Book Review: In Sunlight and In Shadow by Mark Helprin

Do Not Read this Book!

That should be my complete review of this book because frankly I feel like I have wasted a lot of time reading it. 

You might ask my why as I have been known to give a book about 50 pages before I bail and put it down. I often do that because life is too short to read bad books and because if I'm not reading for some academic course, and this isn't related to my job,  I simply don't have to feel the need to complete it.

Unfortunately, the first 100 or so pages of this book was phenomenal and it drew me in. I really liked the our hero, newly returned WWII Veteran Harry Copeland and rooted for him as he discovered true love with Catherine Hale. I found the meeting of these two people from vastly different backgrounds who found a world together.

Something happened after 100 pages. The story seemed to turn and the plot went into a direction that was different in tone and not as magical. Yet, I continued on because I felt I owed it to Harry and Catherine. Over time, the author wasn't as lyrical anymore but just plain old boring, with pages and pages of description and dialogue that frankly just didn't matter.

At about page 400 I began skimming pages, often skipping five of them at a time to just get through this because I felt invested. It was NOT worth it and the ending was even worse than I had anticipated. I felt cheated.

It usually takes me only a few days to finish a book but this has been about two weeks. Ick.