Winter's Tale

in love with Helprin's Manhattan

This book¿s title hooked my imagination, Winter¿s Tale being suggestive of a good yarn with which to curl up in a cozy corner on a cold evening. Based on this mental picture, I bought Helprin's book. When I finally sat down to read Winter¿s Tale, I devoured 673 pages in just a few days. The book begins as the nineteenth century rolls into the twentieth, in a Manhattan that has not fully grown and is still dominated by horse-drawn carriages, gas lamps and burgeoning industrialization. The story follows the development of orphan Peter Lake, master thief and master mechanic and his dying lover, Beverly Penn. Peter Lake has a gift for mechanics, a sadness-tinged passion for Beverly and the meanest gang in Manhattan out to kill him. Oh, and he rides around on a white horse that itself possesses superior intuition and mythical athletic ability. (Don¿t ask. Peter Lake doesn¿t.) Peter Lake is forced by enemies to jump into the White Cloud Wall that hovers intermittently around the island and from which no one ever returns. Then the story takes an odd turn and fast-forwards one hundred years to Manhattan on the eve of the millennium. The Penn family, its publishing and political empire and Peter Lake and his magical horse are still hanging around. (Again, it¿s best not to ask.) As an apocalyptic winter sets on Manhattan, a mysterious bridge builder and his odd retinue arrive, bringing with them the potential destruction of the city. From just the bare bones of the story it is obvious that Helprin¿s novel is steeped soundly in the uncanny, that je ne sais quoi that turns the everyday ninety degrees off and makes it strange. Helprin is not afraid to push the limits of authorial credibility with his reality-straining prose, and such confidence is probably why he hardly strains the reader¿s goodwill in doing so. This limit-pushing, together with Helprin¿s vivid, living descriptions, keeps the reader interested in each page. It also becomes apparent very soon in reading Winter¿s Tale that Helprin is adept at his trade. His facility with pacing, characterization, setting and plot sets him apart from the pack of published novelists in the last twenty years. Writing seems not only Helprin¿s craft, but his art. Winter¿s Tale is a meaty stew. Because of this Helprin cultivates trust in the reader: there is an expectation that he is taking the reader somewhere. Winter¿s Tale becomes complicated early in the novel, with several brow-furrowing plot elements that are obviously, if unclearly, interrelated. The novel has several strands, but there¿s an expectation that in Helprin¿s capable hands those several strands will be woven together to deliver some kind of satisfaction. This expectation is disappointed, but it¿s rather a minor thing¿getting through the book is worth its eventual plot dissolution. Winter¿s Tale has big characters with uncompromising ideals: this author exhibits a willingness (and refusal not to) idealize his characters¿even the horse¿into something grand. The women are beautiful and strong, the men handsome and capable; the villains wicked and stupid. New York's Manhattan receives the most loving treatment, a character in its own right, and it is impossible not to fall in love, based on this novel, with Manhattan. This novel is suffused with a sense of optimism: the world of Winter¿s Tale may be complicated, but Helprin portrays this world as a benevolent place with order and meaning. But here resides the damaging flaw in Winter¿s Tale¿Helprin hints at an order and meaning he doesn¿t explore. Let¿s return to the idea of the uncanny: Those who like their books offbeat, as I do, will be with Helprin most of the way through the novel. However, three-quarters of the way through reader faith falters: what had been quirky/uncanny descends rather messily into vague mysticism and pseudo-philosophizing. Helprin¿s crisp prose loses its clarity as his ideas lose their clarity. (Funny how that works...) All

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I love this book more with each re-read

This is my favorite book of all time. Its a long tale so you must be patient when reading- but the story pays off in the long run. I fine myself checking the bookstore shelves to see if Helprin has written anything since! This story is magical and it makes you want to put yourself inside the narrative

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I think I'm in Love

I don't think anything I could write here could do this novel justice. Winter's Tale is my all time favorite book. I just finished reading it for the second time and am absolutely speechless. Helprin's style of writing is poetic and you feel closely connected emotionally with all his characters. Its fantastic and realistic all at the same time. Its a long book to read, but I think most people will be surprised by how quickly you finish it. Once you're hooked, there's no way to put it down

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fanciful and Enchanting

This book requires more than one reading. It is a masterful piece of fantasy and a total delight to the senses. The scenes are breathtaking and totally memorable.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Totally fantastical, complicated and enthralling....totally Helprin

I love Helprin's books. Once I read "A Soldier of the Great War", I was hooked. And now I have read every one of his books. ("Memoir from Antproof Case" is my favorite!) They're not easy reads, but they are so worth the effort. "A Winter's Tale" seems the most complex, at times hard to follow, over the top fantastical. But it is so worth finishing and knowing you have read this divine work. You simply have to remember that it's fantasy and then just float with it. Yes, the horse flies. Who says they don't? I couldn't begin to describe this story. I think only Mark Helprin could do that.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Intimations

At the first breath of Winter, every year since putting the book aside, I find myself once again being aborbed into the mystical city represented in the novel. And when this happens I look for the first snowy day when I could return to lower Manhatten, and in a crowded, brawling kind of a place, find a corner seat where I could lap up grilled oysters over a glass of ale -- and immerse myself in the dream. Over the years this inclination has remained merely a fancy, a simple acknowledgement of the spell this book has cast on me. To be best enjoyed, this book 'should' be read on cold winter days with at least a hint of snow in the air.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mesmerizing!

I bought this book at random while looking for a big book that would take me a long time to read - it took me less than 2 weeks! I could not put it down! I usually am not drawn to fantasy-based type stories and at first was a little disappointed when I realized this was that type of story. But the narrative was so poetic and rich I kept reading until I was hooked - I struggled to keep my eyes open long into the night while I read. A beautiful powerful story - highly recommended - let your imagination soar!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Helprin's Winter's Tale defies description.

Helprin's incredibly layered historical fantasy is a feast for the imagination. The reader is caught up in a whirlwind of imagery that makes a valiant attempt to describe the indescribable city--New York. Characters of fire roam a city of ice and the reader is in awe of the place and it's people. From the first chapter it becomes impossible to look away from the beauty, the horror and the banality of life in the city. The density of Halprin's gorgeous poetic prose makes for a slow read. And don't expect such a complex web of time and space to be neatly tied up in the final chapter. But Winter's Tale is much like a first-time visit to Manhattan--the senses are overwhelmed, time stands still and you know you must return some day for a closer look.

Read and read gain and again and again

I first read this book when it first came into paperback and this was my first Mark Helprin book. I have since read it at least five time and enjoyed it even more each time. The characters are magic and real while you know that all the pictorial aspects of this version of New York are totally unreal or realistic. Since then I have read a Soldier of the Great War and Refiners Fire. Both were very impressive but didn't 'speak' to me like Winters Tale. I am a fantasy freak. Buy and Enjoy.

Magical, Lyrical, High Art

The splendid author of A Soldier of the Great War, brings us something different in Winter's Tale. The difference isn't his mastery of prose-poetry. There are few ARTISTS of words as good today as Helprin. The difference is that the hard edges of Soldier are replaced by soft allusiveness here. It's almost as though the author is preening his talent for us - just to demonstrate his range. For anyone who likes beautiful writing, you must buy this book and A Solidier of the Great War too. Once you finish both, you'll know Helprin's working up to a magnum opus of some sort he's going to leave behind one of these days as his legacy to world literature. Unlike most of the beach trash on the shelves today, when you finish reading this, you'll know you're reading someone who'll be read in 100 years. Treat yourself.

helprin hangs from a star

Perhaps the thing to be most admired about Winter's Tale is the scope of Mr. Helprin's compassion and humanity. The character's (all flawed, except for Beverly) all achieve a level of dignity and honor that most authors don't have the ability to evoke out of similar narrative styles. When Beverly finally passes, the degree of Peter Lake's grief is sublimely heroic. This book has carried me a few times and it always seems to be in mid-December when I need to be carried the most. Thank You Mr. Helprin

mythical-historical

This book is one of my favorites, and it would be difficult to find a better-written book in any genre. It merges the history of New York City (and state)with a mythical tale of human redemption. This is a perfect companion to Martin Scorsese's new masterpiece "Gangs of New York" (December '02) and will give you real insight into the period.

An enchanting history of NYC!

Although the descriptions were tedious at times I really enjoyed this book. I liked the magic in the story and I really enjoyed the history of NYC. The story continually called me back to find out what would happen!

The best Author of the past century

To say that Helprin is my favorite writer today would be a small understatement. Every month I wander into Barnes and Nobel to find out if anything new has surfaced from this writer, but unfortuantly genius seems to ebb into the publishing world very slowly. A Winters Tale is arguably the best of Helprin's work, combining history, fantasy, and a unparalleled attention to detail that delights and enthralls the reader throughout. The characters speak to you as if they were alive, and you want so desparately to meet them, to console them, to love them.

Mythical

I am sure that I do not understand much of this book today, years after first reading it. The pure beauty of the language is enough to provide a place on your book shelf among your favorites. Anything by Mark Helprin is well worth reading.

Enchanting over and over

This is one of the few books ever that I could read over and over and never be afraid of knowing the ending. Helprin writes as a bird flies, and makes me lose myself in his world, sad to return to this one.

Incredible imagery

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Helprin's style of writing flows so easily and is very poetic.

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