Rating: 
Summary: At the Top
Review: Quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. Mark Helprin is one of the finest authors alive. You should not miss any of his novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: Helprin's book is an awkward mix of realism and surrealism that in the end fails to convince. Don't get me wrong : it is well written, hard to put down and contains a host of interesting and mostly tragically doomed characters. The author refreshingly chose the conflict between Austro-Hungaria and Italy as the backdrop of his story and not the more familiar WWI battlegrounds in Flanders and France. Also, the choice of an Italian scholar as main character is at least original. Nor is the scope of the story limited to frontline action, but it also includes highly original scenes such as these in Sicily where deserters are being pursued by the Italian army or the one figuring Austro-Hungarian elite troops that carefully avoid all battleground action.The book suffers however from a number of weaknesses. One is the fact that it needs editing badly : lots of scenes are either superfluous or take up too much space. I could, for instance, have done very well without the endlessly detailed description of mountaineering techniques. A number of reviewers have already criticised the "walk" that begins and ends the book : suffice to say that it did not work for me either. Another - and, as far as I am concerned, far deeper - flaw is that the author could not resist putting in scenes that are of a definitely different nature than the rest of the book. I am referring to the more surrealist subplots : the mad scribe Orfeo, the sadistic homosexuals at the Viennese court and the monstrous princess surrounded with eunuch musicians in the far recesses of the Hofburg. They are all fun finds and contain sufficient material for short stories on their own, but mesh badly with the rest of the book. Helprin is no Gabriel Marquez who can weave the surreal and reality into one credible whole. This book is still a decent read, but could have been a lot better if the writer had at least cut out some 200 pages. Readers who take an interest in WWI fiction are in my opinion better off with "The Ghost Road" Trilogy by Pat Barker.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best book I've ever read
Review: I first read Soldier of the Great War 10 years ago and have tended to reread it every other year or so since then. It's simply an amazing novel and quite possibly the best book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. When I consider books that I would recommend without reservation to anyone I know, this is one of the only ones that make the list. I can only think of a handful of novels that I would give my highest possible recommendation, this is one.
Rating: 
Summary: Well done - long but worth the read
Review: This is my first book by Helprin. I found it in a bargain bookstore on Cape Cod for $5. I bought it on a lark and 50 pages into it, I was smiling with delight. Beautiful, evocative writing - Helprin puts you firmly into the head of his hero, and you share every emotion, pain, and delight throughout. Yes, the book is longish, but I did not find myself wishing for less. He tackles tough subjects: war, love, abandonment, art, lunacy, and all things Italian. The fact that he pulls it off is a real tribute to his skill as an author. I'm ready for another one...
Rating:
Summary: War, love, Giorgione and one too many similes
Review: The idea of an aesthete entangled in the horrors of war is not an absolutely novel idea, but rare enough in literature to whet the reader's interest. Helprin's story of the life of Alessandro Giuliani is filled with enough action and plot twists to maintain interest, giving the author's more subtle intentions space and time enough to work their way into the reader's subconscious. War, art, love and conceptions of beauty weave themselves into a mosaic of mnay hues and complexities. Almost nothing escapes Helprin's masterplan: climbing (some of the best descriptions I've read), fast horses, fast women, war, love and marriage, an insane bureaucratic dwarf, heroes, and villains (Mussolini makes a brief appearance) all play major parts in Giuliani's life. In short, Helprin is eminently successful in composing a novel that verges on greatness. So, why not a masterpiece? I think the faults of the novel are twofold: unnecessary length and Helprin's tendency to overwrite. The whole episode of Giuliani's last walk with his semi-illiterate companion adds absolutely nothing to the story. If Helprin was looking for a place to begin his flshback, surely a sensory memory (of which the novel is full) would have offered a more precise means. After all, it took Proust only a taste of a tea cake to put in motion his monumental work. Additionally, the novel is full of peripheral events and characters that are introduced and quickly forgotten (like the whole episode with Arturo and his family as well as the whole episode at the Winter Palace) which require the author to spend even more space in writing himself out of self-imposed literary corners. There is no doubt whatsover that Mark Helprin is a very talented writer. He posseses the skill to tell an engrossing story as well as the command of the language to tell his tale most beautifully. Paradoxically, it is perhaps Helprin's skill with language that leads to the greatest fault of this novel. It seems that the author is sometimes mismerized by his own descriptive powers and tries to outdo himself with even more elaborate descriptions, sticky with enough poetic beauty and intensity to surfeit the most poetry starved reader.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Novel I've Ever Read!
Review: ...I am even more astounded now by people who didn't like Soldier of the Great War. It is simply the best book I've read in my 49 years. I'd guess that people who didn't like the descriptions of WWI have never been in a war, and those who thought the physical feats too fantastic probably have no idea what is possible when a soldier is gripped in the terror and surrealism that is war. In my opinion, Helprin should have the Nobel prize for Literature for this book. The sweeping descriptions and detailed mindscapes are incredible. I bought five copies of the hardcover edition, one wrapped copy for myself and the rest to give to friends. Give a copy to every high school student you know. Maybe we would then grow a society sick of war, and gloriously seeking peace and love.
Rating:
Summary: And one more thiing...
Review: Good grief. At the time I wrote the recent review, I had finished only the first 600 pp. Therefore I wish to add the following: by the last few pages I could do nothing but speed read; it was just too much of an emotional strain. As a matter of fact, tears fell down my face for about 20 minutes as the last line echoed through all the emotional caverns in my head and heart. Just now I tried reading the final three paragraphs again, and simply could not do so, just too moving and gripping. This is the greatest book I have ever read (ok, except for several of Solzhenitsyn's). Stunning would be the right word. It isn't that the main character is Everyman, but he expresses the grief and hope of all time. Indelible imagery throughout. Over and out of breath.
Rating:
Summary: Nobel candidate?
Review: Holy mackerel. I got this book because I like Helprin's columns in the WSJ, but I never expected anything like this. It makes Magic Mountain and War&Peace look like first draft outlines! Are all of his books this momentous? I will find out.
Rating:
Summary: Viva la Ficcion!
Review: This novel is a treasure...a beautiful, rich tapestry of storytelling. How can you not fall in love with the dreamful, passionate (too much?), mountain-climbing, painting-admiring, war-surviving, introspective, extroverted Alessandro? The author pushes his narrative to the brink of ridiculous impossibility, but he never falls over the cliff. Wonderful! This was my first Helprin book, and it surely will not be the last.
Rating:
Summary: A Soldier of the Great War
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. There are parts that have the feel of Helprin's other books--more of the "fantastic". There were about 100 pages in the book that were unnecessary. HOWEVER, this book was extremely engrossing and the language was penetrating and beautiful. It speaks of everything human and touches upon the complexities of emotion and of relationships with self and with others. I wish Helprin would write other books like this one. I will say that this book is difficult to recommend to others because I have found that most people do not want to read such a long book with such descriptive passages. I did not feel that way about the book. I could not put it down. I found it to be a profound and unforgettable story. I wish I had not already read it. It is a true treasure of a book and, if you are an avid reader, you should absolutely place it high on your list of books to read. I am always surprised that more people do not read it. I read it almost 10 years ago and it still ranks at the top of my list of books to recommend. It most certainly makes all of Oprah's book choices seem shallow. It is a very thought-provoking novel.
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