Foil in a narrative/story is a character who contrasts with another character. And in the story Kane & Able written by Jeffery Archer, both are foils to each other. Somehow, when I first stumbled upon the book, it connected me to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. The only difference is that in Archer’s version, they are not brothers and the rivalry is almost eternal without any apparent reconciliation. They also come from two very different backgrounds with their own struggle that fate somehow connected the two of them.
I came across this book just out of the blue but when I brought it up over Hive book chat last Saturday, I was told this was popular back in the 80’s. I got hooked from the moment I read the first page. The “ show don’t tell" writing style hooked me.
The first chapter starts in Poland, in a region called Slonim when a baby boy was born in April 1906. He was born already an orphan, with the mother dying in childbirth. It’s sorrowful when the family who found him said, “ Who cares? Let him go to his grave nameless” but miles away from Slonim, on the same day, a baby boy was also born in a different circumstance.
This time, he was born privileged in Boston Massachusetts, to an upperclass family who paid more for the delivery staff despite not needing more than a nurse and a doctor. His coming into the world was so celebrated and he had an identity, William Lowell Kane, a part of the Kane’s family; the “Brahmins of Boston”.
From the first to the sixth chapter. We are given a glimpse of how Wladek Koskiewicz, who became Abel later on grew up in such challenging circumstances caught up in a war while William Kane, grew up privileged with a future as bright as the sun.
Throughout the entire story, the plot revolves around both the main character’s ambition in life and also the classic trope of nepo babies that actually had some responsibilities. These two people meet throughout their lives unaware of their existence until later fate actually brought them face to face and entangled in some misunderstanding.
Archer also uses a heavy business and financier backdrop in the story which readers might find boring. But this is just more than one of those stories that involves power play, greed and ambition. There’s also romantical romeo-juliet like in the story that somehow was the culmination of years of rivalry between Kane and Abel.
As a reader who enjoys analyzing characters, Abel as a character is the go-getter, ambitious young man that through his beginning, we can learn a lot. It’s almost archetypal as a modern zero to hero in the business world. Perhaps it was why the story sells because Abel is that character we could be similar to, it gives a glimpse of hope to those who came to know him. That perhaps, one day with a bit of luck, wit, and some hardwork, we could be as successful as Abel, the epitome of the American dream.
In comparison to Kane, a man of stature, born into wealth, perhaps we can’t relate much with him as a regular person but if an old money reads this novel, they probably could. With that much wealth, he was entrusted as the heir to the Kane’s family. He carried responsibilities. Did he have it easier? We know for sure that he was as complex as Abel with its own sets of problems.
I was surprised to find stories that I tend to watch like shows exist but with more complexities as it also features a different backdrop from WWII to post economic war in the story. As I touched earlier, the writing itself hooks you from finish to the start. It was as if you’re immersed into this world of Kane and Abel’s universe.
In the end, what I got as a reader was this writing that moved me but also the journey of becoming. It serves as a reminder that though we might have a different start in life, it’s up to us and our free will to make the best out of it.
You can find this book available to be borrowed on Open Library which is where I found the book from. It’s a book less than 400 pages from the early 80’s that still echoes today in different forms. I wonder if this was the beginning of Achteypal CEO VS normal people rivalry that we see in books or even series.
See you this Saturday as usual at 12PM UTC in Hive Book Club Server!