Helpful Score: 5
Let it never be said that Mark Helprin does not love, or believe in the spirit of, America. Reading this will make you proud to live in such a country, regardless of feelings towards one's fellow countrymen. There were certainly places where Helprin could have trimmed verbosity.
This is all at once a satire of the British monarchy, a fairy tale, a Horatio Algeresque story, and an entertaining piece of fiction about a man and a woman who learn to love each other. Several passages in this almost moved me to tears, not only because of their truth and beauty, but because I felt as if Helprin was in my mind. And the reactions of the other characters made me feel as if he'd pulled the scene from my life.
None of us are born to be kings or queens. This is something one must earn and sitting on one's figurative laurels will never get one there. If there is one thing to take from this book it is this: read, study, and strive to be a cultured and better person and the world is yours; nothing can stop you. Seek out new experiences and make wise decisions; nothing can stop you. Strive to reach such an understanding and such a love of epic proportions with another person that your bond is stronger than anything else; nothing can stop you.
I was hesitant to finish this book because not only did I want to believe that it continued indefinitely, but because I knew that putting it down would then place the onus upon me to become as educated, confident, and great a person as both Freddy and Fredericka became. And having read the last page, I know that it is not only within me to do that, but that I will.
This is all at once a satire of the British monarchy, a fairy tale, a Horatio Algeresque story, and an entertaining piece of fiction about a man and a woman who learn to love each other. Several passages in this almost moved me to tears, not only because of their truth and beauty, but because I felt as if Helprin was in my mind. And the reactions of the other characters made me feel as if he'd pulled the scene from my life.
None of us are born to be kings or queens. This is something one must earn and sitting on one's figurative laurels will never get one there. If there is one thing to take from this book it is this: read, study, and strive to be a cultured and better person and the world is yours; nothing can stop you. Seek out new experiences and make wise decisions; nothing can stop you. Strive to reach such an understanding and such a love of epic proportions with another person that your bond is stronger than anything else; nothing can stop you.
I was hesitant to finish this book because not only did I want to believe that it continued indefinitely, but because I knew that putting it down would then place the onus upon me to become as educated, confident, and great a person as both Freddy and Fredericka became. And having read the last page, I know that it is not only within me to do that, but that I will.
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