Little, Big by John Crowley

[The Master™]

Anybody read this book, looks like a little cracker...

 

[Fried Egg]

Hmmm...just dug out this old thread and am quite suprised that it has had no replies. I'm reading it now (although not the FM edition, with it's wonderful cover) and am quite enjoying it.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[rai]

this is one of those books that I have read many years ago, but I can not recall anything about it. Didn't make much of an impression.

 

[GOLLUM]

My past impressions of this book is that it's one of the best Fantasy novels to have been written in the last century, certainly post WWII.

That's a fairly major call to make I know but I really loved it. Crowley's prose was a highlight for me but the somewhat languid 'plot' means this book can appear elusive, introspective, certainly difficult to 'pin down' which to me is part of its essential charm but it is certainly not going to appeal to all tastes, especially if you are used to a more linear or consolidated style of plotting whose structure carries with it a natural momentum, not that the story itself does not have its own unique flow or internal structure.

My advice is to not rush this work but to let it flow over you like a stream with its own set of circulating currents. Damn...it's getting late here and I'm becoming somewhat oblique, anyway you'll understand what I mean the further you read.

It's been quite a while since I read this, so I would really need to read it again to become properly involved in any future discussions. I'm going to mark this thread and return to it before the year's end with my thoughts. Sorry I can't add anything more at this stage though.

 

[antiloquax]

This is certainly one that I intend to read. Let us know what you think, FriedEgg.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Gollum is correct, this is one of the all-time greats. I read the original Methuen edition when it came out. It's a stunning book, a lyrical delight. Shows how an author can be an author and a poet at the same time.

Having read Little, Big I got his four earlier books, some of which are good, some only half-comprehensible! Engine Summer I think was my favourite.

Anybody who's not read Little, Big should give it a go - an absolute treat.

 

[Fried Egg]

I'm certainly not rushing this, I've been reading it for over two weeks now and still have over a hundred pages to go (although it's not a short novel). I'm beginning to think that the nature of the family house is a recurring theme throughout the story, the structure of the narrative itself reflecting it.

Anyway, I'll talk more about it when I finish.

 

[GOLLUM]

This is certainly one that I intend to read. Let us know what you think, FriedEgg.

Indeed, it will be nice to see this book receive another airing. I'm glad Fried Egg has helped to renew interest. I look forward to reading his comments.

I was typing that post at 1am this morning, so actually it makes more sense than I thought it would...

Have you read Hope Mirlees' Lud-In-The-Mist? I recall suggesting you do but am not aware if you have read it yet. This novel along with Little, Big are for me two of the greatest fantasy novels written since codification of the Genre, comfortably slotting alongside the likes of E.R Eddison's Worm Ouroboros, Dunsany's King Of Elflands Daughter, Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea, Peake's Gormenghast, Wolfe's Book Of The New Sun and LOTR can't exactly be ignored.

 

[antiloquax]

No, I haven't read "Lud-in-the-Mist". I was thinking about reading "Babel-17" next, but maybe I'll read "Lud" or "Little, Big" instead. Gene Wolfe is sitting quite high on my TBR pile also! The only ones I have read from those you mention are LOTR and Earthsea (only the first 3).

 

[hitmouse]

This is a superb book. It has an elusive dream-like quality which is very beguiling. I too have the Methuen edition. I must have read the book 3-4 times over the years.

Not nearly so taken with Aegypt.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Me neither. Did he ever finish the whole thing? I recall it was meant to be four books...

 

[nomadman]

Me neither. Did he ever finish the whole thing? I recall it was meant to be four books...

I believe so, though I'm having trouble pinning down the last volume.

 

[iansales]

The final volume, Endless Things, was published a couple of years by Small Beer Press. All four books have also been republished in new editions, with the first one being titled as Crowley originally intended, The Solitudes.

 

[Connavar]

I have wondered about this book, i had never even heard of the author before i saw the book in FM series. If i knew about this thread about i have asked about the writing,the author long ago! Doesnt sound the kind of fantasy your read only for the story.

The bookstore i go to had World Fantasy shelf with it, other winners.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've read John Crowley's "Great Work of Time" a few years ago in Brian Aldiss' excellent "Science Fiction Omnibus" and that was a good story. Crowley obviously has a fascination with old empires trying to re-establish themselves.

 

[Allegra]

Loved the book. One of the greats I've read. Now seeing the thread resurrected I feel like to read it again.

 

[Fried Egg]

Finished at last! I gave it four out of five stars and here are my thoughts:

This is one of those books that is hard to talk about. Maybe best to describe by analogy.

So imagine a tangled ball of wool which you are folling a strand as it winds it's way in around the other strands, in and out of the tangle until eventually you find the other end of the thread, somewhere not too far from where you started.

The narrative flows a little bit like that. It nips back and forwards in time, hops from one character to another, spanning several generations of a sprawling family as we gradually find out about their tale, the grand purpose to which the seemingly random and insignificant events, both happy and tragic, turn out to be all part of some grand plan for the future.

An ambitious and often confusing work that requires the reader to take the hints and fill in the gaps in order to make more sense of the story. The lazy, meandering narrative requires a strong prose style to carry it off, to engage the reader whilst the tension slackens and, for the most part, Crowley is up to the job. But only just; he's not quite one of the prose greats in who's writing you could lose yourself no matter what the subject matter.

At times I found it slightly hard work, could only read short sections in one sitting, which is why it took me so long to finish. But my respect for the novel grew as it became apparent what the author was trying to do and how cleverly the themes recurred throughout the story as well as in the narrative structure itself. If you read this, in the right frame of mind, with patience and are willing to submerge yourself in Crowley's world, you will likely enjoy this book very much.

 

[GOLLUM]

That's a nice review/reflection Fried Egg. You are helping me to recall some fond memories of this book....

I rated it in review 4.5 or 5 stars so I was probably taken by it more than you also having it in my top 5 English Fantasy novels of the 20th Century, although you seem to still consider it a very worthwhile read.

Do you have a sense that this is the kind of book that one might likely gain further insight from and perhaps appreciation of by revisiting it a second time ala Wolfe's work?

I will need to read this again and dredge out my old review at some stage to post here.

Cheers.

 

[Glen]

I loved this book! I deep, complex, character and atmosphere rich story that still resonates with me. I've read it a couple of times and didn't find it wanting second time through.

I read another of Crowley's books recently (last year or two): Beasts, and that still worked. Much shorter, and more straightforward, but still good. I should get hold of Engine Summer to read again, I recall that being great but remember very little about it.

Interestingly, my copy of Little, Big was given to me by a British sci-fi writer when he was one of my tutors at uni.

I think I might read it a third time!

 

[Fried Egg]

Do you have a sense that this is the kind of book that one might likely gain further insight from and perhaps appreciation of by revisiting it a second time ala Wolfe's work?

Definitely. A book with this complexity and many intricacies will always benefit from a re-read, likely shedding more light on what one missed and/or didn't understand the first time around.