Rating: 
Summary: fabulous!
Review: This is an absolutely fabulous book; my favorite book of all time. The prose is breathtakingly beautiful, a joy to read. It is so sad that neither this book nor Crowley are better known. This work is a monumental achievement of American Literature.
Rating:
Summary: At Last: A TRUE Masterpiece of Late 20th century Fiction
Review: I first read 'Little,Big' in the late 1980s because I noticed the following fascinating pattern: amongst the most rigorous reviewers in places such as The Washington Post, NY Times, NY Review of Books, etc., every single review of certain books concluded with remarkably similar words, very much along the lines of: "[Such-&-such] is a fine book, but it just isn't 'Little,Big'." And one could almost hear the critic sighing palpably. And this happened again & again.When combined with each critic also reminding us each time that 'Little,Big' has won ALL the significant awards - well, how could I not hie forth & read on? READER BEWARE: 'Little,Big" is indeed a masterpiece, but many find they must give it at least 100 pages or so before they are firmly netted within the author's grasp & vision. Do yourself the favor therefore of giving it that 100-150 pp. of suspended judgement. It is more than worth the wait. By & by you will be thoroughly wrapped up in a world of masterful literary allusion & allegory. Crowley not only shape shifts through time & space: his Voice changes so deftly & attentively that - for instance - even mere handfuls of paragraphs refering to Mrs. Drinkwater's first vision of fairies is redolent with the inexplicable "sound" of Keats' 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'; the adventures of Sylvie & Bruno are similarly full of Carrollian allusion & texture; the observations of one non-specific (fairy or not?) key being, 'Mrs. Underwood", are worthy of a scout working overtime for Bollingen & Joseph Campbell. More awe-inspiring yet, Crowley pulls you through mind-bogglingly deft changes in past/present, reality/"un"reality, et cetera; & so rapidly that your breath is, yes, truly taken gasping from your body. How often are masterpieces page-turners? How often are page-turners masterpieces? 'Little,Big: Or, The Fairies' Parliament" is just that. I can think of no other book deserving of this accolade in late 20th century fiction. "Let him follow love," counsels Grandfather Trout midway through this great good book. Let you, too, find love - & astonishing writing, vision & grasp - by snatching up a copy ASAP, and hanging in there until you are happily ensnared for life. You will not only not be sorry; you will be moved beyond words. I love all of Crowley's work, but on the astonishing strength of 'Little,Big" alone, John Crowley is my hero. I can say that of no other living novelist.
Rating:
Summary: The most beautiful prose I've ever encountered.
Review: I'll keep this short. Buy or borrow this book and read the first chapter. If it does nothing for you then you can safely remove John Crowley from your list of authors to read. On the other hand if you find your heart overcome by the beauty of his prose then you'll almost certainly cherish this book, (and all the others he has written since), for the rest of your life.
Rating: 
Summary: Apparently, I Just Don't Understand
Review: There's no question that Crowley has a good grip on language. But honestly, I can't understand all the rave reviews for this book. The main characters are, to me, completely uninvolving and uninteresting cyphers. There is no plot that I was able to detect. And worst of all, the overall feeling of constant whimsey I found to be oppressive and cloying. If one wants whimsey in reasonable doses, I would recommend "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, a book that, in my opinion, has some of the same elements that many reviewers seem to enjoy, without the overwhelming cloyingness that made this book a chore for me. Obviously, the mileage of others varies considerably, but I found this to be a long, uninvolving book whose atmosphere is opressive.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: This is an heartbreakingly beautiful book. It is well written, the worlds are wonderfully described, that the human passion in the characters is made so palpable as to be real. I feel as though I know Smokey and Daily Alice - as if I have looked into their lives and seen the span of their family as though they were real people. The story is complex, and weaves between the past, present, and future both for the reader and the characters. The tale, with its layers of meaning and time, is subtle. I delighted in the many small details, the many references to other things in the story, the use of ambiguous descriptive language so that the reader must be discerning in order to relish every bit of the text. I love the way that the author describes the other realms - the fairy world and its overlap with ours - so delicate and elusive. It is an exquisite book. I collect faery books, both old and new works, in addition to my other books. Out of all of my books, this is my favorite. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The further in you go, the bigger it gets...
Review: I bought this book almost completely on a whim, based only on its somewhat quirky sounding synopsis; as a long time scifi/fantasy fan, I was looking for something "different" to read. Yet I never seemed to get around to actually reading it -- it sat on my shelf for months. Finally I picked it up, mostly due to the reviews I read here on amazon. The reviewers seemed in awe of the book, truly captured by it; I hadn't read reviews of any other title here that spoke quite as much as theirs did. Having recently finished the book, I understand them now. I was right to trust them. While I'm not sure I am ready to call it my absolute favorite book, after only my first reading, I can see it becoming that or nearly so. The descriptions the other reviewers gave are pretty much right on. Read them. As they say, it may not be a book for everyone. The plot meanders. For a story that spans generations, not terribly much happens, certainly not by current, name-your-favorite-trendy-fantasy-author standards (you know...the Robert Jordan/Terry Goodkind/Terry Brooks clones; but really, this story is nothing at all like anything they write anyway, to the point of making such a comparison simply ridiculous). The book is by one standard very hard to read, and by another very easy. Hard, because it is not exactly a page-turner. In fact, there were very few times that I simply couldn't put the book down. In fact, the format of small (typically one or two page) sections within large chapters made it quite easy to put down (which was often nice, given that I have the attention span of a father of a three-year-old). Yet it was also easy to read, not only because I could pick it up whenever I had a few spare moments for myself, but also because the writing is so lyricly delicious that I could really enjoy those little bits I had time to read; I often found myself lingering over individual sentances. I was looking for something different, and this book certainly is that. In fact, I have never read anything quite like it; I can't even adequately describe it. I think I felt this book more than I read it. There is an almost melancholy nostalgia about it that both comforts and aches. In the end, I can't really say anything more about the book that hasn't already been said by another reviewer. I will definietly re-read this book, and I strongly suspect that what the others have said is true: the book has depth, breadth and longevity. As Crowley himself puts it, the further in you go, the bigger it gets.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Else Comes Close
Review: "little, big" by John Crowley may be the best book I have ever read. I routinely reccomend it to friends who show any interest in reading something deeper than a Tom Clancey novel, but without much hope, since "little, big" is basically almost too good to be true. The use of language in this book is so lyrical, so beautiful that words fail me. In fact, words fail me in most respects when trying to do justice to this book--one runs out of superlatives. The characters are three-dimensional and well-drawn, the plot is quirky and fascinating, the exposition is wonderful. It defies classification in the way that truly great art sometimes does; it's not really fantasy, but then it is, isn't it?. It has more in common with "In the House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende than it does with "The Hobbit." When I become dictator of the world, everyone will have to read this book; then they'll see what a truly wise, benevolent dictator I am.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy, yes, but so much more...
Review: I don't always admit to being one who loves fantasy. The genre is mediocre more often than not, and the "fairy" thing gets tiresome at times. But John Crowley has done something in LITTLE, BIG that will endure far beyond the Terry Brooks' and Anne McCaffertys of our time. In fact, I hate even placing their names in the same paragraph as "John Crowley". LITTLE, BIG is literature. It is NOT David Eddings or anyone like that who spins an entertaining tale at breakneck speed that amounts to nothing more than an amusing joyride - it's NOT disposable writing, unremarkable and forgotten within the month. Crowley's work here echoes in the heart, and like a tune that plays through your head and remains hard to shake, LITTLE, BIG will find a crevice and rest within you, and will haunt you for years to come. Anyone who loves language will be brought close to tears by how Crowley writes; his prose is luminous, transcendent, world-stopping - the kind of writing that makes would-be writers wince with despair - how can anyone write this well? LITTLE, BIG makes you realize how pale and insubstantial most other books are. His images and characters are not easily shrugged away; in fact, they seem richer once you close the book and live with them for a while. It's also a work that takes more than one reading to fully digest; this is a comfort book for me, and I've read it once each year since the early 80's, and I think it took seven readings to fully grasp. Quite simply...you won't come away from this book quite the same. With all this said, it's NOT a book for Everyman, Everywoman, or EveryTrout. But if you're not afraid to ache, not afraid to engage your mind and really commit to reading a book rather than skimming words much like channel surfing, then you'll be rewarded...and like me, you'll start collecting multiple copies so you can share it when somebody asks, "What's your favorite book?"
Rating:
Summary: pure magic
Review: I don't know what happens if you go into Little, Big with expectations. I would tend to say don't buy it yourself, but wait for it to show up in your life. Maybe a friend will lend it to you, half-afraid you won't get it, or you'll pick it up in a dusty used bin somewhere. Then a couple of weeks later you're trying to knock the sand out of your eyes, or maybe trying to put it back in. Either way, you'll never forget the way this book made you feel. Damn fairies.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest of Fantasy fiction!
Review: This book is arguably the BEST piece of Fantasy fiction ever written! It is a singular work(no upteen volumes,no sequels)and is written by a writer's writer...John Crowely.The fact that all of it's wonders are contained within....and like the enchanted house at Edgewood, once you enter in you find that it's dimensions are far more vast and mysterious;as if this book itself morphs around the reader...and "literally" transforms ones worldview.Reality and magick merge,what seems real is not exactly as it seems...and the way out is the way in.Rooms within rooms within rooms. Little,Big .....WOW!
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