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A review by _jmrz_
In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin
3.0
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-sunlight-and-in-shadow-mark-helprin.html
More than anything this novel is an authentically-uncommon love story meets (as a The New York Times review described it) a tale of "moral courage of normal guy sand peace time."
I have been a long-time fan of Mark Helprin, who remains a rather unknown novelist. This I see as both fortunate (for me personally: it has allowed me the thrill of being able to introduce sweeping-epic novels to my fellow bibliophile friends) and unfortunate (for Helprin: he is a master of fiction, in my humble opinion, and still so little heard of). All that is to say, if you have never picked up a Helprin publication...it is about time you did.
While A Soldier of a Great War and Winter's Tale still war in my mind for "favorite" Helprin novel, In Sunlight and In Shadow did not fail to deliver on the traditional Heprin style: poetic prose fused with just the right dash of wit and satire to make you laugh out loud from time to time. His phrasing inspires the (forgive the hyperbole) soul to sigh from sheer aesthetic approval from the imagery created by his masterful use of words.
Additionally, if you are an urbanite (which I am not), very much swept away by the beauty of big cities and tall buildings that scape the sky, Helprin is your kin. The way he writes about New York City makes even those of us (ahem) more attracted to small town life, if not an isolated cottage in the woods, intrigued by what it would be like to live in the big city. Without plot spoiling, this novel will also appeal to those who have a curious obsession with the mob (do you always tempted to watch Soprano reruns? Can you never resist the chance for a The Godfather marathon?), those who find themselves wishing they were born in the time of the Great World Wars, and anyone who has a love or appreciation for the escapism and transformative power of stage theatre.
To get metaphoric once more (sorry to get overly whimsical), In Sunlight and In Shadow is a song. This is true not only because music is a important theme that weaves the novel together, but also because the pages of this book are flooded with descriptions of both the joyful ('sunlight,' if you will) and painful ('shadow,' if you'll indulge me). The 'sunlight' and 'shadow' captured in the diction become a minor-key harmony that realistically (although the book is fiction) reflects the oxymoronic oscillations between 'octaves' that life takes. In the end, it is this fickle cadence that makes living truly beautiful and personally precious. Without both 'sunlight' and 'shadow' (the joyful and painful chords sung in life) the lives of the Harry and Catherine (the story's main characters) would have been less rich and less captivating for readers, and the same is true of our own lives (as begruding as we may be to admit it). You just may find that having your life caught between sunlight and shadow is just where you want to be, until you walk through your own concluding coda.
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-sunlight-and-in-shadow-mark-helprin.html
More than anything this novel is an authentically-uncommon love story meets (as a The New York Times review described it) a tale of "moral courage of normal guy sand peace time."
I have been a long-time fan of Mark Helprin, who remains a rather unknown novelist. This I see as both fortunate (for me personally: it has allowed me the thrill of being able to introduce sweeping-epic novels to my fellow bibliophile friends) and unfortunate (for Helprin: he is a master of fiction, in my humble opinion, and still so little heard of). All that is to say, if you have never picked up a Helprin publication...it is about time you did.
While A Soldier of a Great War and Winter's Tale still war in my mind for "favorite" Helprin novel, In Sunlight and In Shadow did not fail to deliver on the traditional Heprin style: poetic prose fused with just the right dash of wit and satire to make you laugh out loud from time to time. His phrasing inspires the (forgive the hyperbole) soul to sigh from sheer aesthetic approval from the imagery created by his masterful use of words.
Additionally, if you are an urbanite (which I am not), very much swept away by the beauty of big cities and tall buildings that scape the sky, Helprin is your kin. The way he writes about New York City makes even those of us (ahem) more attracted to small town life, if not an isolated cottage in the woods, intrigued by what it would be like to live in the big city. Without plot spoiling, this novel will also appeal to those who have a curious obsession with the mob (do you always tempted to watch Soprano reruns? Can you never resist the chance for a The Godfather marathon?), those who find themselves wishing they were born in the time of the Great World Wars, and anyone who has a love or appreciation for the escapism and transformative power of stage theatre.
To get metaphoric once more (sorry to get overly whimsical), In Sunlight and In Shadow is a song. This is true not only because music is a important theme that weaves the novel together, but also because the pages of this book are flooded with descriptions of both the joyful ('sunlight,' if you will) and painful ('shadow,' if you'll indulge me). The 'sunlight' and 'shadow' captured in the diction become a minor-key harmony that realistically (although the book is fiction) reflects the oxymoronic oscillations between 'octaves' that life takes. In the end, it is this fickle cadence that makes living truly beautiful and personally precious. Without both 'sunlight' and 'shadow' (the joyful and painful chords sung in life) the lives of the Harry and Catherine (the story's main characters) would have been less rich and less captivating for readers, and the same is true of our own lives (as begruding as we may be to admit it). You just may find that having your life caught between sunlight and shadow is just where you want to be, until you walk through your own concluding coda.
http://bibliophileblather.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-sunlight-and-in-shadow-mark-helprin.html