Winter's Tale Audiobook By Mark Helprin cover art

Winter's Tale

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Winter's Tale

By: Mark Helprin
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
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A #1 New York Times Bestseller: Mark Helprin’s masterpiece transports you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows…

A Winter’s Tale is a major motion picture starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, and Jennifer Connelly.

This is a book about the beauty and complexity of the human soul, about God, love, and justice, and yet you can lose yourself in it as if it were a dream. You will be transported to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented winters. One night, Peter Lake—orphan, master-mechanic, and master second-story man—attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between the middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. Because of a love that at first he cannot fully understand, Peter, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven "to stop time and bring back the dead." His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and beset by winter, is a truly beautiful and extraordinary story.

©1983 Mark Helprin (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America Literary Fiction Historical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction
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Critic reviews

"This novel stretches the boundary of contemporary literature...is a gifted writer's love affair with the language." ( Newsday)
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Update: After taking a break, I came back to this book, and I’m glad I did. I still found it rather unbearably long and overly detailed. However, the story does all tie together if you have patience, and it’s a good story. So I’m revising my rating. However, if you are not fond of long, detailed books, this one probably isn’t one you will enjoy.


I read this book long ago. So long ago, I don’t remember when, and I don’t remember much about it. I just remember that it felt magical, and I loved it. Then I watched the movie last year, and while I liked it, the story didn’t match my memory of the book. So when I purchased this as an audiobook, I fully expected to enjoy listening to it. Unfortunately, I’m not.

I’m on Chapter nine, and I’m stopping. There are so many tangents, and so much pointless detail. And now what seemed like the main story has disappeared, and a different story is taking its place. I’m thinking (hoping) it will tie together again, but holy buckets...there are still twenty two hours left in this book. I’m not enjoying it enough to want to slog through all of that.

Maybe the problem is that my life has changed a lot since I first read this so it no longer speaks to me. I don’t think that’s the problem, though. I still really want to know what happens. I just don’t want to spend twenty two hours on description that gets a bit too enthralled with itself to find out. Although the writing is beautiful, it lingers like a self conscious teenager staring into the depths of an ornately framed mirror that shines as a ray of dusty light illuminates the air of the city, bouncing off of high windows before settling down to the streets where the inhabitants spend their days scurrying about, oblivious to the parting of the cloud wall that allowed the sun to reach out to them in a gentle caress.

Yeah, I just can’t continue. Maybe I’ll try again someday, or maybe not. I suspect that I skimmed through a lot of the detail to focus on the story when I read this all those years ago. Such skimming doesn’t work well with audiobooks.

I thought I was going to love this

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What disappointed you about Winter's Tale?

This book is rich in descriptive detail, which is usually a plus, but here a lot of that detail is completely unrelated to the narrative and doesn't move the story along one bit. I continually find my attention wandering as the writer goes on at length about some minor character or setting. This could be a great book, if it was about 1/2 as long. Not surprising that many people said it was un-makeable as a film. I can't imagine the frustration the screen-writer endured in trying to wrangle this unwieldy thing down to 2 hours!

Has Winter's Tale turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I still like fantasy and magical realism, but I won't bother with another book by this writer.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator has a bit of a grating and annoying voice with some of the characters, but is overall decent.

What character would you cut from Winter's Tale?

There are too many minor characters to remember them all. As noted above, this writer wanders off on tangents and a lot of them are about these non-relevant minor characters.

Any additional comments?

The film in this case is MUCH easier to follow than the book.

Wandering story

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This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This book was not written for anyone with working brain cells.

What was most disappointing about Mark Helprin’s story?

The extreme abuse of the english language.

Which scene was your favorite?

Where after 7 hours of torture I turned the book off. That was the sweetest part.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, I can and did turn it off and I can return it for my credit back. Awesome qualities!

Any additional comments?

I am all for magic, syfi whatever you want to through in there, fine. Just not in a Suessian way that hurts my head.

The narrator however is amazing! Oliver Wyman is the only reason I was able to listen for 7 hours. He took a dull piece of literary flotsam and did his best. Kudos to him for finishing the reading and doing it masterfully.

Wow

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I am almost finished with this recording, and it has been a pure joy all the way. That is, until Chapter 5 of Part 4. Suddenly, I was listening to a duplicate of an earlier part of the story. I skipped ahead to Chapter 6 and was hearing new text again, but I can't be sure what, if anything, I have missed. So I've tried to redownload Part 4 to see if it comes out right. Unfortunately, it stalls out at 119 mb and I'm having a hard time getting past that.

This kind of thing really fouls up the experience...

Great book and narrator - bad technical glitch

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Okay, so this is the book that introduced me to its narrator, Oliver Wyman. I have since listened to almost all of his work, and once you hear this, you'll know why.

Amazing talent.

This book is tucked into the folds of my heart. A fantastical journey of love, magic, friendship, and found family, it speaks to the very heart of what makes us human (and white horse). Yes, it's all over the place at times. Yes, it's a lonnnng journey, but it's one worth taking.

I can't recommend Oliver Wyman enough, and this book is a great introduction to his (early) work.

You Always Remember Your First

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