I just finished Anna Karenina and thought I'd take on something contemporary and maybe shorter. I'm thinking about Helprin's Winter's Tale. But I was browsing at Amazon and a customer left a review saying that it's the equivalent of Thomas Kincaid. That made me think again... I'd welcome thoughts by those of you who've read it.

Or maybe I'll stick wtih Tolstoy and read War and Peace...

Thanks for your opinions!

While I haven't read Winter's Tale, I've heard mixed things about it — while a few friends loved it, some hated how he wrote / the story / etc. I haven't read anything by him, so I picked up his short story college (Pacific, I think?) to get a better handle on him before I tackle his other stuff.

I have recently read Winter's Tale and thought it was wonderful. (Although it's not a whole lot shorter than Anna Karenina.) The prose has many gracefully written descriptive passages. Whether you like the book will depend somewhat on your taste for "magical realism", in that the story often goes into flights of fancy from a more realistic setting, and dwells in possibilities of a world more imaginative than this one.

I suppose the Amazon reviewer you're referring to wanted something more grounded in reality, but I think the Thomas Kincade comparison is unfair. There are scenes that describe paintings that one could assume cover the same thematic territory, but I'll give my credit to Mark Helprin the writer and consider that his imagination far outshines that of Mr. Kincade. Besides, Winter's Tale was published in the early 1980s, before the age of Kincade took hold, so I am of the opinion that Mr. Helprin, if he were so inclined to become a painter, could have beat Mr. Kincade handily at his own game.

Winter's Tale is on my shortlist of favorite novels. It's filled with wonder, magic, sprawling city and country-scapes, memorable characters and a delightful sense of humor.

That all being said, it's not everyone's cup if tea. But I highly recommend it. You should be able to tell a few pages in whether it's a book you'll want to finish.

Thank you, gentlemen. I'll give it a shot...