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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
If you want me to read your 748 page brick of a book you better grab me by the hair with the first page. I got 50 pages into this, thought "No many words, not enough payoff" and put it down. Luckily my book club is going to see the movie when it comes out!
I'm dismayed that I gave up on this one before I finished it. There simply weren't enough hours in my busy life. This had promise: exuberant, creative, fantastical prose gamboled over the pages -- but there are so MANY pages and the plot just didn't seem to progress. It's an imaginative tale of an alternative New York City in the 1800's, but in the end it didn't pull me enough to keep at it. Too bad.
Absolutely one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.
What can I say about this book.
A tale of Time, History, Beauty & Love.
It was confusing, didn't quite have a plot and was overly descriptive to the point where I had no idea what was going on.
There were times I laughed out loud, times where I gasped in surprise and other times I felt incredibly saddened.
although I didn't understand a lot of it, I did enjoy the history and the beauty of it, there was imagery that I've never experienced in a book and can hardly begin to describing it. There's a magnificence to this book which has captivated me and I will most likely read it again.
A tale of Time, History, Beauty & Love.
It was confusing, didn't quite have a plot and was overly descriptive to the point where I had no idea what was going on.
There were times I laughed out loud, times where I gasped in surprise and other times I felt incredibly saddened.
although I didn't understand a lot of it, I did enjoy the history and the beauty of it, there was imagery that I've never experienced in a book and can hardly begin to describing it. There's a magnificence to this book which has captivated me and I will most likely read it again.
A somewhat generational tall tale used as a vehicle for large words and fine pronouncements.
I first read this novel when it came out in the 80's and recently listened to a recorded version. It is an amazing work and as I recall it was the book that first got me hooked on Mark Helprin, though I think this is his best and most important novel. People keep asking me what it is about. It is about Time, Love, New York, families and the future. Big Themes. All jumbled together in a very long tale about a man named Peter Lake and a white horse named Athensor. A fantasy, a comedy, a tragic tale it is a story that envelopes you and makes you think about everything from the nature of reality to the complex beauty of New York City. I don't think I could bear to see the movie--this is not a novel that could be captured on film, although it is quite visually detailed.
This book was a real doozy in the category of mind blowing.
First and foremost, it was 27 hours long on Audible, and between getting ready every morning, listening while on prep at school, and even timing it for the last half hour before I dozed off, it took me almost a month to finish it. How much time it took....but how much I loved listening to it!
It is a beautifully eloquent prose, reminiscent of a Dickens novel and catchy with well written scenes that pull you in, but will punch you in the gut with "POW!" moments. I originally picked it up with the intention of comparing it to the movie out on Valentine's Day, but now I'm completely baffled as to how in the world they will incorporate some of the scenes...
First and foremost, it was 27 hours long on Audible, and between getting ready every morning, listening while on prep at school, and even timing it for the last half hour before I dozed off, it took me almost a month to finish it. How much time it took....but how much I loved listening to it!
It is a beautifully eloquent prose, reminiscent of a Dickens novel and catchy with well written scenes that pull you in, but will punch you in the gut with "POW!" moments. I originally picked it up with the intention of comparing it to the movie out on Valentine's Day, but now I'm completely baffled as to how in the world they will incorporate some of the scenes...
I wanted to like this book, to the point that I read all 750 pages of it even though I didn't like it very much. It seemed to have a lot going for it: my dad is a fan of Helprin; it is about New York City; it contains magical realism (though apparently Helprin disdains that term).
The main thing it had against it going in was that Helprin is a known conservative, but I didn't know whether it would be relevant for a novel or not. Now, the story of WT is not overtly conservative, in the manner of, say, "Atlas Shrugged." But I think part of what I didn't like is the way the author's conservatism came through, in a couple of ways. First, there are a number of passages that seem pretty transparently like the author spouting his opinion (mostly about how society is worse than it used to be) through a character's mouth; not as bad as Rand's John Galt speech, but still clearly there. Beyond not agreeing with the politics, I just find this annoying. Second, I can't help but feel that the way relationships are portrayed is characteristically conservative. There is a lot of falling deeply in love at first sight (or in the case of two particular characters, even before they ever see each other). Helprin is not afraid to portray passion between his characters, but he doesn't ever lay the emotional groundwork for why two characters are really right for each other--kind of like he doesn't have time for it. I don't mind a book that stays away from the mushy stuff (most sci fi), but so much of WT hinges on the romantic relationships that it just feels weird.
The book also shares some similarity in style with "The Crying of Lot 49," a book that I truly hated. I'm not sure how to characterize it exactly, but it's also something that's somewhat present in "Atlas Shrugged": a kind of vulgar overdramatization of events, sometimes to the brink of slapstick. Lots of people "screaming at each other," for example. If you've read WT, the segment with Hardesty in the woods with the hobo is the key example. While I was reading the book, I was wondering how I could dislike magical realism in WT when I enjoy it so much in, say, Murakami. I think this is the reason--Murakami is all understatement; Helprin is all overstatement.
The main thing it had against it going in was that Helprin is a known conservative, but I didn't know whether it would be relevant for a novel or not. Now, the story of WT is not overtly conservative, in the manner of, say, "Atlas Shrugged." But I think part of what I didn't like is the way the author's conservatism came through, in a couple of ways. First, there are a number of passages that seem pretty transparently like the author spouting his opinion (mostly about how society is worse than it used to be) through a character's mouth; not as bad as Rand's John Galt speech, but still clearly there. Beyond not agreeing with the politics, I just find this annoying. Second, I can't help but feel that the way relationships are portrayed is characteristically conservative. There is a lot of falling deeply in love at first sight (or in the case of two particular characters, even before they ever see each other). Helprin is not afraid to portray passion between his characters, but he doesn't ever lay the emotional groundwork for why two characters are really right for each other--kind of like he doesn't have time for it. I don't mind a book that stays away from the mushy stuff (most sci fi), but so much of WT hinges on the romantic relationships that it just feels weird.
The book also shares some similarity in style with "The Crying of Lot 49," a book that I truly hated. I'm not sure how to characterize it exactly, but it's also something that's somewhat present in "Atlas Shrugged": a kind of vulgar overdramatization of events, sometimes to the brink of slapstick. Lots of people "screaming at each other," for example. If you've read WT, the segment with Hardesty in the woods with the hobo is the key example. While I was reading the book, I was wondering how I could dislike magical realism in WT when I enjoy it so much in, say, Murakami. I think this is the reason--Murakami is all understatement; Helprin is all overstatement.