It's Summer - Read Helprin
Today is Mark Helprin's birthday. He's my favorite living writer - even though his politics are hard-core right wing. The best novel of the last quarter century is A Soldier of the Great War, a perfectly and eloquently spun tale of love, immortality and civilization.
I first read Helprin when I stumbled upon his short story "Passchendaele" in the New Yorker. It was so stunningly beautiful - the struggle of the main character to live within his code while drawn to the beauty of the mute woman on the adjoining ranch makes the resolution of the tension all the more poetic and life-affirming.
Helprin, at his best, is good for your soul. He makes you more alert to the awesome beauty and dignity of life.
posted by Dan at 6/28/2006 09:02:00 PM
3 Comments:
Did you ever read Memoir from Antproof Case? Great Helprin book. I'll add Soldier back to my list.
I enjoyed Memoir from an Antproof Case, too. Winter's Tale was also fantastic, in more ways than one.
I read The Pacific early this Summer, and immediately bought the biggest Helprin book I could find, which turned out to be A Soldier of the Great War. I love Helprin because he's witty, his style is vivid but nuanced, and he tends to swing for the fences...
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