Boy, I really had high hopes for this book.

It contains some exquisitely written passages that are a joy to read. The author has an acute eye for detail, which brings the story to life in a vivid and engaging way. What's more, the narrative is fearless, unafraid to explore complex themes and ideas.

Unfortunately, despite its many strengths, the book falls short in one crucial area. It lacks a sense of real-world meaning to support its ambitious linguistic and metaphysical concepts.

The book attempts to find magic and transcendent wonder in the ordinary lives of people and their interactions with the city of New York (both in 1900 and 2000, in a somewhat unfamiliar universe). There is a lot of lofty talk about the ultimate balance and order of the universe, and the power of love to overcome time and injustice.

However, as you progress through the 750 pages and delve deeper into the story, you realize that the metaphysical mumbo-jumbo just leads to more of the same. The book fails to connect these grand ideas to real-life human experiences in a meaningful way.

Nonetheless, it is still a fun and captivating read, and completely original. (Especially considering that it pre-dated and perhaps even started the trend of setting novels in 19th century New York.) But it would be a mistake to take it as seriously as it seems to demand.

When I purchase books these days, it is almost always those where I am familiar with either the book or the author. If I am at a bookstore and come across a book that I don't know, I always check it out on Goodreads before making a purchase. However, it is extremely rare for me to walk into a bookstore and discover a book where I have never heard of either the author or the book.

In the town where I reside, there is a small book café that sells used books. I seldom visit there - in fact, I have only been there approximately five times. On one of these occasions, I saw a book that seemed interesting. I didn't buy it immediately but instead went home and looked it up. What I found out intrigued me to such an extent that I went back, walked directly to it, picked it up, and paid the very small amount it cost, which was 50 Dkr - about 8.5 USD. I had never heard of the title or the author before, but I am so glad that I visited that bookstore and bought that book. Trying not to sound overly cheesy, but it was simply the perfect book for me.

The book was Winter’s Tale. The author was Mark Helprin. And the book is truly beautiful, lyrical, and poetic, almost like a fairy tale - it is just amazing. It is one of those books where you feel that no words you write will or can do it justice, yet you just want to shout out to people 'Read this!'.

The story is set in a mythical and fictionalized New York City at both the beginning and the end of the twentieth century. It centers around Peter Lake and the Penn family, especially his love, Beverly Penn. Peter Lake is a burglar from a time when burglars were still considered honorable. While breaking into a house, he meets Beverly Penn, an heiress. They fall in love even though she is dying from consumption. Their love gives meaning to all of Peter Lake's life, a life that is so fantastical and amazing that... well, you simply have to read this book for yourself.

And we must not forget Athansor, the huge white horse. Every scene featuring Athansor is heartbreaking, beautiful, and touching. Athansor is a sort of protector for Peter Lake, a horse with incredible powers. He can run and jump faster and longer than any other horse, and, oh yeah, he can fly. There are some harsh scenes that might be unpleasant for any horse lover to read, but the beauty of Athansor more than makes up for the heartbreaking scenes.

This is one of those books where after you have read it, you read other reviews because the plot is so complex and enchanting that you are seeking a way to summarize it without giving too much away, yet also without just writing some nonsense that tells nothing about the book at all but makes it sound boring and uninteresting. I am really not sure how to sum up the novel because there is so much content in it and the complexity of the storyline is incredible. So that's why I went looking for someone who could sum up this novel - without success. It's something that must be felt, I think.

The writing in this novel is part of its allure. Overall, it is just beautiful. I could post numerous quotes, attesting to the gorgeousness that is Helprin's writing. But since I always write very long reviews, I thought I'd address two things at once and show how he writes while also choosing a quote that pertains to something else I want to discuss. Since this novel involves people sort of traveling in time - at least existing across a significant amount of time, Helprin of course has to address the matter of time.

‘If nothing is random, and everything is predetermined, how can there be free will? The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is determined, or was determined, or will be determined. No matter, it all happened at once, in less than an instant, and time was invented because we cannot comprehend in one glance the enormous and detailed canvas that we have been given – so we track it, in linear fashion, piece by piece. Time, however, can be easily overcome; not by chasing the light, but by standing back far enough to see it all at once. The universe is still and complete. Everything that ever was, is; everything that ever will be, is – and so on, in all possible combinations. Though in perceiving it we imagine that it is in motion, and unfinished, it is quite finished and quite astonishingly beautiful. In the end, or, rather, as things really are, any event, no matter how small, is intimately and sensibly tied to all others.’ (p. 401-402)

So all time exists simultaneously, if you can even put it that way. We are only able to see one part of time, but people like Peter Lake, Beverly Penn, and others are capable of more. They have a completely different perspective of the universe than ordinary humans; they are larger-than-life characters and they live in a novel where time, life and death, love and divine beings make humans capable of more than they thought. It's about the limits of human experience and unlimited love. It's an amazing metaphysical novel that was immediately placed on my favorite shelf after I finished reading it.

There is so much more in this novel that I haven't touched upon. Characters that will make you love them or break your heart. Peter Lake, Beverly Penn, and Athansor will stay with any reader for a long time. Whenever you look up at a starry sky, you'll try to see what Beverly Penn saw - and ultimately, you'll just return to the novel again to read about her visions, about Athansor, about Peter Lake, about love, and the building of bridges.

This is the first time I've read through this novel since I first read and was completely captivated by it during my college days.

It is truly sweeping and grandiose, filled with a sense of magic. The characters are interesting, and the themes are inspirational.

However, I must admit that this time around, I didn't find it as moving as the first time. I felt that Helprin was a bit too heavy-handed with his imagery, which seemed to be non-stop and overwhelming. His use of metaphors and his ideologies also had the same effect.

I was often distracted by him as a writer, and I don't think that's a good thing. The story was sometimes pushed to the side so that he could make his political point or religious simile. While politics and religion can be fine in literature, they need to be balanced.

Overall, I think it's a wonderful novel, but I'm afraid it's not a great one. Still, I'm giving it five stars because of the special place it holds in my life and heart.