Little, Big: or, The Fairies' Parliament - John Crowley - 1981

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/441958

Little, Big: or, The Fairies' Parliament is a contemporary fantasy novel by John Crowley, published in 1981. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1982.

Harold Bloom included this work in his book The Western Canon, calling it "A neglected masterpiece. The closest achievement we have to the Alice stories of Lewis Carroll." Bloom also recorded that, based on their correspondence, poet James Merrill "loved the book."

Thomas M. Disch described Little, Big as "the best fantasy novel ever. Period." Ursula K. Le Guin wrote that Little, Big is "a book that all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy." In Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, David Pringle described the book as "a work of architectonic sublimity" and wrote that "the author plays with masterly skill on the emotional nerves of awe, rapture, mystery and enchantment." Paul Di Filippo said, "It is hard to imagine a more satisfying work, both on an artistic and an emotional level".

A number of readers and critics have described Little, Big as magical realism, perhaps in an attempt to defend it from being categorized as a work belonging to the sometimes maligned field of genre fiction. However, the novel fits the classic description of low fantasy. Some list it among the early works of urban fantasy or at least as a "classic" part of the movement that developed into it.

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