A Soldier of the Great War
by Mark Helprin
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 724)
I was given this book by the screenwriter Stewart Stern after he and I met at the Sundance Film Labs. I read it with my dad during several road trips around the southwest, and it resonated with me more then than it might have otherwise because of those associations. The story is about an old man experiencing his youth again as he takes one final long walk and tells a young companion about his glory days in and around WWI. There's a love story in which coincidence conquers plausibility, and al...more
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Read in March, 2008
This book was given to me based on my desire to read books with amazing and beautiful language. It completely lived up to that billing. Helprin is as master of descriptive language. As I read I could smell the walled garden, feel the wind and the exaltation as the rock climbed, hear the voices, and was pained as I "watched" men work in the quarries and lose their lives in battle. Had I read the book at a different time, or maybe when I re-read it in the future I may give it that fi...more
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Read in May, 2005
Mark Helprin is a writer it is hard for me to get my head around. He is very into heroes, and passion, and war- in some ways kind of a grown up six year old. He's also very into beauty, love, and aesthetics. One thing is certain- he is madly inventive, brilliantly descriptive, and every sentence of his writing is life-affirming and bold. On the other hand, you get the impression reading him that he is a true believer- he is not open to anything that might disagree with his fanciful and overs...more
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Also epic. Contains, among other great passages, this description of the painting by Giorgione, 'La Tempesta':
"Only in the lightning and in the foreground is the light active. The woman and the soldier steal the light and color from everything that is in ruin. Unclothed and unprotected, with her baby in her arms, she defies the storm unwittingly. Entirely at risk, she shines out. Don't you understand? She's his only hope. After what he's seen, only she and the child can put the world in ...more
"Only in the lightning and in the foreground is the light active. The woman and the soldier steal the light and color from everything that is in ruin. Unclothed and unprotected, with her baby in her arms, she defies the storm unwittingly. Entirely at risk, she shines out. Don't you understand? She's his only hope. After what he's seen, only she and the child can put the world in ...more
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Read in November, 2007
One of the slowest, but most delicately and deliciously written novels I have ever read. An old man is walking from one Italian city to another and meets a young man along the way. He begins to tell his life story and his view of life (which is oddly philosphical) going back to his youth and including his time in the Italian army during World War I. Along the way he loves, he loses, he wins, he loses, he finds life to be confusing... but overall, the compelling story of his life is so wonderfu...more
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Read in July, 2007
This book puts Erich Maria Remarque to shame. Beautiful prose highlights a forgotten front of a forgotten war as a student of aesthetics becomes a soldier of World War I in the Italian army. The characters brought to life by Mark Helprin are perfectly tragic in their hope and optimism. As you read, you desperately try to connect yourself to Alessandro, but as you press on, you come to realize that we are all Nicolo, his companion on the road away from Rome in 1964, ignorant and selfish, thinking...more
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Read in April, 2008
Whatever I could possibly say cannot do justice to this book. How Helprin uses language is magnificent - the dialogue, the thoughts he evokes, the humor, the beauty he paints for the reader. I have to give this book five stars, although I have only read half. Well now I have completed the book and this makes me so sad - I don't want it to end.
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5 comments
I have mixed feelings about this one. The writing is top-notch; there were some passages where I had to stop and re-read them because they were so beautiful. Helprin is an amazing writer.
But the story itself did not keep me engrossed. It took me a while to read the book, mainly because I had to almost force myself to pick it up and keep going.
However, I am glad I read it, and would recommend it for others to read, if only for the perfect sentences and paragraphs that show up throughout....more
But the story itself did not keep me engrossed. It took me a while to read the book, mainly because I had to almost force myself to pick it up and keep going.
However, I am glad I read it, and would recommend it for others to read, if only for the perfect sentences and paragraphs that show up throughout....more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2006
recommends it for:
everyone who understand the tragedy in life
the asthetics in this book draw me back everytime i find myself needing to remember why i love the world. i find myself watching the light reflect off of a building while holding warm coffee and wearing shoes that hurt, and i fall in love with life again. i never miss the cool breeze, the scarring tears or the sound of the sea because of this book. my heart was opened to this man's tragedy and in it i find my own, yet a way to experience it so deeply. it's long, but a lot like life.
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This book wasn't completed by many of my book club buddies because it had the "f bomb" throughout this war story. It begins in Italy and follows the life of Alessandro Giuliani. He suffers the horrors of war and imprisonment to find and lose love and then find it again. I cried and cried at the book's end and my husband thought I was nuts. This is an incredible journey and I forgive the language of war for the reverent regard I felt for the main character at the story's end.
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Read in April, 2006
WOW, this is the BEST novel I've read about WWI. (what a lame sentence to describe one of the best books I've ever read.)
You truly feel all of the emotions of the war hero as he recounts his life. Allesandro opens the story as an old man in 1964 looking back.
Mr Helprin is an extremely talented writer whose work should be savored by anyone with an interest in historical fiction. I think I'll read it again. Absolutely amazing
You truly feel all of the emotions of the war hero as he recounts his life. Allesandro opens the story as an old man in 1964 looking back.
Mr Helprin is an extremely talented writer whose work should be savored by anyone with an interest in historical fiction. I think I'll read it again. Absolutely amazing
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Read in November, 2007
Hot off the press and 24 glorious CDs long. Hope the reader does it justice.
Will drop everything else when my copy arrives.
[edited to add: the narrator is a little generic, but still very good. I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting an American voice. I suppose an American accent is better than a fake Italian one, though.
Two CDs and I'm completely sucked back in. This is such an amazing book.]
Will drop everything else when my copy arrives.
[edited to add: the narrator is a little generic, but still very good. I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting an American voice. I suppose an American accent is better than a fake Italian one, though.
Two CDs and I'm completely sucked back in. This is such an amazing book.]
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7 comments
Read in September, 2007
I'm on the last 50 pages and have to say this is one of the best books I have ever read. It has changed me as a person and is one that I will read again. When an author can capture what is really important in life and you feel the emotions the character is going through as if they were your own then it is something beautiful. Next time I read this book it will be when I'm traveling through Italy.
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Read in January, 2000
I have read this book twice. It is one of the best books I have ever read. I have read several other Mark Helperin books and have enjoyed them, but this is an endearing story of a man recollecting his life, as a boy, as a soldier for Italy in the Italian Alps, as a lover who suffers profound loss, and who near the end of his life finds happiness. I will probably read this a few more times.
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Read in January, 2008
Helprin writes with such a loving, epic voice in this book about an old italian soldier and his life before, during, and after WWI. It reminded me of American Beauty, as the main character compels you to find beauty, life, or love in every tiny detail of your existence. The novel/plot isn't particularly unique but Helprin's command of language will consume you leave you inspired and happy.
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
people who love
I loved reading this book. It transported me to Italy. I would look forward to it every day and carried it everywhere to be able to sneak bits of it.
The descriptions of the first world war, of the countryside, of getting old, of Rome, of loving your children... were so vivid and real and interesting. It's the kind of book that inspires you to be a better writer, person, observer.
The descriptions of the first world war, of the countryside, of getting old, of Rome, of loving your children... were so vivid and real and interesting. It's the kind of book that inspires you to be a better writer, person, observer.
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So...this would probably be the greatest novel ever written. It is a war story and a love story, a story about God and beauty, a story about perseverance, and it's really funny and quirky at times. Mark Helprin is our most intelligent writer, and our most underappreciated. I don't read many books more than once, but I've read this one 3 times and some of the passages countless times.
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Read in September, 2007
You win, Mr. Helprin. Your fine novel transcends my smart-ass review. Even so, I give you five out of five pitons driven into the rock face of an impossible cliff in the Italian Alps by a soldier we have come to love on his way to rescue his friend who we hope is not dead. You get extra credit for your humorous inclusion of the roller-coaster decorating profession.
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2 comments
Read in January, 2002
recommended to Angela by:
Samrecommends it for: fiction readers
This is my favorite of Mark Helprin's books. It has an epic sense of tragedy, although I'd say that the author went out on a limb writing about a soldier's view of World War I (see All Quiet on the Western Front for the definitive treatment). It's also a love story, and as usual in Mark Helprin's books, the sense of place is one of the most important aspects of the story.
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Read in January, 1991
This is my favorite book of all time and probably the only book that I've reread twice. When people ask me at work for recommendations, I only give this title to the really cool people. Some of the imagery is so lyrical that it flows like prose poetry. I recently found a 1st edition at Hyde Brothers Books (Fort Wayne, IN)which was just like finding buried treasure!
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