The book focuses on an aged World War I veteran who recounts his life and adventures while traveling with a young man he meets after the two of them are thrown off a bus, the former leaving after the latter is refused entry, as the older man marches toward a visit with his granddaughter, neither knowing the outcome of their journey.
As a young man, Alessandro Giuliani foresees Italy's entry into the Great War and joins the navy rather than waiting to be drafted into the more dangerous infantry. This reasoned and logical course of action has no place in a world gone mad, and Alessandro's life, loves, friendships and fortunes all take bizarre and often tragic turns. Still, Alessandro is able to find beauty not so much because he is a professor of aesthetics (though he is) but because he is profoundly spiritual. As he nears the end of his life story, Alessandro tells his young companion, "And yet if you asked me what [the truth] was, I can't tell you. I can tell you only that it overwhelmed me, that all the hard and wonderful things of the world are nothing more than a frame for a spirit, like fire and light, that is the endless roiling of love and grace. I can tell you only that beauty cannot be expressed or explained in a theory or an idea, that it moves by its own law, that it is God's way of comforting His broken children."
Literary significance and receptionedit
"Energetic prose, poetic images of great intensity and an antic imagination combine in this gripping moral fable narrated by a septuagenarian irrevocably altered by WW I. This BOMC main selection was on PW's hardcover bestseller list for eight weeks."[1]
Footnotesedit
^"Publishers Weekly, May 1991". quoted at. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
This article about a World War I novel first published in the 1990s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
soldier, great, novel, american, writer, mark, helprin, about, great, published, 1991, harcourt, paperback, editionauthormark, helprincountryunited, stateslanguageenglishgenrewar, novelpublisherharcourtpublication, datemay, 1991media, typeprint, hardback, pape. A Soldier of the Great War is a novel by American writer Mark Helprin about the Great War It was published in May 1991 by Harcourt A Soldier of the Great WarPaperback editionAuthorMark HelprinCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenreWar novelPublisherHarcourtPublication dateMay 1991Media typePrint hardback amp paperback Pages804 ppISBN978 0151836000OCLC22308235Dewey Decimal813 54 20LC ClassPS3558 E4775 S65 1990Overview editThe book focuses on an aged World War I veteran who recounts his life and adventures while traveling with a young man he meets after the two of them are thrown off a bus the former leaving after the latter is refused entry as the older man marches toward a visit with his granddaughter neither knowing the outcome of their journey As a young man Alessandro Giuliani foresees Italy s entry into the Great War and joins the navy rather than waiting to be drafted into the more dangerous infantry This reasoned and logical course of action has no place in a world gone mad and Alessandro s life loves friendships and fortunes all take bizarre and often tragic turns Still Alessandro is able to find beauty not so much because he is a professor of aesthetics though he is but because he is profoundly spiritual As he nears the end of his life story Alessandro tells his young companion And yet if you asked me what the truth was I can t tell you I can tell you only that it overwhelmed me that all the hard and wonderful things of the world are nothing more than a frame for a spirit like fire and light that is the endless roiling of love and grace I can tell you only that beauty cannot be expressed or explained in a theory or an idea that it moves by its own law that it is God s way of comforting His broken children Literary significance and reception edit Energetic prose poetic images of great intensity and an antic imagination combine in this gripping moral fable narrated by a septuagenarian irrevocably altered by WW I This BOMC main selection was on PW s hardcover bestseller list for eight weeks 1 Footnotes edit Publishers Weekly May 1991 quoted at Retrieved 2008 02 07 nbsp This article about a World War I novel first published in the 1990s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Soldier of the Great War amp oldid 1019196818, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
