[Mithfânion]

This looks like an intriguing big book. Has anyone read it? What sort of book is this? I've seen it listed as a fantasy, but also a mainstream book. What sort of story does it tell?

[Erfael]

I do have some comments, Mith, as I read it last December. No time to put thoughts together right now as I'm running out the door, but one question: What did you think if Little, Big if you've read it?

[Mithfânion]

Haven't read it Erf, why, is it comparable?

Will wait for your thoughts later ;)

[JBI]

Is it based on A Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare? I've read the play with a similar name.

[KatG]

It takes its title from Shakespeare, but no, not really. I read it in 1984, when it was first out, so my memory of it is not ideal, as it is a very large book. I read it over the course of a year, in tiny bits, when I was far from home in a place with a lot of history of its own, and so it was a nice experience for me. I don't know if I'd feel the same on re-reading it or not. I gave my copy to someone, and so would have to replace it.

Helprin strode on the fiction scene with this book and it was a smash best-seller mainstream. It's non-category fantasy, and not all the novels he's written are fantasy. This one, though, most definitely is. It is similar -- in historic scope, language style, etc. to Crowley's "Little, Big," though Helprin is much more in love with poetic style prose. You could also make partial comparisons to elements in Caleb Carr's non-fantasy thriller, "The Alienist," and Tim Powers' fantasy novel, "The Gates of Anubis." The story has a lot to do with dreams, and so the prose is dreamlike, feverish. He meanders, describes, philosophizes, spends time with incidental characters, much more than even Crowley likes to do. The last part of the book -- which has more of the fantasy -- gets fairly trippy.

Basically, Helprin is offering a fantastic version of the evolution of New York City, and the tides of people in it. The main plot concerns an Irish burglar, who lives in the rafters of Grand Central Station, who in breaking into a rich man's home, discovers the man's daughter, who is dying from, if I remember right, consumption. They then have a romance, and on her death, he attempts to stop time and get her back.

There's a wall of clouds that keeps transporting folk in space and time, a lake that can only be found through moonlight, a really big fire, vanishing boats, that sort of thing, on the fantasy front. But New York City itself is the true star of the show. Though it covers a large time period, I liked the early bits with the Baymen, the oyster bars and the historical stuff best, I think. I thought the romance between the two characters was well done, on the whole, but I was younger then. :)

[Mithfânion]

Thanks for the info Kat. It sounds partly interesting, and partly not. The story itself, the setting and the prose appeal to me from what I have read. But I don't really like the sound of the Fantasy elements that you're naming ( which is ironic I guess, since I'm a genre fan speaking about a work that would otherwise be wholly devoid of Fantasy).

I may give the book a try though.

[Erfael]

Mith,

Kat pretty much summed it up as I would. I asked about Little, Big, as the two books remind me a lot of each other, with sort of an ehterial vibe going throughout. On top of all Kat told you, I'll just mention I really quite enjoyed it.

[KatG]

It's not a magic realism novel, but it is probably closer to that sort of fantasy approach than to straight out fantasy elements. It gets a bit thrillerish in spots, but it's more focused on cultural stuff. It will probably come down to whether you like his style or not. He has also, I believe, written a couple other novels that are fantasy too.

[Postaurch]

Just read it recently.

Part of the story are a fantasy/alternate-history exploration of New York City, past, present, and future. Other parts echo the Fountainhead in terms of personal godhood. The prose is lyric, the characters epic, and the ending near-apocalypic (literally).

I found it one of those books where the journey was more satisfying than the destination. The first part of the book, taking place in the early history of NYC, is to me the best part and could have been a satistfying story ending right there. The remaining parts are, IMO, so invested with pathos due to the earlier storyline, that they are ultimately less than satisfying. The ending was for so long a foregone conlusion that my main reaction was one of relief, even if I enjoyed it.

Beyond that, tale of crossing the US from San Francisco to NYC is one of the most hilarious tracts of fiction I've read in a long time.

If you liked Litte, Big, you will certainly appreciate this book, but where it stands beyond that is probably a personal reaction. If you couldn't tolerate LB, I wouldn't bother.