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City of God
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
8 posts | 7 read | 11 to read
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER With brilliant and audacious strokes, E. L. Doctorow creates a breathtaking collage of memories, events, visions, and provocative thought, all centered on an idea of the modern reality of God. At the heart of this stylistically daring tour de force is a detective story about a cross that vanishes from a rundown Episcopal church in lower Manhattan only to reappear on the roof of an Upper West Side synagogue. Intrigued by the mysteryand by the maverick rector and the young rabbi investigating the strange act of desecrationis a well-known novelist, whose capacious brain is a virtual repository for the ideas and disasters of the age. Daringly poised at the junction of the sacred and the profane, filled with the sights and sounds of New York, and encompassing a large cast of vividly drawn characters including theologians, scientists, Holocaust survivors, and war veterans, City of God is a monumental work of spiritual reflection, philosophy, and history by Americas preeminent novelist and chronicler of our time. Praise for City of God A grander perspective on the universe . . . a novel that sets its sights on God.The Wall Street Journal Dazzling . . . The true miracle of City of God is the way its disparate parts fuse into a consistently enthralling and suspenseful whole.Time Blooms with humor, and a humanity that carries triumphant as intelligent a novel as one might hope to find these days.Los Angeles Times Radiates [with] panoramic ambition and spiritual incandescence.Chicago Tribune One of the greatest American novels of the past fifty years . . . Reading City of God restores ones faith in literature.The Houston Chronicle From the Hardcover edition.
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winemom
winemom
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
Bailedbailed

I do not possess the attention span necessary to read and absorb this right now. There's just so much.... stuff? I will return. In, like, 18 years.

9 likes
blurb
Kristelh
Kristelh
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
post image

Finished City of God by Doctorow. Reading Notes From Underground, Dostoevsky. Join us for August Book of the Month. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/180736-shelfari-1001-group #1001

7 likes1 stack add
quote
JenP
JenP
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
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😂😂

CatchMyBookBreath Love that book and love everything he writes! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜📚 7y
JenP @CatchMyBookBreath yes, it's really good. I'm about halfway done. It's challenging to read but very thought provoking. My first my Doctorow. 7y
monkeygirlsmama Oh my. LoL 😂 7y
See All 11 Comments
JenP @CatchMyBookBreath btw. We are discussing this book in the 1001 group I moderate. Would love you to come by and give your thoughts about why this is a great book. Some members are finding it quite offensive whereas others are loving it and this is based on their own spiritual/religious beliefs. 7y
CatchMyBookBreath @JenP i would love to! Please let me know how to join. Thank you! 7y
JenP @CatchMyBookBreath here's the discussion link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/180736-shelfari-1001-group (edited) 7y
JenP @CatchMyBookBreath I'm having a problem wth the direct link. Go to the group page (link above) and then scroll down to July BOTM discussion. It's the top topic in there. Let us know why you loved the book and what you think the main message was, or any other question you want to address! I don't think you have to join to comment but you are welcome to join if you wish! We'd love to have you! 7y
CatchMyBookBreath @JenP Found it! Oh, what a great group! I see the thread- I have a long response (with citations 😃) so I'll post when I get in a full keyboard. Thanks for helping me find an interesting group of readers. ⭐ 7y
JenP @CatchMyBookBreath yay! If you do end up joining the group, make sure to introduce yourself! We have a thread titled "introductions." Can't wait to see your thoughts on the book. It's really complex and thought provoking. 7y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I like the phrase "cloacal muck." That needs more air time in my life. 7y
mjdowens What an awesome phrase! 7y
26 likes1 stack add11 comments
quote
JenP
JenP
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
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I've never read anything by Doctorow until this book. Only 15 pages in but he has really captured NYC in a way that was consistent with my experience living there for a few years. I found this particular quote amusing.

saresmoore Haha! Nice rhythm to that. 7y
JenP @saresmoore yes, stylistically makes for fun reading with passages like this throughout! 7y
vivastory I've been meaning to read him for awhile now 7y
See All 9 Comments
JenP @vivastory I'm only a little way in but really loving the writing style 7y
vivastory From what I know about him, it seems like he has the same style in a lot of his books. @JenP 7y
BarbaraBB I think he's a very good writer once you get used to his style. Love your quote! 7y
JenP @BarbaraBB I'm glad I finally got around to reading one of his books! 7y
Currey I have loved many of his books. There is a real rhythm to his style. City of God probably wouldn't have been my first pick but I am glad you are enjoying it. 7y
JenP @Currey I am reading it because it was selected as book of the month for my 1001 group. I love the writing style although some of the philosophical musings are a bit of a slog. If I wasn't reading for a group, I would have started with a different one 7y
36 likes2 stack adds9 comments
review
BarbaraBB
BarbaraBB
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow
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Mehso-so

A complicated read with various storylines about science, religion, poetry, war etc. I don't think I understood all of them (for example: what happened to Moira?), but I enjoyed the more accesible parts, about life in a Lithuanian ghetto during WWII. #1001books

8 likes
quote
GoneFishing
GoneFishing
City of God: A Novel | E.L. Doctorow

So what I realized when I was a child was that if I were traveling as fast as light while holding a mirror before me, I would not see my image in the mirror, because as fast as the image of my face in light moved toward the mirror, why, just as fast would the mirror be moving away..It is a rather frightening idea, in fact, that if I moved at the speed of light, I could get no confirmation of my existence from an objective source of reflected light

30 likes1 stack add