Spanning two continents and three decades, The Cloud Sketcher is an epic tale of love, murder and revenge.
Police stand ready to make an arrest as the Ile de France liner docks at New York Harbour in 1929. The passengers assume that it is notorious bootlegger Paul Mantilini who is to be taken away. But Mantilini walks down the gangplank a free man and instead it is Esko Vaananen the police arrest – a celebrated architect, and by all accounts a shy and mild-mannered young man.
Born a peasant in rural Finland at the turn of the century, Esko, the son of an outcast Bolshevik, dreamed of skyscrapers and of a beautiful and tragic Russian aristocrat named Katerina. His entire life has been spent pursuing and protecting these twin passions, no matter how great the cost. It is a journey that has led him into the battlefields of the Bolshevik revolution and the jazz-age nightclubs of New York City, and finally, to strike a Faustian bargain with a ruthless gangster – all in pursuit of artistic perfection and impossible, unattainable love. And now he stands accused of murder...
A grand and unashamedly romantic literary epic, The Cloud Sketcher moves from the battle of Tampere to the incredible danger of working on ‘the high steel’ of skyscraper shells, from Prohibition to the remarkable intersection of organized crime, finance and the arts in 1920s New York, powerfully evoking an era gone by.
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One morning, out on the ice, not long after my father had given me to Kalliokoski, I understood why this elevator--any elevator--is important. It means a building can be as tall as you like. As tall as you dare to allow it to be. A skyscraper. The Germans call them wolkenkratzers--cloud scratchers. In Finnish, the word is pilvenpiirtaja--cloud sketcher. I'm going to build one.As the lift transforms Esko's ambitions, so his brief childhood meeting with Russian aristocrat Katerina at a village fete leads to a stubborn pursuit that encompasses decades and continents. It is his blinkered dreams of a skyscraper, and his ephemeral love for Katerina that drive him through his time fighting in the bloody Finnish Civil War, pursuing his career in Helsinki and achieving his ambitions in crime-ridden prohibition New York. The story has a skilful structure, rich prose and an expressive style, although the author's passion for the subject of architecture can lead to passages occasionally becoming somewhat dry and involved. The plot has moments of predictability, but the story is told with enough style and pathos to make this forgivable. Readers will respond to the quality of the writing and be easily drawn into this rewarding saga. --Rachel Ediss
‘No one who opens The Cloud Sketcher will find it easy to stop reading before the last vertiginous page...Passionate and well-researched... remarkable [for] its visceral feeling for architecture... Rayner's eye is excellent.’ Chicago Tribune
‘Irresistible. It delivers surprise after surprise, all the way up to the last page...a complex and absorbing story.’ Time Out New York
‘Breathtaking...a passionate book that threads architecture, war and history through the story of two lovers.’ USA Today
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Very Good condition. Seller Inventory # I08B-03200
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002147385
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. 1st Edition. This is the Softcover,Advance Reader's Edition in pictorial wrapper. 430 pages. This page-turning skyscraper of a novel gathered great reviews from coast-to-coast. Edgewear to bottom of spine, and a 1/4 inch tear there, otherwise a clean, unread copy. Seller Inventory # 1124
Book Description Condition: Very Good. 1703080473. 12/20/2023 1:54:33 PM. Seller Inventory # U9780007128327
Book Description Condition: Used: Good. Occasion - Bon Etat - The cloud sketcher (2001) - Poche. Seller Inventory # 2464058
Book Description Condition: Bueno. In a tiny village in Finland, Esko Vaananen is at the brink of despair -- he loves a woman he can never have. Suddenly, in the magical light of the aurora borealis, he has a vision of an impossibly tall building rising gracefully from the frozen lake and disappearing into the clouds above him. This pilvenpiirtaja -- "cloud sketcher" or skyscraper -- sparks a lifelong quest for beauty in Esko. He will pursue and protect these two passions -- his vision and his love -- no matter how great the cost, for the rest of his life. It is a journey that leads him into the Bolshevik revolution and the Jazz Age nightclubs of New York City and to strike a Faustian bargain with a ruthless gangster -- all in the pursuit of artistic perfection and impossible, unattainable love.EAN: 9780007128327 Tipo: Libros Categoría: Título: The Cloud SketcherAutor: Rayner, Richard Editorial: Harper Collins. New York. Seller Inventory # Happ-2023-03-28-a7473df4