A Soldier of the Great War - Softcover

Helprin, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380715899 ISBN 13: 9780380715893

Publisher: Avon Books, 1992

Synopsis

On his, last long walk, septuagenarian war hero, deserter,and professor Alessandro Giuliani shares his past with an illiterate young factory worker -- spinning a remarkable tale of heart-stopping escapes, of loves unrequited and won, of madmen, dwarfs, and mafiosi. But overshadowing all is hismost miraculous and terrible adventure, the Great War -- a surreal parade of horrors that devastated and defined Alessandro, yet enabled him to experience fully the magic and beauty of the absurd human comedy called life. From Mark Helprin bestselling author of Winter's Tale and Memoir from Antproof Case, comes a magnificent epic adventure in which the hero reckons with love, loss, beauty,honor; and mortality.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Fit to stand alongside the works of Erich Maria Remarque, and, yes, Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms . . . . Helprin has written a monumental novel." - Front Page, The Washington Post Book Review
For Alessandro Giuliani, the son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, trees shimmer in the sun beneath a sky of perfect blue, and at night the moon is amber as Rome seethes with light. He races horses across country to the sea, climbs in the Alps, and is a student of painting and aesthetics. And he falls in love, deeply and eternally. Then the Great War intervenes. Half a century later, in August of 1964, Alessandro, a white-haired professor, finds himself unexpectedly on the road with an illiterate young factory worker. During a walk over days and nights, the old man tells the story of his life. How he was a soldier, a hero, a prisoner, and a deserter. And how he tragically lost one family, but gained another. Dazzled by the action and envious of the richness and color of the story, the boy realizes that the old man's magnificent tale of love and war is more than just a tale: it is the recapitulation of his life, his reckoning with mortality, and above all, a love song for his family.
"With riotous energy and sustained brilliance . . . Helprin lights his own way, in his own singular direction." - Time
"Tolstoy . . . Stephen Crane . . . Stendhal . . . Now - daringly, dazzlingly - Mark Helprin stakes his claim to membership in these latter ranks . . . . He succeeds triumphantly." - The Chicago Tribune
A New York Times Bestseller
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, Mark Helprin served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, Refiner's Fire, Ellis Island and Other Stories, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, The Pacific and Other Stories, and Freddy and Fredericka.

About the Author

Mark Helprin is the author of A Dove of the East and Other Stories,Refiner's Fire,. Ellis Island and Other Stories,Winter's Tale and Memoir from Antproof Case.He has been honored with the Jewish Book Awardand the Prix de Rome for his works.He lives in upstate New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: Avon Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0380715899
• ISBN 13: 9780380715893
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 736