SF/F June Book Study: Little, Big

[Sai]

Hi everyone! For the month of June we will be discussing 'Little, Big' by John Crowley. Spoilers will be streaking naked through this thread, so beware!

Previous book studies include:

2008:
Ender's Game (August)
Lies of Locke Lamora (September)
A Deepness in the Sky (October)
A Fire in the Deep (November)
Storm Front (December)

2009:
I Am Legend (January)
The Onion Girl (February)
Lord of Light (March)
Small Gods (April)
Beggars in Spain (May)
The Once and Future King (June)
Foundation (July)
The Graveyard Book (August)
Neuromancer (September)
The Last Wish (October)
The Knife of Never Letting Go (November)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (December)

2010:
Battle Royale (January)
Jhereg (February)
Cyberabad Days (March)
Tigana (April)
Next (May)
Perdido Street Station (June/July)
Boneshaker (August)
His Majesty's Dragon (September)
Never Let Me Go (October)
The Child Thief (November)
Solaris (December)

2011:
Lirael (January)
Blindsight(February)
Lavinia (March)
Hugo nominees (April)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (May)
Dawn (June)
Good Omens (July)
The Hunger Games (August)
The Last Unicorn (September)
Ubik (October)
The Colour of Magic (November)
The Caves of Steel (December)

2012
The Princess Bride (January)
The Prestige (February)
Servant of the Underworld (March)
Parable of the Sower (April/May)

Feel free to resurrect any of these threads if you want to discuss that month's book.

[Sai]

I'm only on page 30 of this book and I don't know if I can get through this. It helped when I shifted away from thinking of this as a fantasy and more of a traditional romance, and the book has it's moments when it says something deep and true, like Smokey's realization that daily Alice feels all the same fears and elation that he does. But then there are times when the book wavers dangerously between twee and overly-literary, neither or which do much for me. Part of my has started calling the book 'Little Plot, Big Words.' I feel bad because the book isn't bad, I just don't know if I can read hundreds of pages in this style.

[Etola]

Little, Big DOES read like literary fiction, yeah. And normally that isn't my thing, but I ended up loving this book. I walked away with the sense that it's a book that rewards re-reading, and would do well with an annotated version.

But one thing that made it a bit hard going in the beginning was the feeling that I was getting snapshots, or pieces of a puzzle, and I didn't quite know how they were all supposed to fit. As the story continued and I got to feel more for the characters, and got a better sense of the bigger picture, it was easier going.

[RichardGarfinkle]

Little, Big has a deliberate mosaic quality, where the pieces fit together at different levels. The clue is in the title.

John Crowley taught the last week I was at Clarion West (20 years ago) and had a big influence on me, which is why I recommended Little, Big.

One of the things he said was that one should tell a story over and over until it is told. Little, Big is his strongest example of this idea, wherein the same story is hidden at multiple levels but when it is put together it is seen as a single narrative.

[Sai]

All right, so I'll try and push forward a little further.

Originally Posted by RichardGarfinkle

Little, Big has a deliberate mosaic quality, where the pieces fit together at different levels. The clue is in the title.

John Crowley taught the last week I was at Clarion West (20 years ago) and had a big influence on me, which is why I recommended Little, Big.

One of the things he said was that one should tell a story over and over until it is told. Little, Big is his strongest example of this idea, wherein the same story is hidden at multiple levels but when it is put together it is seen as a single narrative.

Interesting points! I may ask you to expand on them after I've read a little further .

[LoopyLinde]

Originally Posted by Sai

I'm only on page 30 of this book and I don't know if I can get through this. It helped when I shifted away from thinking of this as a fantasy and more of a traditional romance, and the book has it's moments when it says something deep and true, like Smokey's realization that daily Alice feels all the same fears and elation that he does. But then there are times when the book wavers dangerously between twee and overly-literary, neither or which do much for me. Part of my has started calling the book 'Little Plot, Big Words.' I feel bad because the book isn't bad, I just don't know if I can read hundreds of pages in this style.

I had this same issue. It takes a while for the book to get to the point, but it was worth it for me. There is an eventual payoff for all the digressions. I say hang in there.

[Sai]

Originally Posted by LoopyLinde

I had this same issue. It takes a while for the book to get to the point, but it was worth it for me. There is an eventual payoff for all the digressions. I say hang in there.

Good to know. We have a copy at the used bookstore where I work, so when things are slow I try and read some then (in addition to reading at home).

BTW, all you fabulous people who have already read this book, feel free to discuss away! People have been warned about spoilers in the very first post, so nothing's off-limits (well, when it comes to the book at least :P).

[LoopyLinde]

Well, the end was a little sad for me. I didn't like that he didn't get to cross with the others. Loved the magical fish.

[LoopyLinde]

Plus the idea that you have to love to be loved. Maybe the theme of the whole book?

[Etola]

Personally, for me the most interesting theme/question the book raised was Daily Alice's love for Smoky: Was he her destined lover from the beginning? Or was he an outsider to the story, whom she chose because she loved him? Did he become a part of the story, her destined lover, simply by virtue of her choosing him?

It's like that scene in the first Matrix movie where they go to see the Oracle and Neo knocks over the vase after the Oracle calls his attention to it. "Would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?"

I also loved the relationship between Auberon and Sylvia, and how it was built.

[RichardGarfinkle]

Originally Posted by Etola

Personally, for me the most interesting theme/question the book raised was Daily Alice's love for Smoky: Was he her destined lover from the beginning? Or was he an outsider to the story, whom she chose because she loved him? Did he become a part of the story, her destined lover, simply by virtue of her choosing him?

It's like that scene in the first Matrix movie where they go to see the Oracle and Neo knocks over the vase after the Oracle calls his attention to it. "Would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?"

I also loved the relationship between Auberon and Sylvia, and how it was built.

I tend to think of it as destiny. That the house and fairy and so on couldn't exist as only inside. There needed to be an outside that only comes partway in and then stays behind, and Smoky was that outside view. He was never one of them except because he loved Daily Alice, and then things got complicated and he was more and more both part of and outside of the rest of them. So, depressing as I found it, he probably had to not come in at the end.

[LoopyLinde]

Originally Posted by RichardGarfinkle

I tend to think of it as destiny. That the house and fairy and so on couldn't exist as only inside. There needed to be an outside that only comes partway in and then stays behind, and Smoky was that outside view.

I like that. Like, there had to be an observer, and maybe some quality of the observer helped create the story but couldn't be completely inside of it, because that would have negated his purpose.