A Soldier of the Great War

Rating:
Summary: Suprised in my delight!
Review: This novel was given to me by a friend. I took it to be polite and began to read the tedious tale of an old man walking to the bus station. I found myself frustrated with the author because this poor old man just couldn't seem to get anywhere because he was too busy taking the beauty of everything in. I would have quit reading had it not been a good friend who had given me the book and suddenly I found myself taken in by the beauty of this book and was ashamed at my own frantic utilitarianism that had almost robbed me of it. This book taught me the long view of life and to quitely chase my own delusions of grandeur. It has a very cinematic epic quality to it and as I read I kept thinking of who I would cast and how to acquire the movie rights if I was a director. True it could have been edited a bit but keep reading it for the friend who suggested it, you will thank them.

Rating:
Summary: Helprin's rolling saga
Review: For those of us who previously knew of Helprin as the Wall Street Journal's premier Clinton-basher, this book is quite a change of pace. It covers a rich physical and emotional landscape, and doesn't condescend to the reader with trite endings. It could be a little better edited, and cut down by a 100 pages or so, but it's still an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: A rich, rewarding book -- outstanding fiction
Review: I had never read any of Mark Helprin's work before I picked up "A Soldier of the Great War." After finishing this wonderful book, all I can say is that apparently I've been missing out. Helprin has created a book that will move you to joy and sadness, and that will remind you of why you love to read. It is a truly great novel.

What will stick in your mind each time you put the book down are the compelling characters. Helprin has concoted a wonderful cast to populate the world of his protagonist, Alessandro Giuliani. From the mad dwarf Orfeo, to the Austrian princess hidden from sight, even the smallest characters in the book will leave an indelible imprint on your memory. They seem like real people, and that's hard for any writer to bring off consistently. Helprin manages it effortlessly.

If you've come this far in the amazon.com site, you're obviously considering reading this book. Do it. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A work to be cherished and loved.
Review: This is an epic adventure through early 20th century Europe. Mr. Helprin shows us through the eyes of an invincible young man, and at the same time the eyes of a refined elderly gentleman, some of the defining moments of this century. We feel his pain and share his aspirations throughout. From his relationship with his father during childhood to his eventual marriage to his elusive lover, Ariane. In the mind's eye we are lifted, far beyond the budget of any Hollywood motion picture, to foreign vistas of rich hues and vibrant color. I have read this book many times, it seems to speak to my heart. I hope that you will enjoy it too.

Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming and unforgettable.
Review: A woman colleague of mine heartily recommended this book to me. It seemed strange (myself a woman) to purchase a book about a soldier in WWI. As soon as I got into the book, I found out why...Mark Helprin made me laugh, cry, sigh at his beautiful wizardry of words, marvel at the brave, courageous Allesandro Giuliani, and revel in his insights of love and honor. I have fallen hard for Mark Helprin and can't get enough. I have since read A Winter's Tale and am now fully engrossed in Memoirs of Antproof Case. Each one of them magical, uplifting, and beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Helprin.

Rating:
Summary: Moving, rivetting, hilarious, profound
Review: It is rare to find a book that can move its reader to tears on one page and provoke audible laughter on the next. This was the first Helprin book I read, and I suppose the best compliment I can give is that the next four books I read were all by Mark Helprin. If you love great literature, but not at the expense of a pleasurable read, do yourself a favor and buy "A Soldier of the Great War."......then read all the others

Rating:
Summary: the book that changed my life the most
Review: This book has influenced me more than any other. It has taught me about love, death, art, children, patience-- I've read Soldier of the Great War four times. At times wonderfully profound and hysterically funny. I run the Helprin mailing list --message to '[e-mail]' with the Subject: subscribe

Rating:
Summary: I did an about face around page 75...
Review: I almost put this book down around page 50 because I thought it boring. Fortunately I persisted. My reactions, as I read it: bored - mildly interested - interested - excited - can't put it down - a surrealistic experience - the best book I've read in many years. I'm trying to get my wife's book group to read it, but they think it's only about war, written by a man for men. How sad they know not what they are missing..

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books in recent times.
Review: This is one of the best modern books I've ever read. Full of hidden meanings and ironies that may, perhaps, be lost on some. Like his earlier work, "Winter's Tale", this epic is very moving. This is the kind of writing that grabs you and makes you think, cry, and laugh out loud. This is the kind of work that, when read repeatedly, loses none of its charm or appeal. There is simply no better modern author than Helprin.

Rating:
Summary: It's easier to be focused when writing retirement speeches
Review:

As one might expect from the writer of Bob Dole's retirement speach, the prose in this book is fairly competent and weighty, but thematically and plot-wise, the book suffers from a serious identity crisis. At the end of the novel, I could think of only one question, just what was Helprin trying to say in this book anyways? Is this a satire on the absurdities of war, like "Catch-22"? I mean really, an ugly dwarf in the Italian War Ministry randomly mis-routing men and material during WWI just for grins? Is this supposed to be an action adventure love story, like "A Farewell to Arms"? (badly wounded hero meets nurse, hero falls in love with nurse, nurse dies - oops! -- he finds the nurse alive and they live happily ever after! -- oops again! -- their only child gets killed in WWII!). Is it an anti-military polemic, like "Paths of Glory", with the grim tale of deserters rounded up to be shot by firing squad?

Or is this just a swashbuckling Indiana Jones adventure story? Horseback riding with the Emperor's Guard! Mountain climbing! Rappelling down a mountain cliff with the dead body of his sister's lover, while enemy shells explode all around him! (hitting the body, but not the hero, of course). The hero zips around from one odd adventure to another and somehow manages to survive all of them against remarkably difficult odds. This is one novel where the heavy hand of the Author-Creator is definitely visible, and it gets tiresome to see this constant manipulation.

Most importantly, this novel is such a mishmash of so many different and discordant themes that it loses its focus and power and believability. It doesn't help either that many of these themes are strangely recognizable as coming from other well known novels and movies. I wouldn't want to say that he copied these themes from others, but they are strangely recognizable.

I will give him credit, though. Helprin seems to love children, for the theme of protecting children and of loving one's children for eternity, even beyond death, runs throughout this novel. For me, this was the only theme that ran true in this book; and so I can't totally bash him into the ground. Hence the rating of 5.