Little, Big
John Crowley
For generations, the descendants of John and Violet Drinkwater have lived quietly on their rural estate of Edgewood, in the fantastical many-houses-in-one built by their gifted ancestor and architect. This family, however, harbors secrets as fantastical as its house. As the Tale of which they are a part, willingly or unwillingly, draws to its climax (or does it draw to its beginning?), each member of the family will face the true nature of his or her Destiny in the Tale that begins only to end, and ends only to begin.
This is a difficult book to review. Let me begin with what I liked. First, the writing is strong. Crowley knows how to use the English language to its full potential, requiring much of the reader but giving much in return. The ethereal spirit guide of writers (”Show, Don’t Tell!”) actually finds apotheosis in this work. Second, the characters are strongly drawn and true to themselves. Writers often bend their characters in unnatural poses to advance the plot, but the individuals here live and breathe the natural effects of their inner causes. Third, if one is willing to slow one’s roll and soak in the richness of the language, then there is a depth to this world that gets into one’s bones, and a depth to the mythic worlds-within-worlds hovering just beyond sense.
What made this book a struggle for me is an artifact of what I liked. This is first and foremost a literary work. The joy is in the craftsmanship, sometimes to the detriment of the tale itself. This is a beautifully written gem of literary fiction, but loses punch for me because the story itself dissipates in so many directions at once. Nothing much happens, when all is said and done. The entire middle third of the book, in particular, drags down the entire work. Other people’s love stories are tricky to pull off, and the tedium of Auberon’s and Sylvie’s love story undercut the entire experience for me.
On the whole, this is the sort of work that has a lot of intrinsic merit (which is why it won the World Fantasy Award in 1982), but is likely to remain inaccessible to many readers due to its deliberate pacing, and due to what little return of plot it offers for such a big investment of the reader’s time and attention.
Author: John Crowley
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism