The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

by Mark Helprin

Overview

Mark Helprin, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Winter’s Tale and A Soldier of the Great War, presents a fast-paced, beautifully written novel about the majesty of the sea; a life dedicated to duty, honor, and country; and the gift of falling in love.

A Navy captain near the end of a decorated career, Stephen Rensselaer is disciplined, intelligent, and determined to always do what’s right. In defending the development of a new variant of warship, he makes an enemy of the president of the United States, who assigns him to command the doomed line’s only prototype––Athena, Patrol Coastal 15––with the intent to humiliate a man who should have been an admiral.

Rather than resign, Rensselaer takes the new assignment in stride, and while supervising Athena’s fitting out in New Orleans, encounters a brilliant lawyer, Katy Farrar, with whom he falls in last-chance love. Soon thereafter, he is deployed on a mission that subjects his integrity, morality, and skill to the ultimate test, and ensures that Athena will live forever in the annals of the Navy.

As in the Odyssey, Katy is the force that keeps him alive and the beacon that lights the way home through seven battles, mutiny, and court martial. In classic literary form, an enthralling new novel that extolls the virtues of living by the laws of conscience, decency, and sacrifice, The Oceans and the Stars is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419769085
Publisher:	The Overlook Press
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	31,872
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Mark Helprin is the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author of Paris in the Present Tense, Winter’s Tale, In Sunlight and in Shadow, A Soldier of the Great War, Freddy and Fredericka, The Pacific, Swan Lake, Ellis Island, Memoir from Antproof Case, and numerous other works.

Hometown:

Upstate New York

Date of Birth:

June 28, 1947

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

A.B., Harvard University, 1969; A.M., 1972. Postgraduate study at Oxford University, 1976-77.

Editorial Reviews

Helprin excels at creating three-dimensional characters, and Rensselaer is a man of high moral character driven by a deep sense of humanity with a Shakespearean reference always at the ready. Helprin masterfully blends adrenaline and heart while the plot pieces fall into place like tumblers in a lock. Military aficionados will appreciate detailed descriptions of weaponry and tactics, while lovers of exquisite prose will be captivated by Rensselaer’s profundity.”
—Booklist, *starred* review

“Helprin’s love letter to the old Navy and all the old virtues that it relied upon to protect our great country and give us peace and the opportunity for a good life . . . Throughout the novel, we learn that seemingly impossible acts of bravery and courage are possible and are remembered in the annals of eternity.”
—National Review

“A grand epic . . . every situation is thoroughly set up, providing technical how and emotional why, intellectual why, political why. No blind corners here, no unreliable narrators . . . Inspirational.”
—New York Journal of Books

“War, love, and the sea intermix in this novel of bravery and conscience . . . the action is terrific . . . Fans of war stories and nautical tales will enjoy this one.”

—Kirkus

“Mark Helprin’s brilliant, swiftly paced epic—a sea, war, and love story—is a moral statement for our time, taking its place in literary history alongside James Jones’ From Here to Eternity and Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead.”
—Quarterdeck Magazine

"Mark Helprin is the most compelling novelist in America today...a story of great heroism."—Mike Pence, American Politician

From the Publisher

2023-07-13
War, love, and the sea intermix in this novel of bravery and conscience.

Capt. Stephen Rensselaer is overqualified to lead Patrol Coastal Ship 15, the Athena, but that is his assignment. While a hot war blazes in the Middle East, he and his vessel are assigned to the Indian Ocean near the Horn of Africa. His patrol craft is “best suited to the littorals,” while his crew, including SEALs, itch for action. They need not worry, as they engage in seven battles of increasing ferocity, ultimately resulting in Rensselaer’s trial for a capital crime. In one instance, a French cruise ship is hijacked by Islamic State group terrorists off the Somali coast. IS starts butchering the passengers one by one, drawing out the process to maximize worldwide publicity and fear. The Athena is in the area, but the president of the United States expressly forbids her to come to the aid of the ship. Rensselaer disobeys and follows his conscience. He is highly educated and loves to quote Shakespeare to his puzzled subordinates. “Our indiscretions sometimes serve us well, Horatio,” he tells a bemused officer, “and praisèd be rashness for it.” Comments like that fire up the ship’s gossip machine: “It was in fact a lot of fun to think that the old man was slightly off his nut.” Indeed, he is crazy about Katy Farrar, whom he meets early on, plans to marry, and thinks about in quiet moments during their inevitable separation. “Katy alone was worth all the blue oceans and all the bright stars,” he muses. The yarn hits a snag 60 pages in when the author stops for 10 pages to describe Athena’s architecture. Skip to Page 70 if you don’t want to read about it, he writes, but it interrupts the story’s momentum. Better he weave it in or tack it on at the end. But the action is terrific, and despite occasional verbosity, the writing is as good as anything else in the genre.

Fans of war stories and nautical tales will enjoy this one.

Kirkus Reviews

Helprin’s love letter to the old Navy and all the old virtues that it relied upon to protect our great country and give us peace and the opportunity for a good life . . . Throughout the novel, we learn that seemingly impossible acts of bravery and courage are possible and are remembered in the annals of eternity.”

National Review

Mark Helprin’s brilliant, swiftly paced epic—a sea, war, and love story—is a moral statement for our time, taking its place in literary history alongside James Jones’ From Here to Eternity and Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead.”

Quarterdeck Magazine

"Mark Helprin is the most compelling novelist in America today...a story of great heroism."

American Politician Mike Pence

A grand epic . . . every situation is thoroughly set up, providing technical how and emotional why, intellectual why, political why. No blind corners here, no unreliable narrators . . . Inspirational.”

New York Journal of Books

Helprin excels at creating three-dimensional characters, and Rensselaer is a man of high moral character driven by a deep sense of humanity with a Shakespearean reference always at the ready. Helprin masterfully blends adrenaline and heart while the plot pieces fall into place like tumblers in a lock. Military aficionados will appreciate detailed descriptions of weaponry and tactics, while lovers of exquisite prose will be captivated by Rensselaer’s profundity.”

*starred* review Booklist