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California Gold John Jakes 9780451203977 Books

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California Gold John Jakes 9780451203977 Books

James Macklin "Mack" Chance is a young man with a dream that he follows from Pennsylvania to California where his goal is to get rich. It's a tough trip, crossing this nation in the 1800s following the Civil War and sometimes he wonders if he will make it, but he does. Every turn he makes comes up failure and he almost gives up. But Mack gets a lucky break and must walk carefully as he begins to achieve this success. While this is fiction, it follows the history of California as Mack begins to find success from his own experience. It's a long book, but it is really good.


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California Gold John Jakes 9780451203977 Books Reviews

As usual Jakes has created a memorable masterpiece. To anyone interested in history they could only be fascinated by this tale of the creation of California. He tells the truth, and brings to his readers not only the facts that led to the parsimonious elite but also the hardships borne by the those who created the State with their sweat and blood. The story is so amazing, the characters so real, the suspense uplifting, the ending so appropiate I would rate it amongst the very best of his books.
California Gold is a historical romance story. Jakes has you feeling sympathy for Mack. He gets into some spats in which he gets beaten. He never gives up, showing resiliency in each encounter. The attitude of Mack is that of a consumer of the environment and it's there for him to take advantage of it. I love big thick historical novels and I enjoy this one too
The historical references in this book were wonderful. California history is one of my favorite reads. It was a long book and I found some of the parts about the railroad a bit dry. The notes at the end of the book were fascinating and John Jakes indicated there are not that many written histories on California which is a shame. I liked the detail on the characters and the story woven through kept my attention. I always enjoy John Jakes' books starting with The Bastard back in the 70's.

It was a book I always wanted to get back to, but as mentioned earlier, some parts were a bit dry.

If anyone has a historical novel about California to recommend, I would appreciate it.
Jakes does an excellent job with historical fiction, and ties in his characters with real people of that period.

This novel, however, is a little too long for my tastes. I enjoy descriptions of earlier times and places (here California just after the Gold Rush), but I don't need pages of such description without forwarding plot.

Characters are well rounded and elicit "some" sympathy from readers, but I found I was not totally interested in anyone's outcome by the end of the novel.

If you like Jakes and don 't mind 700 pages of somewhat slow activity, read it.
This book is written as a stand alone historical novel in the best John Jakes tradition. It traces the life of James Macklin Chance on his journey from the coal regions of Pennsylvania to the relative utopian paradise of California in the post Gold Rush era of the 1870's to the early twentieth century. It has all the traditional elements of a Jakes novel. There is a rags to riches tale with the family drama, romance, and historical references that readers of Jakes' other novels would expect. The pace was steady. I read it in less than a week and I found myself wishing that there was another novel or two in the "California" series.
Anyone who enjoyed Jakes' other more well known novel series will like California Gold.
I am never disappointed in books by John Jakes and this was another rewarding historical novel. I always learn so much about a time or an era through his stories and I trust that he has done the research to make it authentic. This book covered the early years when California was little more than a whole lot of sand with a really nice beach. Very few inhabitants and a limited number of very small communities. It was the wild and wooly west struggling to become habitable. His novel takes us through the growing pains that California experienced when it was viewed as the land of opportunity for all. Some people made the place better, and some people used it for their own selfish gains. I was delighted with this book and will certainly read more of his novels and I'd recommend this book if you like history.
While I'm only about half way through this book, I am enjoying thoroughly. It resembles some of the books of James Michener in that the story, while not necessarily factual in itself, takes place at a time of historical importance and therefore is weaved around historical facts, many of which I was unfamiliar with. I even checked out some of the historical claims in the book just to satisfy myself that are, indeed, factual, and they are. It's a good story of one man's obsession to succeed in California at a time when most did not. Very entertaining.
James Macklin "Mack" Chance is a young man with a dream that he follows from Pennsylvania to California where his goal is to get rich. It's a tough trip, crossing this nation in the 1800s following the Civil War and sometimes he wonders if he will make it, but he does. Every turn he makes comes up failure and he almost gives up. But Mack gets a lucky break and must walk carefully as he begins to achieve this success. While this is fiction, it follows the history of California as Mack begins to find success from his own experience. It's a long book, but it is really good.