by John Crowley
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Product Description
John Crowley's masterful Little, Big is the epic story of Smoky Barnable, an anonymous young man who travels by foot from the City to a place called Edgewood—not found on any map—to marry Daily Alice Drinkawater, as was prophesied. It is the story of four generations of a singular family, living in a house that is many houses on the magical border of an otherworld. It is a story of fantastic love and heartrending loss; of impossible things and unshakable destinies; and of the great Tale that envelops us all. It is a wonder.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The ultimate adult fantasy, 2008-10-20
Where do I begin in attempting to review this remarkable book? I'll apologize in advance for being long-winded but I have much to say about John Crowley's tour de force. It's place might be in the fantasy genre, but it's unlike any fantasy novel I've ever read. First off, it's for intelligent adults, not children, or anyone looking for pure escapism. It's also not a Tolkien type fantasy. The bulk of the plot doesn't take place in an imaginary kingdom, with stereotypical heroes and villains, and exalted but all too obvious themes. It's not allegorical as are the works of MacDonald and Lewis. The fantastic elements, fairies, elves, and such, aren't ubiquitous, but operate for the most part in clandestine fashion, behind the scenes. Little, Big can rightly be termed realistic fiction with unrealistic elements, and the fantastic elements are often presented with a Carrollian wit. Characters are introduced much the way Dickens would have. Even their names have a certain Dickensian flavor. Most of the major characters are painted with subtle, rather than broad brush strokes, in a way reminiscent of George Eliot. Despite a basic goodness and decency, major characters like Smokey and George Mouse do things that violate certain moral codes, but these transgressions aren't unduly focused on. We discover things about these people that surprise us, but shouldn't shock us. Character development is a complex and serious issue here, where human weakness serves as a counterpoint to nobility. The action starts in the middle part of the 20th century, with the very mundane Smokey Barnable, on his way to a place called Edgewood, to marry a girl named Daily Alice Drinkwater, and play his part in the Tale. The Tale is one of the major motifs in Little, Big, and it ends at the conclusion of the novel. This "Tale" encompassed by the greater fiction of the novel is one of the charming aspects of this book, sort of a myth grafted onto a slice of 20th century American history.
What is the Tale? On the surface, it is something a mysterious old woman named Mrs. Underhill may have mentioned to Alice's great grandmother Violet Bramble. It was understood that the Tale involved the family of Violet and her architect husband John Drinkwater, and it wouldn't end for quite some time. Little, Big tells the story of 4 generations of this family in lavish, beautifully descriptive prose. Part of the plot also involves a distant cousin of the family named Ariel Hawksquill and a sinister individual named Russell Eigenblick. Both will have their own important parts to play in the Tale. A good portion of the story takes place in Edgewater, which is represented by a very unusual house, designed and built by Violet's husband John, and located somewhere in the Northeast countryside (upstate NY?). Edgewater was built not merely to serve as a residence (a quite disorienting one at that), but as a way station between this dimension and the dimension of Faerie. It exists on the "edge" of the 2 realities. Edgewater is actually one of the main characters in the novel, and it's purpose is made clearer at the end of the book. Parts of the story also take place in the Great City (NYC), where Smokey and Alice's son (also named Auberon) goes to play his role in the Tale. Auberon's journey is one of self discovery, in which he finds love, then loses it and almost loses his sanity in the aftermath. Crowley is wonderful at drawing parallels between things. In one instance he mentions a time when the Woods were wild and fearsome. Now the Woods are peaceful, and the city is in actuality, the Wild Wood. Smokey journeys from the wild city to the peaceful woods to marry and unwittingly becomes part of something greater and more profound than his humdrum reality, while years later, his only son does the reverse to escape the meaninglessness of his own existence and unwittingly fulfill his own destiny. Beautiful symmetry abounds in this novel. A recurring theme involves the seasons. Each season has a symbolic significance in the novel, and key sections of the narrative have plot elements that reflect the season in which they occur. There are many subtle and clever devices Crowley employs to foreshadow events in the novel. A charming scene in a subway tunnel between Auberon and his lover Sylvie, anticipates future events. Near the end, even something as simple as Smokey reaching for a copy of Ovid's Metamorphosis has a portentous significance which in an offhanded way underscores the Tale's mythic nature.
Little, Big consists of 6 books, divided by 26 chapters headed by epigrams from famous philosophers and literary figures like Cicero, Samuel Johnson, and Virginia Woolf; further subdivided into sections with titles crystallizing thoughts presented in each section. This process of subdivision, rather than confusing the reader, allows one to draw a breath and absorb what is presented without getting mentally exhausted. It's necessary, because Crowley's writing often flaunts his erudition. He'll embellish passages with words that send you scrambling for the dictionary. This may not be a style of writing that pleases everyone, but for this novel I think it's effective. The story held my interest from the beginning, further piqued my curiosity as it progressed, and built anticipation to a crescendo which culminated in a tearful, yet truly sublime ending.
Crowley does more than just tell a wonderful story. A fascinating sidelight is the presentation of certain philosophical elements.. historically controversial visions of reality which have seldom been presented in such a beautiful and imaginative way. There are elements of Gnosticism in the Tale; an attempt to link the spiritual with the rational. It brings to mind Hamlet's words to his rational buddy, "There are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy". Whether or not Mr. Crowley is a proponent of, or even believes in such notions is not for me to surmise, although I 'm more inclined to think that the Gnostic and Hermetic ideas are used more as plot devices to flesh out the crucial emotional underpinnings of the story, rather than serve as major thematic components. Smokey represents to me, the rational, pragmatic, reasonable world. Alice and her family, the link to the world of spirit and wonder and imagination. The 2 must join together for the Tale to proceed, just as man must recognize his spiritual as well as rational nature. Smokey's life has little value at the start, but ends with a supreme personal fulfillment. The novel describes concentric levels of reality, the deeper in you travel, the more spacious it becomes. Man lives on one level. The faeries on a deeper level. Who knows what exists on levels further in? Carl Jung, in accord with Gnostic and Hermetic sources, describes man as a unique link between the microcosm (Little) and the macrocosm (Big), a portal so to speak, between 2 eternities, one inner and the other outer. The notion presented in the novel of alternative universes is not strictly proprietary to metaphysics. It has been a valid topic of debate in advanced physics. The notion of death in Little, Big, is not a fearful notion. Everything we are made of, including our consciousness, has always existed, and will always exist in one form or other for eternity. The deep thoughts are there, but they do not take away from the things in the novel that have primary importance for us as humans who live in the real world and don't pay much thought to alternative realities.
In trying to compare Little, Big to other works of similar style, I am reminded a bit of One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Garcia Marquez. Both novels make reference to occultism and hermeticism. Both novels contain family trees, and relate unusual family histories through several generations.. but where the Colombian master's Buendia family were almost impossible for me to relate to, Crowley creates characters that are very easy to empathize with. They live and breathe, love and ache, undergo physical, emotional, and spiritual changes, and act all too human even when they become more or less than human. They resonate in your consciousness long after you finish the book. At least they did in mine. I highly recommend this book, and hope more people get to discover it's wonders. Like all great books, this one demands multiple readings. Great books are life experiences..journeys of self discovery, always there to be travelled, each successive venture leading us down more scenic routes to our destination. With Little, Big Crowley has fashioned his own Edgewater for the reader. We enter through the gates and proceed to a familiar world, one we all know, but nonetheless, a world ripe with mystery, enchantment, and some danger. There are puzzles to solve, and once solved, new ones arise to challenge us. Questions are asked, and once answered, new ones posed for pondering. The world we thought we knew changes into a new world. We leave with new insights, and perhaps a new world view, part of ourselves changed forever as we perceive life from an altered perspective. It may only have been a tale, but it had become our tale. We lived it along with the characters. The experience was just as meaningful for us as for them.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
"Besides cats, there was the dog Spark.", 2008-10-03
I can imagine that this isn't the easiest book to read, particularly for people who are coming to the book primarily because they are fans of the fantasy genre. The book is dense; the prose is dense. This also isn't the kind of book that sets up a simple plot. No epic quest or visible evil. There's a kind of a war, but also not. The tension gathers like a looming cloud more than it presents itself in three-act restorative structure. Actually, a thunderstorm is the best analogy that I can think of for how this book moves. It gathers up its skirts and goes down the road. I'm not sure how else to describe it.
In addition to the obvious fantasy elements, this is also a family story-- told largely through the eyes of the perpetual outsider. Smoky is a tragic man, the necessary Other who makes the Drinkwaters tick. It is a sad story in many ways, actually-- lost children, sacrifice, estrangement and strangeness. Hidden elements and hidden dreams. It is really very lovely to see how all these intricate pieces fit together. Reading the book left me thoughtful, absorbed, and sad.
There. I'm going to stop now with this review. The book is a bad influence as it makes me want to take a turn with more poetic prose and I haven't got the skills or vocabulary to do so. I'll simply recommend it. It really is as good as it's meant to be.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 A little annoying, 2008-07-31
I just started to read the Book. So far I eke out to page 86. The Story itself is interesting and that is the only reason I decided to continue.
After 60 Pages I started first time to count the iteration of the word "though". It seems to be the Author`s favorite and at some pages I could find it up to four times.
I am very sorry but this uninspired writing is nothing else but annoying and for a foreigner who`s mother-tongue is not english and who wants to read books not last for practice, to my opinion it is not the best choice.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
This may well be my favorite book of all time, 2008-07-28
I've read four or five of John Crowley's books and only this one speaks to me. There's something about the juxtaposition of the mythic and the mundane, the historic with the fantastic, and most importantly the fairy story with everyday life that just floored me the first time I read the book and continues to amaze me every time I return to it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Poetic diversion, 2008-05-09
To be fair, this book is not for everyone. In rapt affection, i read passages to my friend, and he balked at the superfluous language. He is a man who enjoys concise, dense language full of references that would make Pound proud. He doesn't read poetry, or like language for the sake of language. I am a reader who enjoys the slipstream of language that one typically finds in poetry: taking many words, allegories, symbols to describe an emotion more so than a place or event. If your reading style is like that of my friend, you will not like this book.
That is what happens in this book. It uses Faerie as a vehicle for the reverence of nature and the mysteries of changing seasons and individual relationships to those seasons: the way Drinkwater was fearful as each Winter encroached upon his safe Spring/Summer and Smokey Barnable appreciated the facets of each season to its fullest. (incidentally, i believe that might be one reason why Smoky, who despite also being an outsider, was so much closer to Faerie, while John Drinkwater had to struggle with his discoveries (much like Auberon later does). Smokey understood that there was a certain amount of flexibility in thought necessary, and appreciation of the mysteries which John couldn't let go and dealt with by creating the house that later became an access point to those mysteries.).
The relationships between people are equally poetic and it is a joy to discover who will end up "holding court" so to speak, over our new understanding of Faerie. We learn about Oberon and Titania and their start in the world. The trip between what we remember as fantasy and this seemingly "real" world that is just slightly beyond our view (and even their own reality) keeps the movement for those who enjoy the discoveries and the mysteries that never reveal themselves. How does Daily Alice know what's happening, and how does Sophie deal with her daughter being stolen. How does the family cope with the changling left in her place, and does she exist to anyone but Auberon (really?)?
The story is rife with questions, answers to questions you didn't ask, more questions that will never be answered and throughout it all is the author poet, leading the reader down a road where Faerie might be a very plausible place, just outside our peripheral vision, behind that fence, at a bus stop for which you must ask, and know, but isn't really there, hidden in a house with untold rooms behind a turn you knew was there, but kept forgetting to find....
The world is little, big. Just as a house may increase in size as you explore the smallest rooms, just as you may feel immense while watching the stars knowing and feeling what you do, just as you may enter the smallest garden park in the middle of a city and feel it engulfs you.....so is the world of Faerie--tiny, vast and surrounds....
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