Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Winter's Tale
Book Review: Two thirds of a great book
Summary: 3 Stars
Winter's Tale starts out as magical realism and ends up as fantasy.
The first two-thirds of the book were truly excellent reading. Before I came to the final third, I thought that Winter's Tale was one of the best books I had read all year. I was all set to reccomend it to several friends.
However, the last third of the book, by which I mean "Part IV : Golden Age," was a disappointment. All of the things which I loved and tolerated about the first two-thirds of the book - the idealization of EVERYTHING, the ornate descriptions, the suspension of reality - became annoying and burdensome in the last third. There, he abandoned all pretense of plot and delved directly into the world of fantasy. The plot became increasingly ambiguous. The flights of fancy greater and greater. The long, descriptive paragraphs longer and more abstract. I really didn't know what the hell he was talking about half the time.
The book has other deficiencies as well.
Nearly all of the characters are flat and one-dimensional. Half of them are only vaugely sketched out, even though they occupy pivotal points in the plot. Praeger De Pinto? After reading the entire book, can you really even say a single thing about this character, except that he serves as a convenient mouthpiece for the author's impenetrable philosophical system? Asbury and Christiana? Why are they even in the book? Did Helprin have a character quota or something? Finally, what is supposed to be so special about Beverly Penn, besides her being young and beautiful and doomed? We barely get to know her, as opposed to Peter Lake, for whom we get a full biography.
Mark Helprin has a very condescending and offhand approach to the poor people this book. At the same time, he has a special place in his heart for benevelolent dictators like the Penns and the Marrattas. This would seem to make him an elitist.
Finally, the ending was confusing, dissatisfying, and incomprehensible. Booooo.
In the end, I'm glad that I read this book, although I don't think I'm going to reccommend it to anybody. I will always think of it as a fabulous set-up with a disappointing and incomprehensible third act.
As a postscript, I should add that certain events of the book probably made more sense back when it was written. In 1983, NYC was a far less pleasant place to live, and the idea of an apocalyptic fire consuming the city was probably a lot easier to buy into.
Book Review: What it feels like to be a New Yorker.
Summary: 4 Stars
While the story wasn't terribly impressive - it's a fantasy land that transcends time and in some instances space with heavy semitic overtones and a disjuncted setting that can be distracting, the story is redeemed by impressive prose that captures a specific atmosphere better then I've ever experienced. That is the spirit of New York City.
Far from the familiar bombardment of vulgar hype (greatest city on earth, blah, blah, etc. etc.) constantly shoveled down our throats courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw and Friends, instead we have an honest appraisal of what it feels like. The positive, what draws people to this city like moths to a porch light and what hooks folks in, as well as the negative. In fact, it was Helprin's expression of the negative aspects associated with life here that I found most impressive. His is the most honest and accurate description of what it feels like when the coldness, the hardness, the hostility and the isolation catch up to you. As they inevitably will if you put in enough time here. Granted, this part is but a small fraction of the book (maybe 5 out of 700 pages), but it was enough to earn an extra star from this reviewer.
An extremely talented writer, I'm curious to see what he's capable of should he choose a topic and setting with a more familiar structure. Some people may enjoy a story whose only limitation is the unstructured imagination of the author, but to me it seems an immature style akin to toddlers. Ever listen to a 5 year old tell a story? Anything can, and usually will happen with a casual disrespect for the laws of physics, just like Winter's Tale.
If you love and hate NYC, then you'll probably dig this book.
Book Review: What would Joseph Campbell say?
Summary: 4 Stars
Let's see, the hero of this book, as a baby, was set adrift in the sea, found and raised by aboriginals, sent to the big city when he reached puberty to make his way...then there's a white horse, a beautiful heiress...this is a heroic tale for the twentieth century.
I'm a children's librarian. Books with magic are my stock in trade. I won't claim that many children's books contain Helprin's eye poppingly brilliant analogies (although they're often beautifully illustrated -- there is that). But I certainly couldn't agree with David Langness' statement:
"... Winter's Tale is Harry Potter for grown-ups, C.S. Lewis for agnostics, Tolkien for the fully matriculated, García Márquez for everyone... " [...]
For me, Winter's Tale was a little too much magical and not quite enough realism. To wit: Winter's Tale is like Harry Potter without his good buddies Hermione and Ron bickering around him, reminding him of his humanity. He's like Tolkien's elves but not his hobbits. Lots of grandeur but no stealing mushrooms and getting into trouble with the local farmer, none of the stuff that reminds us of our humanity. As for comparing him to Marquez...for me, Marquez' magic explained to us what our lives are only more so. For example, Marquez created the grandmother Ursula who, like Peter Lake, did not die, but shrunk so much with the passing of time that she became tiny. Children would get her out and play with her and forget to put her back, so she had to wave her arms to be seen. A perfect analogy for the aging process.
Perhaps Helprin's work is closer to C.S. Lewis, kinda heavy on the dogma. Helprin writes about justice. I just wish I had some idea what he meant by this concept. Conformity to law? Moral righteousness? The Search for Justice makes a terrific Holy Grail...except, what is justice? Heroes aren't supposed to be above it or to be emblems of it. They are supposed to struggle to attain it like everyone else, their struggle being so titanic that those efforts are what make them heroic, not their accidents of birth or luck with horses.
Book Review: Will it ever end???
Summary: 1 Stars
I have about 200 more pages to wade through in this never-ending tale and it's a struggle. I haven't found a likeable character yet and I'm not sure I care enough to see it through.
The writer seems more intent on painting a picture then telling a story.
Book Review: Winter Magic
Summary: 5 Stars
A very enjoyable read, a little Gangs of New York, Pegasus, a touch of Twilight Zone, time travel, passionate love interest, mystery, thrills, and history. A terrific writer who kept me engaged. Also read his terribly funny Memoirs from an Antproof case, a tall and very entertaining tale.