Mark Helprin's book was extremely self-indugent. While some of the writing was beautiful and evocative, the overall feeling that I got from reading this book was that I was on a never-ending trek through a blinding snow storm. I finally took refuge in the warm feeling that there was no requirement to get to the end of this arduous journey. I left the book unfinished(unusual for me) and moved on to a more pleasant sojourn with an Ann Tyler novel.