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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
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.
Too many overdeveloped minor characters, descriptive tangents, and a clumsy (lazy) ending ruined this story for me.