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boreasword's review
1.0
I had to put this book down after reading about 1/3 of it. Arduous, groanable prose, I just couldn't finish.
doritobabe's review
Nope, 300 pages in and I could not finish. I had a very hard time.
Maybe I will hang on to it to skim later but....
Maybe I will hang on to it to skim later but....
somanybookstoread's review
1.0
I nearly cried with joy when I read the last page of this book, not because it had a happy ending but because I was so glad to be done with it. This is among the worst books I've ever read. I trudged through it. I wish I wasn't so determined to finish books I start sometimes, but this one was for a new book club, so I saw it through. For long stretches, I didn't even have any idea what was going on with the plot because it was just so boring and nonsensical. Essentially, this is a book in which the author used excessive words (and flaunted his vocabulary) to tell a ridiculously hard to follow and boring story. How it was ever critically-acclaimed, I do not understand. If I were to ever meet Mark Helprin, I'd have to tell him off for wasting so much of my time on this tome of a book.
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
I don't even know where to start with a synopsis for this book, so I'll just skip that.
I have a feeling that the reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars shows more about what I'm lacking than about what the book is lacking. I felt myself on the verge of a huge epiphany throughout the book, but I just never got there. That has left me incredibly frustrated. Maybe reading through other reviews will help me see what I'm missing.
The language is absolutely gorgeous. It's just one of those books that is so dense and beautiful that you feel like you could eat it.
This was partly a love letter to New York. The author doesn't blindly love his city, he loves it warts and all and sees its potential to be something so much more than it is.
Mostly this was a book full of beautiful symbolism that I think was trying to tell me something about life, love, justice, time, immortality, and faith in mankind. Maybe. I was tempted to put this on my "mythology" shelf, because it felt like Helprin was creating something of a modern, American mythology. I have notes scribbled here about what I think this means or that means, but something would always happen to show me that I was wrong in my interpretation of something. I finally just gave up and read the book without trying so hard to figure everything out. I hoped that everything would come clear to me in the end, but it didn't.
Readers who enjoy lush language, people who love New York, and people who want a book to chew on for a while will probably love this. I truly hate to admit it, but this one defeated me.
I have a feeling that the reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars shows more about what I'm lacking than about what the book is lacking. I felt myself on the verge of a huge epiphany throughout the book, but I just never got there. That has left me incredibly frustrated. Maybe reading through other reviews will help me see what I'm missing.
The language is absolutely gorgeous. It's just one of those books that is so dense and beautiful that you feel like you could eat it.
This was partly a love letter to New York. The author doesn't blindly love his city, he loves it warts and all and sees its potential to be something so much more than it is.
Mostly this was a book full of beautiful symbolism that I think was trying to tell me something about life, love, justice, time, immortality, and faith in mankind. Maybe. I was tempted to put this on my "mythology" shelf, because it felt like Helprin was creating something of a modern, American mythology. I have notes scribbled here about what I think this means or that means, but something would always happen to show me that I was wrong in my interpretation of something. I finally just gave up and read the book without trying so hard to figure everything out. I hoped that everything would come clear to me in the end, but it didn't.
Readers who enjoy lush language, people who love New York, and people who want a book to chew on for a while will probably love this. I truly hate to admit it, but this one defeated me.
qu33nofbookz's review
2.0
There are about three different stories being told here and only two of them are really connected or matter. This was also written by a guy who swallowed the dictionary to spit it out as a story without having read that dictionary first to see what all the words really meant. The story, such as it was rambles on and diverges several times into meaningless tangents that have and give nothing to the main story which it takes forever to get back to. You could cut this book in half and still have the essential story line. I think this guy may have believed he was being paid by the word. For most of the story you have no idea what time period it takes place in and when they do tell you the year you will think it's a typo. The last 1/4 of the book is in the time line 1995 to 2000 but it written as if they are still in the early 1900's until the last few chapters. Also the clash that the rich and upper middle class people in the book live in an elite and wonderful city where life is simple and good while the poor and lower class live in an apocalyptic dystonia hell whole in the same city doesn't work. Either the city is modern and everyone and thing is like it is today or it's in ruins with fires burning and streets chocked with horrible people doing horrible things to everyone else on it, you can't have both at the same time. Lastly except for just a few lines of the city in summer to help the characters move from point a to point b with ease the city is locked in a permanent winter where it's hard to get around and it's very cold but just so beautiful that no one seems to care. If it were winter all the time like is described they would be out of food besides meat very shortly. I give it two stars because the first half of the book was great, the middle just okay but growing annoying and the last bit I wish I had skimmed through.
libbs004's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
madelineb's review
2.0
We went on a rollercoaster to finish this book. It had some nice ups and some DEEP downs. The ending was like nice?? It was about a bridge to heaven?? Don't watch the movie but do read my funny review
waterburym's review
2.0
Bloated, up its own ass, but the writing is pleasant. Made it three quarters of the way through before I had to set it aside; it became a joyless chore to read.
chaosmavin's review against another edition
2.0
It is almost impossible to read this book. Giving it to stars does not appraise it enough for the beautiful way it is written. That said the direction and finale of the book is so disappointingly unsatisfying I cannot bring myself to give it more than two stars. The magical thing about the way Helprin right is that up until the end you don't exactly where that you don't exactly know what is going on because he uses such beautiful metaphoric language you get lost in the dream of it. But like a dream upon awaking you just can't exactly make sense of what it was all for. I took away some amazing quotes from the book and I can't say that I am regretting the commitment to the 800 page book even with my dismay at the ending. Happy ending then either more tangible or more ambiguous I think I could've liked it more. The way the book ends now gives you just not to feel like you were robbed of the ending you were supposed to have. If you read this review actually still want to read the book more power to you and please message me on what you think. I have read lots of the reviews and it is amazing how people either love or hate this book. Like I said I'm not disappointed that I read it I just wish it ended better and perhaps I will rewrite the ending for myself.