Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Kelly's Book 9.13: Little, Big

Dear Jenny,

Over the past several months, we have stopped writing "preview" posts of the books we are about to embark upon and I, for one, kind of miss it. So I'm writing one for this book.

Even though... I know practically nothing about it except that it is one of the favorite books of my very favorite craft blogger, Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy. Is that a totally weird reason to read a book? Oh, well.

I read her description/review of this book back in 2005 (and it's been on my TBR pile ever since! Gah!) Re-reading that post now, I notice she also refers to her friend who lives in Hyde Park. So, you know... it's meant to be, right?

Even after reading the back of this book, I still feel like I know nothing about it. Here is what it says:
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.
Sounds vague but intriguing. But I trust Alicia -- she makes beautiful things, takes beautiful photos, and writes beautiful posts. So I think she's got a pretty keen sense for beautiful things. We shall see!

love,
kelly

2 comments:

  1. Bah! Blogger ate my comment. I hate that.

    A few things: I agree that we should bring back the preview post! I like the preview post and think it's a good idea. I pledge to start doing it with whatever book I do next.

    My favorite line in this post is, "Sounds vague but intriguing." Why? Because I was doing my "warp speed reading" thing and thought it said "sounds vague but irritating" and as you can imagine, I did a bit of a double take. Why would you read it if...Oh. duh. Haha.

    Finally, the question of who to take book recommendations from is an interesting one. If someone's a real reader, I'll take recommendations even if the initial description doesn't sound that interesting. I think recs from others is one of the things that really pushes me out of my comfort zone! I'll look forward to the final review!

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  2. That blogger I mentioned is a big reader -- she is frequently putting out the call to commenters and compiling long book lists. I think this is the first book I've read from one of her lists, but since she said it was one of her favorites and *she* is one of *my* favorite writers (some of her blog posts are absolutely magical. ), it seemed like a decent shot.

    I am about 1/3 of the way through this book and am having mixed emotions. It's very strange, which I am okay with, but there have been some icky moments. However, the writing style somewhat "de-ickifies" them... I will have to continue reading to see if the book, as a whole, ends up being icky or just being a good book with some icky parts.

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