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10th out of 131 books
—
232 voters
The Giant's House
The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt -- the "over-tall" eleven-year-old boy who's the talk of the town -- walks into her library and changes her life. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candi...more
Paperback, 290 pages
Published
July 1st 2006
by Harper Perennial
(first published June 1st 1996)
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I wasn't expecting to like this book. I'm into dreamy romanticism, not "wry humor," not stark, unadorned realism. But, I love this book.
I love the cynical, obviously (but not stereotypically) autistic narrator. I love the metaphors and archetypes. I love the astute commentary on prejudice, on relationships, on the rigidity of social norms. I even love the photograph of Elizabeth McCracken, looking nervous and awkward, with frizzy hair and red, sullen lips. (Not like the prim, pastel authoress yo...more
I love the cynical, obviously (but not stereotypically) autistic narrator. I love the metaphors and archetypes. I love the astute commentary on prejudice, on relationships, on the rigidity of social norms. I even love the photograph of Elizabeth McCracken, looking nervous and awkward, with frizzy hair and red, sullen lips. (Not like the prim, pastel authoress yo...more
Reads better as a fantasy or an allegory, as at times the implausibility becomes a bit too much to take. I mean, James is no Kafka-esque beetle, but we don't really get to know what he is beyond his challenge. And the surname Sweatt - huh? And the beginning, in which we learn that Peggy is not a stereotypical librarian, contradicts the rest of the book, in which we learn that if she weren't this story could not have happened at all. Maybe that's a bit of 'unreliable narrator.' I dunno. It's just...more
"Space is the chief problem. Books are a bad family-there are those you love, and those you are indifferent o; idiots and mad cousins who you would banish except others enjoy their company; wrongheaded but fascinating eccentrics and dreamy geniuses; orphaned grandchildren; and endless brothers-in-law simply taking up space who you wish you could send straight to hell. Except you can't, for the the most part. You must house them and make them comfortable and worry about them when they go on trips...more
I am addicted. From the moment I began reading (I'm only on page 35), I was hooked. Lock, stock and barrel. Wow! Perhaps it's the time of year. Perhaps it's the stunning freshness of style, compassion for her topic, perception of life, dexterous use of metaphor, imagery, irony and humor. I underline, annotate, circle on and on her aphorism, truths about single women, truths about librarians, truths about favorite patrons and the need to be needed. The need to impart, share, and advise patrons in...more
What I like about this book: untraditional love story; love and loss; tragedy; loneliness; social outcasts.
A young librarian's sympathy for an 11-year-old boy with giantism turns into an earnest love. At the heart of the story is the concept that we each have our afflictions---some more obvious than others (giantism vs shyness)---but all impact lives equally.
For me, I am especially touched by this; I suppose this is a result of working with people with both mental and physical disabilities. Lo...more
A young librarian's sympathy for an 11-year-old boy with giantism turns into an earnest love. At the heart of the story is the concept that we each have our afflictions---some more obvious than others (giantism vs shyness)---but all impact lives equally.
For me, I am especially touched by this; I suppose this is a result of working with people with both mental and physical disabilities. Lo...more
Oct 06, 2008
Von
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Peole who love love. People who love giants. Librarians ...
This is still one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. Elizabeth McCracken's style of writing is really beautiful. She has an unapologetic way of presenting a person's deepest innermost flaws, while simultaneously giving you every opportunity to fall in love with them. I fell in love with the main characters in this book, over and over again. I gave this book to a friend and bought myself another copy, which I've referred repeatedly. I don't know that I plan to read it again, but I can't imag...more
The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken is about a librarian who forms a friendship with an overly tall boy. She calls it love, and it is a love story. But a different kind of love. It’s not the sordid sort that makes you cringe. It’s not about an older teacher-type woman taking advantage of a younger student. This is a touching tale about Peggy Cort and James Sweatt. Peggy is a single woman others would call a spinster. But that word conjures up images of a bitter, lonely woman, which she defi...more
Love stories are one of those things that span the decades: a librarian and patron, are no exception, although this pairing may be a bit taboo at first blush. The story could take place in Anytown, US but my imagined it in my hometown. We have a lovely old library that I frequented a child: the wood of the card catalogue, the rounded corners of the checkout cards, children’s book room, musty archives in the basement and the tall long curved librarian desk. While our librarian was married to the...more
I read this book because Ann Patchett mentioned it as one of her favorite books. Having liked Bel Canto by Ann Patchett a great deal, l was intrigued by what book had an influence on her. The Giant's House is a very odd story - written with a strange dispassion. I was slightly put off with the voice of the narrator which was more like a newspaper than a raconteur - as though the events were being reported rather than "told". However, the story does build and it is impossible not to be curious ab...more
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The premise of the novel The Giant’s House reads like it was ripped from the headlines of a supermarket tabloid: LIBRARIAN WEDS GIANT! It’s No TALL TALE! See page 13 for the Big Shocking Details!
While it’s true that Elizabeth McCracken’s novel is built around sensationalism and while it’s also true that the spinster librarian weds the world’s tallest man, it’s also true that this is one of the oddest, sweetest romances you’ll ever read.
Nominated for the National Book Award in 1996, The Giant’s H...more
While it’s true that Elizabeth McCracken’s novel is built around sensationalism and while it’s also true that the spinster librarian weds the world’s tallest man, it’s also true that this is one of the oddest, sweetest romances you’ll ever read.
Nominated for the National Book Award in 1996, The Giant’s H...more
I’m not usually one for romance, but Elizabeth McCracken’s gently lyric and humorous writing won me over in The Giant’s House. Set in beautiful Cape Cod in the 1950’s, her protagonist, a spinsterish librarian in her twenties, falls in love with a boy, James, who he is no mere boy. He is seven feet tall (and still growing), handsome and shy, and loves to read. They bond over Dewey’s decimal system as she learns to cull only the best books from her collection to suit his interests, but the exact n...more
Though my friend Tom recommended The Giant’s House ages ago, I just got around to reading it this past weekend. I’m so glad I did. Elizabeth McCraken excels at rich character development and sentences so beautifully constructed that I read them over and over. Though the cover calls the book a romance, I would deem it a tale of unique friendship.
At the heart of the story are Peggy, a pessimistic librarian, and James, a boy growing ever taller. While Peggy obsessively solves James’ physical needs...more
At the heart of the story are Peggy, a pessimistic librarian, and James, a boy growing ever taller. While Peggy obsessively solves James’ physical needs...more
This book was by far INCREDIBLE. When i first started reading it i almost stopped. This book is set in the 1950's and i usually like books in modern time, or close to. I didn't see much of a difference other than the camera James uses. It was also very hard to read at first, not because it isn't good and it wasn't boring, it's just written differently than i'm used to. Especially after reading the mortal instruments. It is a romance however, but not one i've read. There isn't the mushy tell all...more
**spoiler alert
Before I say anything else, I have to say that Elizabeth McCracken is a literary ballerina - she is in love with words and her use of them could not be more graceful or defined. The Giant's House is written in first person and I get the feeling that many of the thoughts & opinions are her own. Her intellect and wisdom had me reading and rereading sentences because many of them were so deep, so meaningful that they deserved a minute or more of reflection a piece.
Other reviewer...more
Before I say anything else, I have to say that Elizabeth McCracken is a literary ballerina - she is in love with words and her use of them could not be more graceful or defined. The Giant's House is written in first person and I get the feeling that many of the thoughts & opinions are her own. Her intellect and wisdom had me reading and rereading sentences because many of them were so deep, so meaningful that they deserved a minute or more of reflection a piece.
Other reviewer...more
Elizabeth McCraken spins a magical tale of romance in The Giant's House. In some ways it's believeable and in other ways it seems like a fairy tale. The main characters are James, who begins as a very tall boy and grows to a man of 8' 6" and his librarian friend, Peggy. Peggy, 14 years James' senior, first befriends a young James when he becomes a regular library patron. And while almost everyone who comes in contact with James (outside his family) thinks of him as a giant, Peggy sees him as a u...more
The Giant's House: A Romance
What is the story behind that person who served you coffee this morning? What love has tortured the cab driver who gazes listlessly at you, awaiting a destination? What was the 82-year woman living next door like when she was just 25?
Everyone has a story, but that fact is not always obvious. In Elizabeth McCraken's novel, The Giants House: A Romance, we find two characters with different lives, but similar needs. The setting is in the 1950's and Peggy Cort is a 26-yea...more
What is the story behind that person who served you coffee this morning? What love has tortured the cab driver who gazes listlessly at you, awaiting a destination? What was the 82-year woman living next door like when she was just 25?
Everyone has a story, but that fact is not always obvious. In Elizabeth McCraken's novel, The Giants House: A Romance, we find two characters with different lives, but similar needs. The setting is in the 1950's and Peggy Cort is a 26-yea...more
While the book is undeniably well-written, I couldn't like the main character much. A lonely woman who falls in love with the young giant James Sweatt when he is eleven (!) failed to capture my sympathy. The book just seemed to be missing some spark of life, its passion seeming narrow and melancholy. It didn't help that Peggy makes it clear early on that James isn't going to survive. And the ending seemed purely unnecessary and improbable.
I debated between three and four stars for several days. I've tried to use the GoodReads rating system "per book" and not have on a rating for one book relate to a rating for another book, since 1-5 is a narrow rating scale. Thus, not all threes are equal. For certain, not all fives are equal.
This book is very well written and I underlined many phrases and sentences that I want to revisit. I usually note the page numbers of passages I want to note; when I finish reading the book I transcribe tho...more
This book is very well written and I underlined many phrases and sentences that I want to revisit. I usually note the page numbers of passages I want to note; when I finish reading the book I transcribe tho...more
Elizabeth McCracken has a sincere love of sentences, and one need only read the first paragraph of The Giant's House to understand how the romance of this book is grammatically based. Admittedly, something out of the ordinary would have to be going on to keep most readers engrossed in a budding romance between a young boy with gigantism and a pseudo-spinster librarian; at first, I had dreams I was in for a gender/height-bending redux on Lolita... Nevertheless, the narrative turned far more chick...more
This is a weird story. I read it a few summers ago and the story has stuck with me simply because it is so unusual. The reason I even read it was because I was vacationing on Cape Cod which is where the story is set. However, Cape Cod really has little to do with the story line. The story is about a librarian who falls in love with a giant. He's younger than her (and it is a bit creeptown that she's so drawn to a child at first). As he gets older they develop an unsual relationship but, of cours...more
Dec 04, 2009
Karalee
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-general,
winter-09-challenge
This book is beautifully written and the story is heartbreaking (but in a wonderful way). The narrator of the story is Peggy Cort, the librarian in a small New England town. When she is 25, she meets and befriends an 11-year-old boy named James who suffers from gigantism (he is 6 foot 2 at age 11). James and Peggy ultimately form a very close friendship and pseudo-love affair, which is complicated by the difference in their ages but mostly by the physical and emotional problems associated with h...more
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was entertaining, and I really liked the author's writing style (use of words). But I didn't like the main character. And while the author says it's a romance, it certainly didn't feel like a romance to me.
While the main character says she's in love with "the giant", it seems to me more like motherly love than romantic love. I know there is a huge age difference, but it still seemed like a very odd sort of love. If she truly had a romantic love, it seems...more
While the main character says she's in love with "the giant", it seems to me more like motherly love than romantic love. I know there is a huge age difference, but it still seemed like a very odd sort of love. If she truly had a romantic love, it seems...more
Dear Peggy, I did not have fun in your head. Let's not do this again. Sincerely, Rachel.
If you have been searching high and low for a book that tells the unfulfilling love story between a morose librarian and a boy with gigantism half her age who she's known since he was 12, then LOOK NO FURTHER. And, as you can see from my rating, the librarian is not the only person who left this book unfulfilled.
I don't want to hate on this book too much, though, because it's really unique and the author is...more
If you have been searching high and low for a book that tells the unfulfilling love story between a morose librarian and a boy with gigantism half her age who she's known since he was 12, then LOOK NO FURTHER. And, as you can see from my rating, the librarian is not the only person who left this book unfulfilled.
I don't want to hate on this book too much, though, because it's really unique and the author is...more
The narrator is quite possibly the closest thing to hearing myself talk that I've read in literature. That, alone, endeared this book to me. Despite its odd plot, the book evoked intense empathy for James, the giant. I held nothing but sympathy for, admiration of, and kinship with Peggy. Perhaps because I've worked in a library, myself, I found myself laughing at similar situations I'd run into and phrases I remember saying to patrons.
The story also has the best first line of nearly any book I'v...more
The story also has the best first line of nearly any book I'v...more
This book blew me away. An unconventional love story with a main character that will make you weep.
That it takes place on the Cape only endeared it more.
The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt -- the "over-tall" eleven-year-old boy who's the talk of the town -- walks into her library and changes her life. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk,...more
That it takes place on the Cape only endeared it more.
The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt -- the "over-tall" eleven-year-old boy who's the talk of the town -- walks into her library and changes her life. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk,...more
Some excellent writing, a lovely sense of place (sleepy Cape Cod), and an interesting conceit, but because the narrator/main character makes such a huge, continuous stink about being unlovable, I found myself not liking her very much. As with Jane Hamilton's Disobedience, the last book I read with a first-person narrative obsessively focused on another person with whom the narrator fails to fully engage, it was at times difficult for me to stay interested: I can dig a long secret or carrying a t...more
After I finished _The Giant's House_ I pulled it to my chest for a long moment. It's that kind of book.
I pulled Elizabeth McCracken's first book of my list of "Books to Read, You Know, Someday" because I was intrigued by the story and because I thought it might make a good jumping off point for a theater piece.
But a couple of chapters in I was so drawn into the emotional world of Peggy Cort, the librarian in a small Massachusetts town who tells the story. She had me at the opening lines: Part On...more
I pulled Elizabeth McCracken's first book of my list of "Books to Read, You Know, Someday" because I was intrigued by the story and because I thought it might make a good jumping off point for a theater piece.
But a couple of chapters in I was so drawn into the emotional world of Peggy Cort, the librarian in a small Massachusetts town who tells the story. She had me at the opening lines: Part On...more
I found this to be an engaging story. As the pages turned, there were no times when I had to stop and think - oh! What does that mean, anyway? The author laid the story out in a chronological manner, with no reason for the reader to have special knowledge of any particular part of the world, its people, its cultures, politics or social mores.
It was refreshing to read something with straight-forward, ordinary characters everyone could identify with.
There was a young giant, his relationship with a...more
It was refreshing to read something with straight-forward, ordinary characters everyone could identify with.
There was a young giant, his relationship with a...more
Often times it seems like the writers who can create the best sentences don't create the best stories, and that writers who have extraordinary stories, don't necessarily have the craft down. McCracken manages both, though it is her writing, more than her characters, that stays with me.
That said, the writing does make me whole-heartedly believe in McCracken's characters, specifically Peggy, the narrator. Her voice never strays and I never found myself questioning her actions. I may not have under...more
That said, the writing does make me whole-heartedly believe in McCracken's characters, specifically Peggy, the narrator. Her voice never strays and I never found myself questioning her actions. I may not have under...more
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Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is married to the novelist Edward Carey, with whom she has two children - August George Carey Harvey and Matilda Libby Mary Harvey. An earlier child died before birth, an experience which formed the basis for McCracken's memoir, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination.
McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in...more
More about Elizabeth McCracken...
McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in...more
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“I had never wanted to be one of those girls in love with boys who would not have me. Unrequited love - plain desperate aboveboard boy-chasing - turned you into a salesperson, and what you were selling was something he didn't want, couldn't use, would never miss. Unrequited love was deciding to be useless, and I could never abide uselessness.
Neither could James. He understood. In such situations, you do one of two things - you either walk away and deny yourself, or you do sneaky things to get what you need. You attend weddings, you go for walks. You say, yes. Yes, you're my best friend, too.”
—
47 people liked it
Neither could James. He understood. In such situations, you do one of two things - you either walk away and deny yourself, or you do sneaky things to get what you need. You attend weddings, you go for walks. You say, yes. Yes, you're my best friend, too.”
“Books remember all the things you cannot contain.”
—
16 people liked it
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Apr 19, 2011 04:34am
updated Apr 19, 2011 12:37pm