Winter's Tale

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin is one of the most transcendent, mystical and magical pieces of literature I've ever read (and I've read a library's worth). As one professional reviewer put it, "Mark Helprin writes like an ANGEL...". This description captures in a few words what I would echo here, with more detail. I would recommend this book to everyone...except the latest generation, I think. Thoughts on that further down! Winter's tale is hard to share and describe to others, simply because it's almost impossible to categorize. There really feels as if there is no precedent, no "starting point" to begin a description. Its a multi-age, historical fantasy, adventure, love story wrapped in allegory, examining our modern cultural conceits. See what I mean? I wont go into the details of the story, other than its the story of the journey of Peter Lake, from childhood to adult, in multiple ages and dimensions (though the multi-age and dimensions aren't really fleshed out but left to the reader to interpret). His growth from a young Bayonne Bayou tribesman to Victorian cat burglar to hero of the downtrodden and love interest of the tragically doomed is so sweeping, so varied, it can't be described...so I'll stop here on that... The one aspect I would bring to the potential readers' attention is the fantastical elements. At any given moment, some small miraculous or fantastical occurrence may happen - it may be intrinsic to the story arc, or it may just be a small "side scene". These are mostly included for gentle, subtle humor and are tremendously entertaining and effective, and help transport the reader to an almost magical place in their imagination. Its as if all the strange, goofy and impossible things that might flit across the mind during our daily grind, things that stimulate or give us pleasure but we know would never happen - these things DO happen in the world of Peter Lake. If this sort of writing frustrates you, if you are the type that likes a book for its "gritty, authentic realism"...run away from this book! And now, for the disappointing thoughts - I don't know if I can recommend the book to the last two generations, Gen Y and Z. Why? This book is one that DEPENDS upon you being able to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually whisked away to a world of beautiful, transporting "other-ness". Its a book you read alone, by a fireplace with a cup of tea, maybe late at night when the veil between the "mundane" world we live in and the similar but fantastical world created by Helprin is thinnest. It's here that the adventures of Peter Lake, the romance with Beverly Penn, his wars with the "Dead Rabbits" gang, his magical secret home behind the electric stars in the dome of Grand Central Station, all become believable and real, and are able to best pierce the head and heart. Its NOT a book that can be taken in through headphones, being read to you as you commute to work or as you work out in the gym. Its not one you can skim on your phone's Kindle app app while waiting for you next meeting or taking a lunch break. Or, one you read in fits and starts, tiny slices at a time in between your other, super active social or work schedules. And unfortunately, that seems to be the only way the current under 30 generation is willing to take in information - in tiny slices, and though their smartphone :( I know that is a gross generalization, and many of that generation DO manage to develop an understanding and love for taking in good literature. Its just not the majority, unfortunately. I shed tears for what is slowly being lost in our culture. So...do you deserve the privilege of reading this fantastic novel? Do you want your perception of reality, of love and of a magical cold winter's day to be forever changed? Then do whatever it takes to take in this book, the right way and with the right frame of mind. I wish you a magical journey!

I have a nasty feeling that the title above may get me in some trouble with rabid Helprin fans, among whom I do number myself. Let me clarify: I certainly feel that Winter's Tale is a resounding success as literature. If I refer to the novel as a failure (and, mind you, a brilliant one), it is merely from a conventional, quotidian perspective. Those looking for a nice, unified novel, one that observes the unities both of Aristotle and Bakhtin, will probably be disappointed. And those who see any novel solely as some sort of ideological axe-grinding exercise for its author will be disappointed as well. Some more liberal readers (again, I'd like to identify myself as a liberal reader in both the intellectual and political sense of the term) may feel there is a conservative -- or even a reactionary -- bias to the book. In my opinion, the span of their insight is too narrow. Viewed from a height, as Helprin obviously prefers, Winter's Tale is no more political than icicles hanging off the 88th-floor eaves of the Empire State Building -- only more beautiful and more delicate. If you're in one of those categories, or have scant patience for the interlarding of disparate tones (whimsical and earnest, tragic and low comic), you probably won't groove on Winter's Tale. Caveat lector. On the other hand, if you are looking for a magical realist eschatology jam-packed full of saints and rogues, visions and convictions, and the wild surrealities of that most marvelous of cities, New York, you will be abundantly delighted. And if Augustinian reveries on justice and Hegelian notions of dialectical idealism tickle your fancy, there'll only be so much more icing on the glorious, proverbial cake. Several close friends pressed Winter's Tale on me almost immediately after we first met; that sort of devotion to a book always gets my attention, but I must confess I found Winter's Tale a bit of a slow starter. It took me a few tries (okay, I'm a shiftless, lazy reader) to plow through it. Once I broke through to about page 175 or so, though, the book had me clenched tight in the fist of its prodigious imagination. I raced joyously/anxiously through the rest until the memorable conclusion, after which I sat at my kitchen table and wept openly for close to twenty minutes. That Winter's Tale can inspire both emotional reverie like mine and a more philosophically epiphanic response is testament to its greatness. I hold it to be one of the few novels of the past twenty-five years or so that has a decent shot at being read and discussed by lit. mavens one hundred years from now. In the meantime, Winter's Tale is a love story, a rumination on the nobility of selflessness, and an acknowledgment of the inevitability of strife and clamor in the universe's slow, rapturous working out of its own design. Oh, and did I mention the exquisite prose style? I've read few novels so beautifully crystalline. I don't know how Helprin writes the way he does, but I might be willing to give up an awful lot to find out. In sum, most highly recommended to all mindful, heartful folk. . Read it now, then buy a copy for your best-loved one. Trust me; you'll want to. You'll HAVE to. Telling you to read Winter's Tale counts as my good deed for the millennium. Or should, anyway. After all, seeing as Amazon.com didn't pay me to write this review, I've got the noble selflessness bit down pat.

Whatever the pros and cons of the upcoming film may be (personally I have no intention of seeing it) one great thing to come from its release is that this wonderful book is now finally available on Kindle. Mostly set in a kind of mythical New York the story covers so many characters and interwoven tales that a plot summary is nearly impossible. However, the main two characters as far as I'm concerned (other people may find other characters grab their attention more) are Peter Lake - a kind hearted criminal on the run from one of his former gangs - and Beverly Penn - a consumptive girl who Peter meets and falls in love with while attempting to burgle her home. The novel is one of the best examples of 'magical realism' I've encountered. The turn of the century New York in which most of the action takes place is evocatively described and many of the characters deal with very difficult and important issues in the real world and their thoughts and dilemmas are described by Helprin in very real terms. Almost everything, though, is shot through with magic and fantasy - from white guardian horses to after death returns of loved ones to physics defying pool shots - and so even the most realistic scenes are tinted by the background presence of magic. Yes, it is rather long, and, yes, at times things get almost needlessly complicated and confusing, but stick with it and you'll find a very poignant and moving work that can be enjoyed on many levels.

Ein wunderbares, modernes Fantasy/Maerchen, grossartig geschrieben. Auch der Film ist sehr zu empfehlen.

I already have this book and have re-read it many times. I thought it would be a good idea to have it as an ebook. This is probably in my top five most loved books ever. I am almost 72 years old and have been reading since I was 4. I read all sorts of things, fiction and non-fiction. A Winter's Tale is fabulous. It is actually difficult to describe. When I read it, it took me to a world in which I had never been before. Each time I go back to it, I discover something else that is fascinating. When you read the book, the pictures in your mind may be quite different. Lots of characters, lots of things happening, ranging over time and space. The film of this novel came out recently. While it is quite good in as far as it goes, it could not encompass the many threads in the story. I guess it would be classed as fantasy, but there is more to it than that. There is a man who lives for over a hundred years, a white horse that flies, New York Al Capone type criminal gangs, a very rich man who wants to build a bridge up to the sky and a beautiful girl who sleeps on a roof. I don't want to cetegorise this novel. It is just a wonderful piece of writing.

most remarkable book I have ever read. The reviews do not do the book justice. It stretches the reader in so many ways. No one spoon feeds you in this book. The characters are wonderfully alive and powerful. They are not bound by the day to day humdrum of reality or the niche of a specific category but see life in such a different way that it is very refreshing. Beverly Pen is powerful and mystical, Peter Lake is her knight battling injustice across time itself. The fantasy in the book borders on reality and at times I am left wondering if what the author has just described is real or imaged. Great book for those who dare to dream about a world that might just be.

I love the Love Story of ♥️Peter Lake and Beverley Peen ♥️