Between Two Rivers by Nicholas Rinaldi

by Nicholas Rinaldi

Within the walls of Echo Terrace, the world...Farro Fescu is the concierge of Echo Terrace, an apartment block in New York City. Passing through his lobby at all hours of the night and day is an exotic cross-section of the world's An Egyptian born plastic surgeon who lives on the fifth floor and specialises in gender reassignment; a fighter pilot, on the eighth floor, who flew for Nazi Germany during WWII; an Iraqi spice merchant and the world-famous crazy-patch quilter with whom he's having an affair; and the young widow whose apartment is a jungle Eden filled with a menagerie of specimens - finches, canaries, a defanged cobra, and a monkey named Joe - that had been the subject of her dead husband's research.Fescu knows them all, knows all their secrets. He is keenly attuned to the building and the people in it, yet he does not know what is in his own heart - why, after a long, hard life, he is still alive, and still alone. Nor does he know of what he will be capable in the face of sudden, overwhelming tragedy...

Genres: Fiction, New York, Contemporary

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Nicholas Rinaldi was a poet and novelist of three novels. His poems and fiction have won numerous awards, and he was recently honored as the 2007 Artist of the Year by the Fairfield Arts Council. Rinaldi earned a doctorate degree from Fordham University and taught courses in literature and creative writing at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars 🌟

[Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book unread on my shelves since 2006 when I bought it in paperback, but came back to it recently when I was reminded of it in a Pete Hamill interview I read at the back of his Downtown memoir.

Set primarily within the walls of Echo Terrace, a residential building close to World Trade Plaza in Downtown Manhattan, Between Two Rivers details episodes in the lives of several of its residents and employees, sometimes interweaving their narratives. With NYC being such a varied city population wise, this allows for many different tales to be told. Within these narratives, the wider human experiences of first the 1993 and later the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are also portrayed.

I have to admit that this book disappointed me a little, and took me nearly 3 weeks to get through, albeit 3 very busy weeks when I also read other books. The fact was, that I wasn't engaged enough to rush back to read on. I found many of the residents' and employees' stories fantastical and implausible, and was annoyed that certain aspects of the overall narrative were left unresolved at the conclusion.

The strong point of the novel was the author's portrayal of the human experience of the two different attacks on the WTC. To be honest, I knew little about the 1993 attack before reading the book, but having researched it subsequent to reading the section in the novel, Rinaldi has mixed factual information very effectively with eyewitness experience. He has also managed to capture the devastation of the 9/11 attacks, and the terrible human suffering of that day without being crass or sensational. It was these sections of the book that earned the third star in my eyes.

With 506 pages in my edition , I invested a lot of time in Rinaldi's narrative, but to be honest, unless you are a fan of his work, I could recommend a plethora of similar themed novels that I'd read before this one.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the pacing of this look into the lives of a group of everyday New Yorkers. Maybe not your typical New Yorkers but some interesting folks, nonetheless. Fair warning, I enjoy slow, meandering characterizations, so this was right up my alley. When I told a friend of mine that I was enjoying it, she said that she thinks I may be a bit of a voyeur. There could be some truth to that.

If you are looking for a fast, thrilling, uproarious page turner, this isn't it. But it is a decent look into the lives of some interesting characters.

[Sam Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and different kind of a novel. I enjoyed what was basically a bunch of interconnected short stories that are all drawn together as a common narrative at the end.

What I didn't care for was that the stories all seemed to involve unhappy relationships. Nearly every character was unfaithful, raped or had an unwanted relationship forced upon them in some way. Some characters were pretty frustrating, like the man who has an ex-wife and a son living in Seattle while he works and lives in New York. The man (who is a doctor) plans on harvesting eggs from unwitting patients. What? Why doesn't he at least TRY to reconcile with his wife, or live nearer to his son? I guess some people truly are bullheaded that they're willing to risk imprisonment to not deal with their problems head on.

A lot of the characters, too, were older. It would have been refreshing to see more youthful characters. A lot of this read like a bunch of old men who slept (or wanted to sleep with) the same prostitute that frequented the apartment.

The prose was a nice balance of functionality and floweriness. It never felt like it ventured too much into "purple prose", but it did have some nice, emotional descriptions.

Overall an entertaining read, maybe a tad too long for what it is.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it...in the finish. A very slow read. The first third? Difficult - because it appears and reads as disjointed observations. The second third? Begins to pull out the characters a little more and become more cohesively interesting.
And finally...a cohesive narrative, a link between the characters emerges. The grand and expensive Manhattan building in which they live dictates wealth and/or age brings the residents to that time and place. The Recorder and observer is privileged through hardwork and occupation to observe those from many different walks of life and nationalities as they adapt and mingle in this microcosm of the world in a palatial New York building. Mingling both as resident to resident and janitorial staff to resident. Class consciousness of a different order with a different tone..
If you enjoy and cope with Paul Auster you will persevere with this and take its understanding of social life and personality in your stride.

[Kevin Kern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about an owner condo tower, very near the World Trade Center, that takes place mostly in 1993, but ends in 2001. It is filled with vastly quirky characters, from all around the world. I am obsessed with stories about 9/11 and I first read this novel years ago. It touched my heart then and it did again. If you like character driven novels, that are more difficult reads, this book is for you. It captures life in New York City amazingly well and the 9/11 part is very short, so the book is mostly about these amazing characters and their lives.
And after reading this again, why is it, that no one in our government protection system, thought that the Trade Center would be a target again, after the failure of the '93 bombing. This will bother me the rest of my life.

[Peter Remch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest writing about contemporary New York City

Rinaldi uses his straight forward prose to tell a tale of the complexities of modern life. He’s able to capture the tone of a New York condominium with its wide array of people and stories.

This is my first exposure to his writing and it is deeply moving.

[Michael Nield Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some years back I was handed this to read I remember being absorbed by the narrative. I still have a copy however if it was reasonably priced in the Kindle version I could attach that version to my list.

[Alyssa Geary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly can’t believe I finished this book. Every few chapters there would be something interesting enough to draw me back in, but then I’d be bored again… until the very end, which I enjoyed, but it was too little too late to make me enjoy the entire book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven. But when it was good, it was very good.

[Lettie Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a very good book if the author had just stuck to fewer characters. The ending left a lot of loose ends.

[A Red Headed Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow read for me.
I started to enjoy it more in part 2
If you can say ‘enjoy’ with this topic.

[Jan oxer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent capture of personalities, a true story teller

[Kathryn Brzezinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very hard one for me to get through. Interesting and well-written, but took me a very long time.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book, the conceit - that of a condominium building in New York City, described by the concierge and through the individual residents' stories - made me think it might be too "cute" for my taste. But as I got into the book, things started to fall into place - the building as microcosm for the world, the connectivity and the quirkiness of the individual residents (which at first me made think that so many eccentric people couldn't possible live in one place, but then of course I said to myself "Who among us is not quirky? I certainly fit that profile!). Two big events frame the story, but if I were to tell you what they were, it might spoil the story for you. When the first one occurred, I correctly intuited that the second one would be part of the story as well.

In any case, I'm glad I stuck with it and now will add Nicholas Rinaldi to my list of authors whose other books I should investigate at some point.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin with a review of this book. I found the cross-section of characters to be a fascinating one...would this be the wide variety you'd fine in any urban condo building? Or is this just NYC? Do I know people who've lived, to my mind, such unusual lives? I don't believe I do. Most people I know were born and raised in this city or one similar to it, have married, reared their children, and have watched their parents age and die, and are now enjoying their retirements, free to travel, to spend their time any way they choose. I became quite involved with the characters and hoped the best for most of them. My daughter read the book several years ago and had given me a brief overview, but even if she hadn't, within two pages, I knew where the story was going. As I began read the final, shortest section of the novel, I found myself calling out aloud to Abdul Saad, the young mortician, telling him what to do to save himself. I was crying as I returned back to that awful day in 2001. It would be easy, if the author were lacking both skill and a sense of ethics, to write a book about 9/11 that exploits the horror and grief of that day, but Rinaldi's book doesn't do that...it doesn't need to. We were all "there" that day and for days and days afterward as the TV replayed the tragedy over and over. We all know what happened. Rinaldi allows us to see into the everyday lives of a small group of people who lived nearby in the years preceding that terrible day.

[Reba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay...here I was, reading along merrily, enjoying the eccentric inhabitants of Echo Terrace when bam! What?! The vignette, The Jamaica Avenue L, starring Yesenia threw me for a loop. I did not enjoy this even a little, and it wasn't so much the content and subject matter, but more how it was all handled. As a female, I was super unhappy with the direction Rinaldi has taken here. I will keep reading this novel, but it has struck a very bad chord with me.

And my final review? So torn. I like the writing style, I think Rinaldi is a talented author, but I had a tough time with this one. I put it down for a few weeks, and then finally picked it back up and finished it. Maybe I let too much time lapse from beginning to end? It ended up feeling disjointed and not as cohesive as I would have liked. Overall, this left me unsatisfied, but I did not dislike it. 2 stars? 3? I really could go for some half-stars right about now...

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't think of a book I disliked more other than back in high school when we were forced to read terrible literature such as Lord Jim! I am embarassed to say I read it to the end; my only reason being I kept expecting it to get better at some point. It never did!

Rinaldi rambles on ad nauseum about characters who all had issues but it goes essentially nowhere. Now I am not opposed to flawed characters at all, but this was just "write garbage as it flows through your brain". Ultimately you've learned far more than you ever cared to know about more than 20 residents of Echo Terrace in NYC over the course of some ten years, culminating in the collapse of the towers on 9/11. But I still never connected with any of these characters.

Save yourself some time. Move ON! Don't bother with this novel. There are so many out there that could bring a smile to your face or make you want to turn the page...this is not one of them.

[Donna Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. It's more of a collection of short stories joined together by several subplots. Most of the characters are very self-absorbed. Interestingly, the main narrator, the concierge, was the most self-absorbed of them all. He was unbelievably irritating and condescending throughout the book.The most interesting part of the book was the ending where we see one of the characters in the midst of the World Trade Center bombings in 2001. Although I remember that day and the ones that followed as horrific, nothing compares to living through it firsthand. It was the first time I had read anything so vivid that sparked so much emotion that was felt on that day, even though the character was fictional. One thing that I didn't like was the almost abrupt ending. After doing such a beautiful job describing the experiences of the characters on 9/11/01, the novel simply ends.

[Rljulie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rather hated this book, in a way that probably merits a real review. But, in the meantime, the short version:

1) dreadfully long character studies of people who a) are loathsome individuals and b) do not then go on to contribute to the plot.

2) a complete blind-siding of the reader with 9/11/01. The book starts in the 1980's, I did not know, going in, that it was a 9/11 novel, or I would not have chosen it. It should come with a "trigger warning". And when, at long last, after wending through the lives of so many awful individuals, we arrive, in the final chapters, at the actual event, the author wields history with all the grace and skill of a gorilla with a bludgeon. This novel has all the wretchedness of sanctimonious kids-too-young-to-have-been-there wishing us "never forget!" on 9/11 anniversaries. It's so condescending, so hateful.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago when it was first published post 9/11 and rated it one of my top 10 books that year.
Between Two Rivers is an engaging novel about the everyday lives of the residents and staff of an upscale Manhattan Condominium. Rinaldi expertly interweaves the lives of the characters, tracing how their day-to-day lives cross and collide and become dramatically intertwined as they go about their daily business. The concierge Farro Fescu, is the central character, around whom the life of the building revolves, and through him, pulls the novel together. All the residents who represent diverse backgrounds and customs, breath life (though personal stories) to make a wonderful novel.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

The characters, all beautifully developed, are all owners living in a NY co-op. Each chapter is usually about one of these very interesting tenants and they each appear in other chapters. The cleaning crew is not omitted, but the main character is the concierge. The time period covers about ten years and you know the book will end with the Twin Towers on 9-11, but knowing this does not detract in any way.

The writing just flows - not overly descriptive but just enough. And the author certainly know his New York neighborhoods!

I will definitely look to see what else this man has written.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice, for a change, to slow down and take my time. Beautiful descriptions of NYC and very well drawn characters made me want to find out what happened to all of them. My only criticism is with the character, Yesenia. It wasn’t what happened to her - the violence - that I minded. I really wanted to follow her story along with the other characters but she more or less disappears. What happened with the man she murdered -was she ever a suspect in on his murder? How did she heal from the trauma? The description of her rape was so vivid I was expecting to hear more about her.

Overall though, this book was well worth reading.

[Lasporer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm impressed with how an author can imagine and then write from the point of view of several characters. The pace of the book suited me. I could sense where it was headed, but there was much to ponder along the way.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no originality in style to speak of but the story was quite engaging through the first half of the book, and then it took a speedy dive downward. I found the section about the 9/11 events appallingly presumptuous.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book by its cover, and it was pretty good.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember picking this book up on a whim at the library and being pleasantly surprised. It's about the interwoven lives of people in an apartment building. I enjoyed it.

[Helen Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a novel which should be made into a mini-series of sorts!

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was very well written, but I did not have the patience for it. Only made it about half way through.

[Marybethorama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I think I would have liked it much better if it had been written by a woman.