetheless, not a hard book to read, but not one you'd want to pick up for its story. Perhaps if you want to pass some time this would be a good book, otherwise - two star for writing style plus an extra star for the spectacular (albeit short lived) start.
They were a strong and colorful bunch with a lot of interesting and realistic obstacles.
But through the last two thirds of the book the story took an annoying turn. Not enough attention was paid to the main characters and many thoroughly entertaining and interesting sides were brought in only to be stomped out after a few chapters. There was a saddening lack of connection with the main cast who had started out so prosperously. The main character was very driven at first but throughout the book become obsessed beyond forgiveness. Not only did he have some harsh (though I'm sure historically correct) views on woman but seemed to lack a single shred of conscience.
After the first third of the book the obstacles tended to center around his own short comings - such as the insatiable hunger of his own penis and being incapable of keeping his tongue to himself whenever the moment presented itself.
The 'strong' females of this book were merely romantic interests and nothing more proved by the fact that - when presented with an obstacle any woman would sharpen their deadliest claws at - these woman simple licked their wounds and tucked tail.
This book had so much potential to go so many places but it avoided serious story plot lines like the black plague. It was written so beautifully, using colorful and century appropriate language without being boring or flowery. The style of prose flowed together like melted butter on toast and it saddened me so much when I realized the story wasn't going to improve.
Finished it nonetheless, not a hard book to read, but not one you'd want to pick up for its story. Perhaps if you want to pass some time this would be a good book, otherwise - two star for writing style plus an extra star for the spectacular (albeit short lived) start.
November 9, 2022
Nicht zuende gelesen. Zu vorhersehbar und vom Schreibstil altmodisch.
October 8, 2016
Well written story about a man's building of an emporium in the 19th and 20th centuries. In many ways facinating, this book has one major flaw. The main character is an utterly unsympathetic moneygrubbing git. If the author intended to portray him as an evil autocratic dinosaur unable to keep his private parts in his pants, well then he succeded admirably, but if the author hoped that the reader would by sympathetic to mr Kingston he failed miserably. A good read for anyone facinated by capitalism or the building of a business, otherwise one can easily pass this one by...
December 31, 2011
Ein Englander wollte ein Kaufhaus anfangen. Aber er hat größe Ideen. Er wird alles unter einem Dach haben. Aber die echte Geschichte ist das Leben damals als er alles angefangen hat. Von 1860 bis 1915 das Buch erklärt viel.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews