Kane, Abel and I

In the beginning there was a wide-eyed, very impressionable thirteen year-old. And then there was a novel by British writer Jeffrey Archer.

That pretty much sums up the inauspicious beginnings of my love for reading. That love was ignited by Archer’s novel “Kane and Abel”.

“Kane and Abel” was the first “adult” novel I had read. By adult I mean that which is not Hardy Boys, Valley High or Nancy Drew (yes, I did get to read the latter two). I was immediately tantalized and drawn to the labyrinthine world created by Archer in that novel. That world still stays in my mind to this day. For a young person reading his first novel which was not a “for-young-adults”, the “Kane and Abel” story of two bitter business rivals and their respective tumultuous pasts had me totally enthralled. I am still enthralled by the beautiful story until now, that is why “Kane and Abel” is one of my favorite books.

“Kane and Abel” is the poignant story of William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski— the former born with the proverbial silver spoon to an aristocratic and wealthy Boston banking family; the latter, a dirt-poor Polish immigrant with an extremely fierce determination. These two protagonists crossed paths, starting a competition where the fervent desire of each one is the ultimate destruction of the other.

The saga spanned several decades with world events—from the First World War to the Second World War to various American presidential elections even including the assassination of John F. Kennedy—serving as a colorful backdrop to the brewing personal conflict between Kane and Abel. The two eponymous characters’ conflict sparked when Abel, who was then a struggling hotelier who had undergone the ravages of prison camps in German-controlled Poland, blamed Kane for the suicide of Abel’s closest businessman-friend, Davis Leroy.

            Their conflict came to a climax when, aside from the business maneuverings and personal stratagems to destroy each other’s empires and reputations, Kane’s son Richard and Abel’s daughter Florentyna fell in love, eloped, and married— despite their respective father’s nascent forbiddance and consequent infuriation and shock.

            Both men were obstinate in their stance for non-reconciliation— and their personal vendettas continued.

            Unknown however to them, each man had helped the other—in business and in their personal lives—at one point in time or another. Unknown to Kane, it was Abel who saved his life when he (Kane) volunteered as a soldier during the Second World War while Abel also served as part of the paramedical team. It was Abel who carried Kane to the army headquarters to be treated when Kane was hit by enemy bullets, almost blind and on the throes of death in Luddendorf, Germany.

            Unknown to Abel Rosnovski, William Lowell Kane was the unknown backer when Abel’s hotel chain, which he inherited from very close friend Davis Leroy, was on the verge of bankruptcy and sequestration. This fact was not divulged by Kane to prevent a possible friction between personal and professional-business interests.

            In the end, the two men never got around to personally reconcile. It was already sufficient that, one fine morning before their respective deaths due to old age, they chanced upon each other along a New York avenue while surreptitiously watching from a safe distance Richard’s (Kane’s son) and Florentyna’s (Abel’s daughter) celebration for the opening of the latter two’s new shop.

            Kane raised his hat in recognition of Abel. Abel did the same.

            On its face, the novel—beautifully told and written as it was—seemed to be a modern-day and more sophisticated permutation of the Biblical tale in the Book of Genesis.

            Jeffrey Archer and the novel “Kane and Abel” are, however, too clever for that.

            On deeper thought, the novel is a story embedded within a story—or more appropriately, within a social commentary. Interspersed with the story was a mini-treatise of socialism versus capitalism and the subsequent dominance of capitalism over socialism as a socio-political ideology. This was readily apparent in one chapter of the book where Kane was a part of a full-dress debate in Harvard University where the topic of the debate was “Socialism or Capitalism for America’s Future”. Not to be missed also was the disparate backgrounds of the two main characters: Abel, a poor immigrant coming from a Socialist-turned-Communist-controlled state who eventually became a successful capitalist (hotel-chain owner); and Kane, the representation of pure capitalism. Well, this kind of plot is nothing less than to be expected from an author who was himself an overachiever: educated in Oxford, world-class sprinter when he was still a student, extensive political background having served in England’s House of Commons and House of Lords, and a consistent internationally best-selling author.

            At first, the subtext of the novel did not occur to me when I first read it at a young age. It was only when I read it the second time several years later that I fully appreciated the novel.

            “Kane and Abel” is a double treat of a book. It appeals both to your superficial requirements as a reader and also to your mind. It is akin to reading a treatise, say, Marx’s Das Kapital and a page-turner, all at the same time. If the book were a movie, it would be both Oscar-winning and a box-office draw. (In fact, I wonder why no enterprising Hollywood producer has made this book into a movie.)

            But most important of all, the book had enthralled a thirteen year-old youngster whose mind was enhanced and expanded by it, and whose genesis of his love for reading was sparked by the book. That young person has not forgotten that influence. It was his favorite book back then. It is still his favorite till now, even as an adult.

        For that wide-eyed, very impressionable thirteen year-old, no other book could be better than that.   

[I found this in my journal. This was intended as an entry to The Philippine Star's "My Favorite Book" essay contest.  I won in that contest in 2006 for a different essay.]