There are so many things I want to say about this book, that I don't know where to begin. First off, I loved it. I don't believe I've ever read a book that touched me on so many different levels. I can't really say what it was "about." It begins as the story of Peter Lake, who falls in love with the daughter of the man whose home he is attempting to rob. Then it travels over dozens of other lives, in and out of time, turning into a fantasy story that might not really be fantasy. It's the story of love lasting through time, but different kinds of love. And it is without question the most beautifully written story I have ever read. The language, the descriptions, the conversations--absolutely masterful. I went to a book reading by Mark Helprin once, and found him to be a very colorless and dull conversationalist. He must save it all up for his writing. To top it all off, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Oliver Wyman, who did a fabulous job with the reading. Every character (and there were a ton of characters) had a distinctive, recognizable voice that doubled my enjoyment. It kept me enraptured for 22 CDs over 3 months. When I finished, I didn't want to read anything else. ( )

This is my favorite book of all time. Funny, magical, surprising, poetic, mysterious...a work of beauty and elegance. Helprin is a very gifted writer and here he is at his best . ( )

Some great writing illustrating mind expanding scenes. ( )

Perhaps it was because it was an audiobook, perhaps because I was distracted by life, but I lost interest about halfway through. ( )

This was magic realism, I think, with that very languid, dreamy, slightly distant feel I've come to associate with magic realism. Very hard to get into: nothing I actually disliked, but there was no immediacy, nothing to grasp, no characters that came alive.That's not entirely true; Peter was intermittently real, and Virginia, and various of the little vignettes like the lovers talking through the walls. But Helprin always whisked them out of sight again. I suppose the real main character was the city, but it wasn't presented very clearly either, I don't have any picture of it. I do like the irony in making New York the site for the bridge to heaven and the ideal of the Perfectly Just city. Having read some of Helpirns' articles, though, I'm not sure I'd want to live in his idea of a perfectly just city. Even in Winter's Tale I thought he had too great a tolerance for collateral damage.Still, there was compassion. It's hard for me to realise that someone with political beliefs so markedly different from mine can still share many of the same values. Something to remember. ( )