The Immigrants

The Immigrants is one of those big 70's novels that were very popular well into the 80's, which often had sequels. Think Rich Man, Poor Man by Irwin Shaw, or John Jakes series, or any number of James Michener books. These are often generation spanning epics and 'The Immigrants' from 1977 is the

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first in a series of books of that type. Initially I liked it quite a bit - I thought it had a lot of promise with a story of a young man, a fisherman in San Francisco with his father who sees everything destroyed in the 1906 earthquake as a teenager. He loses both parents.

Against the odds the young man of this story, Dan Lavette, begins a rags to riches journey. Perhaps a quarter of the way into the novel my interest began to fade and I'm not sure if this is because things started to get just a little too much like a soap opera, or I simply tired of this main character who could do just about anything by sheer force of will, charm, bluff, what have you. I persevered with the story, and there were parts here and there I liked well, particularly with several of the side characters. But the main story of rags to riches and then when 1929 comes, to rags for Dan Lavette just didn't hold my interest and the latter third of the novel just felt drawn out and rather weak. I read the story with interest, but without any passion. I liked the setting in San Francisco and the various elements of history woven throughout.

I'll rate this one as just OK. This is the first of what became a six book series. I think it unlikely I'll read more, but I won't rule it out.

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