Little, Big - who's reading / discussion

[Odette]

Our first book of 2015 is Little, Big by John Crowley.
Who's reading?

[Margaret]

I am definitely reading. I've read Crowley before and found him a really original author, and I've heard this is his best.

[Katy]

I have a copy of the book. I will try to fit it in this month.

[Odette]

I've been wanting to read this one for years. Trying to track down a copy.

Away with the fairies – Little, Big receives a long overdue revival

[Heidi]

I read this in 2013. Gosh, almost every line made me drool:) Although it is definitely on my to re-read list, it's so long, I'm not sure if I'm up to re-reading the whole thing again this month. Have to think about it. I just loved it!

[Melanti]

I read this a few years ago and really liked it.

It does make me wonder exactly how bad NYC was in the 80's though, cause neither this book nor Helprin's Winter's Tale were exactly flattering.

[Ramona]

This sounds very appealing; I had never heard of it. I ordered a used copy but it looks like it might not arrive for at least a couple of weeks.

[Ramona]

The new year feels like the right time to give Odette a big thank-you and a bouquet of virtual roses for your dedication to facilitating this reading group over several years. Much gratitude to you, Odette, for opening our hearts and minds to these fantastic books!

[Jalilah]

Sorry, but I am one of those people who never could finish it. I kept waiting for something to happen and about halfway though I gave up. Then I felt bad because so many people, including some I know from GRs who often have similar tastes as me, really loved it. Maybe it was the wrong time to read the novel, I don't know. Anyway I'll be following this thread with great interest, to find out what others loved so much that I obviously missed.

[Katy]

I've heard that Jalilah. We will see.

[Michelle]

Jalilah, i did in fact manage to finish it, and i assure you, if you're not into it in the first place then you missed nothing.

if you go peruse the reviews, they tend to fall into either a rapturously adore it or snoozed/slogged through it camp; there's very few people that though it was merely good. i thought the language and metaphor were technically lovely, but that there was no plot or engaging characters to keep me going through the tome, so a total wash for me. i sincerely hope that most of the rest of you fall into the love it camp!

[Odette]

Thank you, Ramona. I haven't done nearly as much as I'd have liked to for this book group. All credit goes to you dedicated readers and the original Endicott journal founder, Terri Windling.

[Margaret]

I'm halfway through, and I have to say I'm having trouble getting through it. The language is wonderful and sings, but there's very little conflict to capture my attention. I wouldn't usually say I'm a plot-driven reader, but the general lack of problems and conflict cause me to daydream a lot while reading, so the reading is very slow! However, it gets such rave reviews that I'm going to stick through it until the end. I've had times when I wasn't into a novel, but then the second half amazed me.

[Odette]

My copy finally arrived. Looking forward to it.