Aug 02 2006
Little, Big
Author: John Crowley
ISBN: 0413513505
DDC: 813.54
See also: LibraryThing ; Spike Magazine
On a certain day in June, 19-, a young man was making his way on foot northwood from the great City to a town or place called Edgewood.
This book, one of the classics of fantasy literature, did absolutely nothing for me. Okay, that is a slight exageration, because there were some touches that appealed to me. The whole fairy tale atmosphere. The house of different fronts. The randomness of so much of it. And even the language was appealing on occasion. But overall it was all a load of nothingness that I neither enjoyed nor hated. It simply was there. And the interesting lines, descriptions and ideas did nothing to help the sluggish nature of the book. There wasn’t any real story that appealed to me, and none of the characters seemed all that well drawn to me. They were all there to play a role.
Maybe that was the idea, they were after living the Tale. But it wasn’t enough to keep me interested through all those pages when nothing was going on. And even when things were happening, it read as though nothing was occuring.
“It’s as though,” Daily Alice said, “each day is like a step, and every step takes you further away from - well, from when things made more sense.
Well, reading this book was like an exercise in futility. Each paragraph was a step away from a story and into a desciption, but a description that didn’t really matter, entertain or interest me.
Tags: 4 Stars, 813.54, Bored Now!, classic, Faerie Wars, John Crowley, Little Big, not my cup of tea, sffRelated posts
Tags: 4 Stars, 813.54, Bored Now!, classic, Faerie Wars, John Crowley, Little Big, not my cup of tea, sff
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4 Responses to “Little, Big”
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Oh, yay, a blog that doesn’t only read romance novels! I didn’t look super well, but you have read some very interesting books that I have never heard of before. And then some that I have read myself.
Hi Kailana, welcome to the blog. Sorry it took me so long to say hi
Yes! Your review, particularly the last paragraph, sums up my experience of this book exactly. There were so many rave reviews at LibraryThing, it’s a relief to hear that someone else agrees: this book was just not that great.
Here’s my review (written before I read yours):
“Many people have loved this book. Perhaps you will love this book.
I did not love this book. It was vague and needlessly wordy; its characters let their strange fates wash over them like waves; all was predestined, there was no choice, no struggle, no definition. No one could ever come out and say what they meant. It had some interesting concepts about fairies and the supernatural, ideas I’d like to see some bolder author wrestle with, but that’s the best I can say for it. I read the whole thing - I’m stubborn that way - but even the denouement was indistinct and dizzy and unsatisfying.”
Hi Lindsey,
all my reviews are based on how much I enjoyed a book or film, and I just didn’t enjoy this one. I did finish it though, all the while waiting for some payoff. Which never arrived.