5stars
1rating4stars
1rating3stars
0rating2stars
0rating1star
0rating
2 reviews
A Winter's Tale and an Unvisited City in Winter
I'm always looking for Mark Helprin titles, and when I can find a first edition in reach, I grab it. A City In Winter written by Helprin and illustrated by Chris van Allsburg would have been in the same category of a children's book by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Maurice Sendack if it woeren't better on both counts. Helprin may be a failed human being (he puts off his snotty reviewers)but is a genius. Van Allsburg is an artist, where Sendack is a gifted illustrator. Even though I hadn't put the two together, if van Allsburg had worked with Helprin on Winter's Tale, it would have captured Peter Lake and New York perfectly. Van Allsburg uses perspective and color as Helprin imagination and language: both treat their subjects and their perceivers with discipline and sureness.
Would I recommend this book for children? Hell no. But if Goethe was right (and he was)when he wrote that genius was the ability to recapture childhood at will, then this work is for adults with intelligence and taste. Oprah will never read it, and I'd be astonished if the NYT reviewed it--well.Read full review...
A City in Winter
This book contains more artwork from the award winning artist Chria Van Allsburg, the author and artist of The Polar Express. A City in Winter isn't as laviously illustrated as Polar Express but well worth having in your collection.Read full review...