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Little, Big
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Read Little, Big

Little, Big (1981) (edit title/settings)

Or, The Fairies' Parliament

by John Crowley (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

John Crowley's masterful Little, Big is the epic story of Smoky Barnable, an anonymous young man who travels by foot from the City to a place called Edgewood—not found on any map—to marry Daily Alice Drinkawater, as was prophesied. It is the story of four generations of a singular family,... read more

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Even the weather isn't as we remember it clearly once being; never lately does there come a summer day such as we remember, never clouds as white as that, never grass as odorous or shade as deep and full of promise as we remember they can be, as once upon a time they were.”
    p. 538
  • “Stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories.”
    p. 538

First Sentence edit see section history

On a certain day in June, 19-, a young man was making his way on foot northward from the great City to a town or place called Edgewood, that he had been told of but had never visited.

Table of Contents edit see section history

BOOK ONE: EDGEWOOD
Chapter One
Somewhere to Elsewhere -- A Long Drink of Water -- Anonymity -- Name & Number -- A City Mouse -- At First Sight -- The Young Santa Claus -- A Sea Island -- Correspondence -- Make-Believe -- Life is Short, or Long -- Trumps Turned at Edgewood -- Junipers.

Chapter Two
A Gothic Bedroom -- From Side to Side -- Sophie's Dream -- Led Astray -- An Imaginary Bedroom -- In the Walled Garden -- Houses & Histories -- Doctor Drinkwater's Advice -- The Architecture of Country Houses -- Just Then.

Chapter Three
Strange Insides -- For It Was He -- Strange and Shaded Lanes -- Call Them Doors -- No End to Possibility -- A Turn Around the House -- Tell Me the Tale -- All Questions Answered -- Gone, She Said.

Chapter Four
A Suit of Truman's -- The Summer House -- Woods and Lakes -- Touching Noses -- Happy Isles -- A Sheltered Life -- As Quietly As She Had Come -- Suppose One Were A Fish.

Chapter Five
Lucky Children -- Some Final Order -- Can You Find The Faces -- These Few Windows -- To See What He Could See -- But There It Is -- In the Woods -- By the Way -- Good Advice -- What About It.


BOOK TWO: BROTHER NORTH-WIND'S SECRET
Chapter One
Retreats and Operations -- A Swell Idea -- Some Notes About Them -- What You Most Want -- Something Horrific -- Anthology of Love -- Darker Before It Lightened -- The Last Day of August -- Strange Way to Live -- No Catching Up.

Chapter Two
Robin Bird's Lesson -- The End of the World -- Brother North-wind's Secret -- The Only Game Going -- The One Good Thing About Winter -- The Old Age of the World -- Unflinching Predators -- Responsibilities -- Harvest-Home -- Seized by the Tale.

Chapter Three
Time Flies -- A Definite Hazard -- Up on the Hill -- Cocoa and a Bun -- The Orphan Nymphs -- The Least Trumps -- Only Fair.

Chapter Four
Agreement with Newton -- Letters to Santa -- Room for One More -- A Gift They Had to Give -- Old World Bird -- Lucy, then Lilac -- Little, Big -- Solstice Night -- In All Directions.


BOOK THREE: OLD LAW FARM
Chapter One
Keeping People Out -- News From Home -- What George Mouse Heard -- George Mouse Goes on Overhearing -- A Friend of the Doctor's -- A Shepherd in the Bronx -- Look at the Time -- The Club Meets -- Pictured Heavens.

Chapter Two
Old Law Farm -- The Bee or the Sea -- A Winged Messenger -- A Folding Bedroom -- Sylvi and Destiny -- Gate of Horn.

Chapter Three
Lilacs and Fireflies -- That's a Secret -- Books and a Battle -- The Old Geography -- Hills and Dales -- A Getaway Look -- Two Beautiful Sisters.

Chapter Four
The Art of Memory -- A Geography -- Wakings-up -- No Going Back Out -- Slow Fall of Time -- Princess -- Brownie's House -- A Banquet.


BOOK FOUR: THE WILD WOOD
Chapter One
A Time and a Tour -- Rainy-day Wonder -- That's the Lot -- A Secret Agent -- The Worm Turned -- Hidden Ones Revealed -- Glory -- Not Yet.

Chapter Two
Tossing and Turning -- La Negra -- The Seventh Saint -- Whispering Gallery -- Right Side Up -- What a Tangle.

Chapter Three
The Top of a Stair -- Daughter of Time -- The Child Turned -- An Imaginary Study -- Nevertheless Spring -- Let Him Follow Love.

Chapter Four
More WOuld Happen -- Something Going -- Uncle Daddy -- Lost for Sure -- The Wild Wood -- This Is War -- Unexpected Seam -- From East to West -- Sylvie?


BOOK FIVE: THE ART OF MEMORY
Chapter One
The Hero Awakened -- A Secret Sorrow -- A Year to Place Upon It -- In the First Place -- And in the Second Place -- And in the Third.

Chapter Two
Not Her But This Park -- Never Never Never -- Doesn't Matter -- Sylvie & Bruno Concluded -- How Far You've Gone -- Bottom of a Bottle -- Door into Nowhere -- Ahead and Behind.

Chapter Three
Not a Moment Too Soon -- Needles in the Haystack of Time -- Crossroads -- An Awful Mess -- Slowly I Turn -- Embracing Himself.

Chapter Four
Nothing for Something -- Quite Long-Sighted -- Ever After -- Three Lilacs -- Thinking of Waking.


BOOK SIX: THE FAIRIES' PARLIAMENT
Chapter One
Winters -- Fifty-Two -- Carrying a Torch -- Something He Could Steal -- Escapements -- Caravans -- New-Found-Land -- Just About Over.

Chapter Two
What a Surprise -- Walking from There -- A Parliament -- Not All Over -- Lady with the Alligator Purse -- Still Unstolen.

Chapter Three
Is It Far? -- Only Pretending -- Where Was She Headed? -- Too Simple to Say -- Another Country.

Chapter Four
Storm of Difference -- Watch Your Step -- A Family Thing -- A Watch and a Pipe -- Middle of Nowhere -- Fifty-two Pickp.

Chapter Five
Her Blessing -- So Big -- More, Much More -- Only the Brave -- Quite Close -- Give Way, Give Way -- Come or Stay -- Not Going -- Land Called the Tale -- A Wake -- A Real Gift -- She's Here, She's Near -- Once Upon a Time.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 5 of 37 in Millennium/Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks. (edition-based publisher list)

Preceded by Tales of the Dying Earth, and followed by The Chronicles of Amber.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. John Crowley (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bantam Books
Country: U.S.A.
Publication Date: 1981
ISBN: 0553012665
Page Count: 538

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: 81002483
  • Dewey: 813

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