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Little, Big

Author: Visit Amazon's John Crowley Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0061120057 | Format: PDF

Little, Big Description

Review

''A book that all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.'' --Ursula K. Le Guin

''Crowley is generous, obsessed, fascinating, gripping. Really, I think Crowley is so good that he has left everybody else in the dust.'' --Peter Straub, award-winning horror fiction author

Ambitious, dazzling, strangely moving, a marvelous magic-realist family chronicle.'' --Washington Post

''John Crowley writes sentences of such coruscating magnificence that the rest of the English language has fallen in love with them. I once knew an adverbial clause who was so infatuated with the linguistic beauty of Little, Big that the poor creature pined away into a comma.'' --James Morrow, World Fantasy Award-winning author

''One of my favorite works of modern fantasy, Little, Big, is an amazing tale told in an amazing way. Reading it I felt as if I were watching a high-wire artist: one slip and he would fall into the dreadful net of Twee. Yet Crowley never slips, not upon a single word, and the book grows more powerful with every page.'' --Katharine Kerr, bestselling author

Ambitious, dazzling, strangely moving, a marvelous magic-realist family chronicle.'' --Washington Post

''John Crowley writes sentences of such coruscating magnificence that the rest of the English language has fallen in love with them. I once knew an adverbial clause who was so infatuated with the linguistic beauty of Little, Big that the poor creature pined away into a comma.'' --James Morrow, World Fantasy Award-winning author

''One of my favorite works of modern fantasy, Little, Big, is an amazing tale told in an amazing way. Reading it I felt as if I were watching a high-wire artist: one slip and he would fall into the dreadful net of Twee. Yet Crowley never slips, not upon a single word, and the book grows more powerful with every page.'' --Katharine Kerr, bestselling author

Ambitious, dazzling, strangely moving, a marvelous magic-realist family chronicle.'' --Washington Post

''John Crowley writes sentences of such coruscating magnificence that the rest of the English language has fallen in love with them. I once knew an adverbial clause who was so infatuated with the linguistic beauty of Little, Big that the poor creature pined away into a comma.'' --James Morrow, World Fantasy Award-winning author

''One of my favorite works of modern fantasy, Little, Big, is an amazing tale told in an amazing way. Reading it I felt as if I were watching a high-wire artist: one slip and he would fall into the dreadful net of Twee. Yet Crowley never slips, not upon a single word, and the book grows more powerful with every page.'' --Katharine Kerr, bestselling author
--This text refers to the

Audio CD
edition.

About the Author

John Crowley lives in the hills of northern Massachusetts with his wife and twin daughters. He is the author of ten previous novels as well as the short fiction collection, Novelties & Souvenirs.

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Paperback: 538 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 17, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061120057
ISBN-13: 978-0061120053
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

It took me a few attempts to get rolling with "Little, Big". There is no real action to speak of and not a lot of dialogue - the story just sort of meanders along. Still, my perseverance was well-rewarded...and how! John Crowley's writing has an elegance and beauty that is simply incomparable. I could throw out any number of adjectives - lyrical, sensual, dense, profound, heartbreaking, haunting...in short, an amazing achievement. I have re-read it many times since, and each time I notice new details and depths. As the key concept of the book states, "the further in you go the bigger it gets". It is by no means a light, casual read, and will not appeal to all readers.

The complex story is hard to describe or explain very well (I've tried a number of times to do so). The book opens with a young man named Smokey Barnable making his way on foot from the City to a place called Edgewood, where he is going to marry Daily Alice Drinkwater. From this charming beginning, "Little, Big" goes on to trace the history of the Drinkwater family, whose story is quite literally a Fairy Tale that they only vaguely understand themselves (although they know that they are in it) and of Edgewood, an amazing house "of four floors, seven chimneys, three hundred and sixty-five stairs, (and) fifty-two doors", which is a doorway to the Fairies. "Little, Big" jumps back and forth across five Drinkwater generations as the meaning of the Tale and their place and purpose in it becomes clearer, while Smoky (and later his son Auberon) struggle with their disbelief.

It may not sound like much (and there really is a lot more to it than my extremely brief synopsis), but John Crowley's superb and gorgeous writing just sweeps you along.

Wow. That's all I can really say about this. I'm not sure what more I can say that would make you go out and seek this book down at all costs (the other reviewers here already having done a fine job of kindling that desire hopefully) but every little bit helps and maybe some publisher will read all these and realize that this book deserves to be in print. So . . . deep breath, where to start? I could say that this easily ranks among the best books I've ever read but that tells you nothing. So why do I love it so? The story in essence is a tale (or Tale) of one family's (one large family) association with fairies. But this isn't a typical fantasy novel. For one thing the focus is entirely on the family, the story lunges backwards and forwards in time and the family tree in the beginning is given there for a reason . . . pay attention to it. There's isn't much action but frankly you don't miss it, the action that is there is implied, Crowley shows us the mold and lets our imagination fill the spaces in, the way the best writers do. And ah, the language. If only every fantasy novel could capture the elegance and sheer range of his words. Whether he's being funny or serious or sensual or touching or whatever, there are passages you just want to read outloud. And you will be moved, he'll make you feel joy, despair and everything in between. George Mouse's retelling of his encounter with Sophie's baby has to be one of the most riveting pieces of literature I've ever read. But the overall tone is gentle, images of spring and winter with spring not far ahead (or behind) fill every corner. The fairies' influence is everywhere but they're rarely seen, which is absolutely great.

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