Category Archives: Troops

What a brilliant book, this epic of Italy in the first world war, with touches of the later rise of fascism and the contemptible Mussolini. It’s a dense story with much complexity about music, culture and love, in addition to the expected combat sequences. A few of the longer sentences are a bit hard to follow, but it’s worth rereading them to get the whole sense the author intended.

Implausible some of the plot turns may be, as some Amazon reviewers have complained, but this is fiction, after all, with all its special license. I particularly liked the soldier of the title, Alessandro’s, transition from atheist to believer, especially because it develops out of combat (rather than war’s usual, stereotypical, forced conversion from belief to atheism) though he continues to reject religious dogma.

He’s such an honorable guy, this almost-professor of aesthetics turned conscript, who gives as much (or more) than he takes, that it’s a joy to follow him through the intricacies of Mr. Helprin’s considerable tale. I learned more about Italy than I ever knew.

The author’s style is classic. He writes relentlessly with verbs and nouns, seldom adjectives, and should be taught for his craft alone, if he isn’t already, though he may not be politically correct enough to suit the predominantly-leftist literary academy.

Too many of his books aren’t ready for the Kindle yet, however, and I hope that changes soon. He seems to be a writer who’s made for paper but I prefer digital’s easier distribution and storage, not to mention cheaper price.