Freddy and Fredericka

[Febnyc]

My favorite contemporary novelist is Mark Helprin.

I've all of his books and, although as he ages he gets wordier and wordier, nevertheless I enjoy them very much.

The recent coronation of Charles III spurred me to return to one of Helprin's stories - published in 2005, and titled "Freddy and Fredericka."

It's a thinly-veiled satire on Charles, as Prince of Wales, and Princess Diana. Because Freddy gets himself into such embarrassing situations, he and Fredericka are banished to America to win back their standing at court by recolonizing the States.

I think it's the only book I've ever read which so often reduced me to tear-inducing, rib-shaking laughter. Helprin evokes brilliant pictures and action and invents preposterous and yet recognizable characters. For instance, Charles's lover is Phoebe Boylingehotte. The conversations, the repartee, are hysterical.

And underneath the hilarity is a serious reflection on the two (U.S. and U.K.) societies -as they were around the turn of the 21st Century or so.

[jserraglio]

Thanks, never read anything by Halprin. This one looks a good place to begin.

[Febnyc]

Thanks, never read anything by Halprin. This one looks a good place to begin.

Well, it's not Helprin's best - but it is a lot of fun.

If you want to get the real sense of this author's brilliance, I would suggest one of the following:
1. Winter's Tale
2. A Soldier of the Great War
3. One of his collections of short stories, eg The Pacific and Other Stories.

Thanks.

[jserraglio]

Thank you! I just enkindled Winter’s Tale

[Febnyc]

Winter's Tale is a fantastic journey for which you'll need to suspend reality and revel in the author's imagination. Hope you enjoy it.

[jserraglio]

So far, the WT book is engrossing, different from but like Edith Wharton in its paean to its central character— the City. I recognize a lot of its magical places, just from having lived and worked in and around Manhattan briefly. What Helprin knows in and of itself is astonishing and expresses itself torrentially.

I did look at the film version online. Some good acting (Colin Farrell, Eva Marie Saint and Jessica Brown Findlay), some very bad acting (Russell Crowe and Will Smith) and a laughable narrative line. Basically, the movie sucks.

[Febnyc]

So far, the WT book is engrossing, different from but like Edith Wharton in its paean to its central character— the City. I recognize a lot of its magical places, just from having lived and worked in and around Manhattan briefly. What Helprin knows in and of itself is astonishing and expresses itself torrentially.

I did look at the film version online. Some good acting (Colin Farrell, Eva Marie Saint and Jessica Brown Findlay), some very bad acting (Russell Crowe and Will Smith) and a laughable narrative line. Basically, the movie sucks.

I worked in Manhattan all my life, and lived there for 10 years. Helprin's descriptions are magical, I think. His writing is, as you write, "torrential" indeed.

The film, which I could not bear to watch after reading the reviews, was a total flop. And no surprise here - Hollywood never could replicate on screen the elegance of Helprin's prose.

Enjoy the book and, perhaps, move on to A Soldier of the Great War for a bountiful love story, and to Freddy and Fredericka for laughs and reflections on humanity.

[jserraglio]

I think I'm going to read the Paris book next cuz I want to see it someday! Right now, I am being dejavued by NYC all over again, this time vicariously. I loved living on Second Ave & 19th Street, 10th floor, in an Art Deco doorman bldg costing my wife and me next to nothing back then, walking everywhere, esp. to Grand Central at dawn to board a train to Dobbs Ferry, being softly propositioned on the way there by ladies hovering in the entry ways along Park Ave.

How did I ever not know of this writer, basically my contemporary and a bit more than a genius. Thank you!