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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
I really enjoy watching good films that have been made from good books. So, having seen a lot of people making a really big deal out of this book being made into a film-- and it having some actors in it that I actually quite like-- I decided to make it a priority to listen to this audio-book next.
I always listen to the full audio-books, not the abridged ones, because it seems sort of like cheating--or being cheat-ed when you don't get to listen to the entire book. However, I tell you, in THIS book's case? I really, really wish I'd found an abridged edition. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so completely annoyed with it by the time I was done.
I thought, because of the sheer number of people who truly seem to adore this book that Helprin must be an extraordinary writer. Perhaps he could be, if he'd lose a bit of his love of the "prettiness" of his very wordy sentences and actually chop his book back a great deal so that it flowed better. I remember listening to many great authors speak and many have said that often-times the sentences you have to cut are those that seem the most "precious", or self-conscious--those you seem most proud of--simply because if they are there for the 'writer',and not because they belong in the book- then they don't belong in the book. I constantly found that to be the case in this book.
I have always disliked it when an author decided they needed to overtly describe a scene or a setting to the point of being ridiculous. Firstly, it's boring. Second, it's pretentious and thirdly, it holds up the actual action of the plot and movement of the characters in whatever they are supposed to do. So, well... this book drove me absolutely crazy.
As I listened to this book I *often* found myself saying out loud, "I get it, it's pretty there... Now, could you PLEASE just get ON with the story??" (I was vacuuming so at least I didn't sound like a nut!) :)
But, I stuck with it. Because... I wanted to find out one thing. The author had made me curious about how he was going to tie up a plot that was "supposedly" the main plot of the book (according to the book jacket) (But with the way the book meanders and jumps from plot to plot and character to character... there were times I really lost track of what was going on. Still, I held onto my curiosity about Peter...) I do not understand what sort of possible metaphors or underlying meaning the author might have been attempting to write into the book, because it was so sodden with hyperbole that the story almost seemed not the point. It seemed he wrote the book merely to have somewhere to wax poetic at long length about the woods and horses and the moon, and to try to think of really outlandish things that could happen that he could somehow just write in as "fine" and have the reader accept it because, well, he wrote it--despite it making absolutely no sense at all.
By the end I was frustrated and annoyed with this book. I kept waiting for the author to have some higher meaning, for the plots to truly tie together... for reading the book to have been a bit worth my time. I felt I'd been wading through a slushy, muddy marsh that had a multitude of redirect signs that took me out of the way of the main road-- but at the end, when I was at last there... FINALLY I'd get the answer I'd waited for to satisfy the curiosity that had caused me to slog through the book... Right???
Spoiler..................................................
If I'd been holding a book, I'd likely have thrown it. (I was listening to my phone and didn't want to break it.) So, some creative cursing was done... for a while.
I won't be reading any more books by Mr. Helprin.
I always listen to the full audio-books, not the abridged ones, because it seems sort of like cheating--or being cheat-ed when you don't get to listen to the entire book. However, I tell you, in THIS book's case? I really, really wish I'd found an abridged edition. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so completely annoyed with it by the time I was done.
I thought, because of the sheer number of people who truly seem to adore this book that Helprin must be an extraordinary writer. Perhaps he could be, if he'd lose a bit of his love of the "prettiness" of his very wordy sentences and actually chop his book back a great deal so that it flowed better. I remember listening to many great authors speak and many have said that often-times the sentences you have to cut are those that seem the most "precious", or self-conscious--those you seem most proud of--simply because if they are there for the 'writer',and not because they belong in the book- then they don't belong in the book. I constantly found that to be the case in this book.
I have always disliked it when an author decided they needed to overtly describe a scene or a setting to the point of being ridiculous. Firstly, it's boring. Second, it's pretentious and thirdly, it holds up the actual action of the plot and movement of the characters in whatever they are supposed to do. So, well... this book drove me absolutely crazy.
As I listened to this book I *often* found myself saying out loud, "I get it, it's pretty there... Now, could you PLEASE just get ON with the story??" (I was vacuuming so at least I didn't sound like a nut!) :)
But, I stuck with it. Because... I wanted to find out one thing. The author had made me curious about how he was going to tie up a plot that was "supposedly" the main plot of the book (according to the book jacket) (But with the way the book meanders and jumps from plot to plot and character to character... there were times I really lost track of what was going on. Still, I held onto my curiosity about Peter...) I do not understand what sort of possible metaphors or underlying meaning the author might have been attempting to write into the book, because it was so sodden with hyperbole that the story almost seemed not the point. It seemed he wrote the book merely to have somewhere to wax poetic at long length about the woods and horses and the moon, and to try to think of really outlandish things that could happen that he could somehow just write in as "fine" and have the reader accept it because, well, he wrote it--despite it making absolutely no sense at all.
Spoiler
Because, seriously, the ENTIRE scene where Peter meets Beverly... REALLY?? Back in the days when women used to have to be followed about by chaperone, *this* woman--who is ILL--is left ALONE (She's female and ILL, remember) she's accosted by a middle-aged man alone INSIDE her house who ADMITS he is there as a burglar so her response is... to decide to sleep with him and fall in love with him. Because, of course that what she'd do. (NOT!!) (Still not mentioning that NO ONE WOULD HAVE LEFT HER THERE ANYWAY!!!By the end I was frustrated and annoyed with this book. I kept waiting for the author to have some higher meaning, for the plots to truly tie together... for reading the book to have been a bit worth my time. I felt I'd been wading through a slushy, muddy marsh that had a multitude of redirect signs that took me out of the way of the main road-- but at the end, when I was at last there... FINALLY I'd get the answer I'd waited for to satisfy the curiosity that had caused me to slog through the book... Right???
Spoiler..................................................
Spoiler
NOPE!! And then, he refused to tell me- us, the readers. With some stupid sentence about the "reader using their imagination" or some such rot. (I don't have it here right now, and don't intend to look for one ever again to check, that's close enough.)If I'd been holding a book, I'd likely have thrown it. (I was listening to my phone and didn't want to break it.) So, some creative cursing was done... for a while.
I won't be reading any more books by Mr. Helprin.
I picked it for my bookclub choice and I'm not sorry. Because of that, I'm going to refrain from mentioning it here until after we've read it. Bookclub members, if you're reading this - please don't do any research on it before you read it. Just trust me, ok? I'm actually going to go buy a copy that is not dribbling pages out at random onto my living room floor, to be assured that I have it twenty years from now.
Complex interweaving tale of New York City -- full of historical people with phantasmagoric parts. Very detailed writing with many many similes that while putting some people off was not overly tedious imo.
This is one of those books that I can't really say why it works. At times the language is needlessly flowery, with excessive description (e.g. a few pages on a newspaper company that we were introduced to ages before). Helprin at times seems to want to be a poet more than a novelist. But he manages a beautiful story too. The excessive description doesn't detract from that story. (But, okay, I increased the speed at which I read because of that authorial excess).
But the story is also something that seems like it shouldn't work. While the main characters will eventually return, his story is abandoned for a hundreds of pages in the middle of the book. A new one is introduced and tries to take the spot light as the new main character seemingly every fifty pages for a while.
But it all comes together, somehow, into a beautiful story. Although, for that to happen, I had to give it a lot of faith, to trust that the author had a plain, to believe that all the fantastical stuff that happens could happen (to treat it really as the denizen of a work of magical realism).
I'm sure there's a deeper meaning hidden in this story, but I also didn't feel the loss for not seeing what the author has obscured, because the main story was beautiful and moving.
A note on genre: As I hinted, I'd call this most closely Magical Realism; it often has that feel, though it also defies much of the genre's standards--there is no narrator to doubt, and the story is set very much in the heart of the developed world (though being set first around the turn of the 20th century, and then in a version of a modern New York City that can't quite manage modernity (the book also has elements of alternate history) perhaps helps to give this a setting that feels natural for magical realism, where the characters don't question the magic.
But the story is also something that seems like it shouldn't work. While the main characters will eventually return, his story is abandoned for a hundreds of pages in the middle of the book. A new one is introduced and tries to take the spot light as the new main character seemingly every fifty pages for a while.
But it all comes together, somehow, into a beautiful story. Although, for that to happen, I had to give it a lot of faith, to trust that the author had a plain, to believe that all the fantastical stuff that happens could happen (to treat it really as the denizen of a work of magical realism).
I'm sure there's a deeper meaning hidden in this story, but I also didn't feel the loss for not seeing what the author has obscured, because the main story was beautiful and moving.
A note on genre: As I hinted, I'd call this most closely Magical Realism; it often has that feel, though it also defies much of the genre's standards--there is no narrator to doubt, and the story is set very much in the heart of the developed world (though being set first around the turn of the 20th century, and then in a version of a modern New York City that can't quite manage modernity (the book also has elements of alternate history) perhaps helps to give this a setting that feels natural for magical realism, where the characters don't question the magic.
Though it took me some time to read this book, I truly enjoyed the love story between Beverly and Peter Lake, and Mr. Lake's discovery of goodness and faith within his soul.
Mixed emotions. There were things I enjoyed about this read, but it was entirely too long. And I can't think of a single friend of mine who would enjoy this.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
I will be honest that I preferred eyeball reading this particular book. I could flip back to familiarize myself with something earlier. Plus the narrator didn’t keep me as engaged.
But I still loved the book. The lyricism of the book is gorgeous. I felt like I was in the midst of a beautiful dream.
This is whimsical and perfect for anyone who wants a fantasy that might not always make sense, but that’s part of this book’s beauty. Timelines, characters, and plots interweave, but the book isn't supposed to be a linear story. Not really.
But I still loved the book. The lyricism of the book is gorgeous. I felt like I was in the midst of a beautiful dream.
This is whimsical and perfect for anyone who wants a fantasy that might not always make sense, but that’s part of this book’s beauty. Timelines, characters, and plots interweave, but the book isn't supposed to be a linear story. Not really.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
This book had many stories in it which finally all converged at the very end. The promo blurb on the back of the book calls it a love story between Peter Lake and Beverly, but they disappear by page 200 and do not reappear until several hundred pages later. I wasn't quite sure what time period it was set in; it changed a few times with only mild clues. In The Goldfinch, I could tell you exactly what to cut out of those 700 pages, here, not so easily. The stories may have been related, but it took a long time to relate them.
Overall an interesting book however.
Overall an interesting book however.