Winter's Tale

by Mark Helprin

This book was an exceptionally happy surprise. I picked it up at a garage sale, along with 20 other books, for a grand total of $1. Unfortunately, most of the other books I picked up have been a bust, and therefore don't make it to the blog, but Winter's Tale blew me away.

Quite literally, it made me both laugh and cry--Pedram is my witness. I read a review that said, "It broke my heart and then quietly sewed it back together again". Precisely.

The book is a bit daunting, over 700 pages, and it's fantastical and historical, dense and lyrical. But it's worth the journey. Because it's a journey you will, like I anticipate I will be doing, take over and over again. At it's very core, this is a love story. But like the best books, it's also about the meaning of life.

I loved it. I didn't understand all of it, but I'm looking forward to the second and third time I read this and truly do.