Winter’s Tale

A few times over the course of reading/listening to your favorites I really drag on a book, this was one time!  It took about 8 weeks to finish listening to this one, which I am sure impacted my ability to focus, and more importantly enjoy this one – so that is the disclaimer.  Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin takes place near the turn of the millennium in New York City, but not necessarily completely like the one we know, though there are a good deal of references to places like Central Park, the West side, and even the defunct St. Vincent’s Hospital.  This fantasy type book brings to life burglar Peter Lake, the protagonist, who attempts to rob a mansion on the Upper West Side of the City and in doing so finds the love of his life, Beverly Penn, who eventually dies.  He is driven by her memory throughout the tale which has a backdrop of the never-ending cold and despair (blustering winds, dark nights, & snowy days) of winter.  Clearly the book is influenced by Shakespeare’s drama by the same name, where a lead character disappears for years with no known reason and then reappears transformed.  The reader does get a beautiful description of NYC, which hey, I love myself.  The story runs the whole gamut from early 1900s to 1999 so the changing industrialization of the city is presented and how the community interacts from the changes.  The style of writing is descriptive and beautiful, though quite long… I think the overall story may have been lost in some parts to me by the voice of the reader who I felt did no better than to tire me throughout.  You really need to pay attention to the various characters that came in and out of this tale.  I will say a lovely happy ending does occur.  The book is lauded with awards etc.; however, not entirely my type of reading, but can understand based on the style of writing why it has such high praise.  A pass for me, though others will disagree.  Just be prepared for a long read…