Little, Big
Tags
Summary
Little, Big, a novel by the American writer John Crowley first published in 1981, won the 1982 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards. Harold Bloom called it a neglected masterpiece and brought it into the recommended vision of The Western Canon. Set in twentieth-century America, the novel follows a young man, Smoky Barnable, who sets out for a strange place called Edgewood to marry his destined wife, Daily Alice Drinkwater. According to a fortune told with playing cards by the bride's great-aunt, he must not ride but walk, must not buy food but eat only what he carries, and must not stay at inns but lodge only as a guest, or misfortune will follow. More than a century earlier, John Drinkwater, who believed in the real existence of the fairy kingdom, built in the countryside a house assembled from many architectural styles, and seven generations of the Drinkwater family have lived in this house that keeps growing, its structure and layout ever more complex. As the story unfolds, the sprawling family gradually reveals its secrets: labyrinthine corridors that loop back on themselves, eccentric rooms, an astrolabe, cards that foretell the future, a grandfather trout in the pond, fairies half-glimpsed in photographs, and a family member who quietly vanished. Generation after generation, the family prophecy slowly surfaces, and the door to the fairy world seems to be opening. With space as its central image and in an elegant, profound style, the book weaves together family history, a love story, and a reflection on fantasy itself, and is regarded as a modern fantasy classic of intricate design that demands to be read layer by layer.
Editor's review
一本被主流文坛与类型文学读者同时反复提及的书：世界奇幻奖最佳长篇小说得主，星云奖、雨果奖提名，哈罗德·布鲁姆把它称作“被忽视的杰作”，厄休拉·勒古恩则说“仅凭一己之力，便发出重新定义奇幻的召唤”。它的特别之处在于，明明写的是精灵、纸牌预言、会自行生长的房子这些奇幻元素，读起来却更像一部家族编年史与关于时间、记忆的沉思录。克劳利的文笔典雅宏阔，句子绵密而有音乐感，许多读者正是被这种“慢火”式的叙述吸引，一遍读不完，隔年还想再读一遍。全书的建筑本身就是叙事结构：走廊套着走廊，房间通向房间，读者的阅读路径与主人公穿行宅邸的脚步彼此呼应。如果你厌倦了快节奏打怪升级式的奇幻，想找一部可以安放进书架上反复重读、在细节里不断发现新门道的小说，这本书值得给它一整个冬天的耐心。
Who it's for
A good fit for
- 喜欢《百年孤独》式家族史诗与魔幻现实的读者
- 偏爱典雅文笔、有耐心的纯文学爱好者
- 对精灵传说、童话母题和元小说感兴趣的奇幻读者
- 希望收藏现代奇幻经典译本的书迷
Not a good fit for
- 追求快节奏、强情节冲突的动作型奇幻读者
- 对慢热铺垫与大量人物关系缺乏耐心的读者
- 只想要给孩子读的轻松精灵童话的家长
Reading tips
- 先不必强记人物，跟着宅邸的空间往前走，人物关系会在反复出现中被自然记住。
- 可配合目录与家族成员表边读边理，前两部的铺垫会在后几部逐渐回响。
- 读到精灵与纸牌的段落时放慢速度，留意叙述者与“讲故事”本身的层层嵌套。
- 读完一遍不妨隔一段时间重读，会发现早先看似闲笔的细节其实都通向结局。
About the publisher
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House
China · Founded in 1985
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.
Contents
- Part One Edgewood
- Chapter One From Somewhere to Elsewhere—A Long Drink—Nameless—Names and Numbers—City Mouse—Love at First Sight—The Young Santa Claus—The Island—Correspondence—Pretending—Life Is Short, or Long—The Cards Are Dealt—The Juniper House
- Chapter Two The Gothic Bathroom—Crossing into Elsewhere—Sophie's Dream—Astray—The Virtual Bedroom—The Walled Garden—The House and Its History—Dr. Drinkwater's Advice—Country House Architecture—Meanwhile
- Chapter Three The Odd Interior—It Is He—Strange Dark Alleys—Call It a Door—Infinite Possibilities—Around the Corner—Tell Me the Story—Everything Is Answered—She Said: Gone
- Chapter Four Truman's Suit—The Summer House—Woods and Lake—Nose to Nose—The Isle of Joy—Life in the Ivory Tower—Here and Gone—If Born a Fish
- Chapter Five The Lucky Child—The Final Order—Can You Find the Faces—Scattered Windows—What Can Be Seen—Right Before Your Eyes—In the Woods—Along the Way—Good Advice—How
- Part Two The Secret of the North Wind Brother
- Chapter One Retirement and Activity—A Good Idea—Precautions—The Greatest Wish—The Terrible Thing—An Anthology of Love—Darkness Before Dawn—The Last Day of August—Strange Life—Beyond Pursuit
- Chapter Two Robin Bird's Assignment—The End of the World—The Secret of the North Wind Brother—The Only Game—The Sole Virtue of Winter—The World's Old Age—The Fearless Predator—Responsibility—Harvest—Domination
- Chapter Three Time Flies—The Certain Danger—On the Hill—Cocoa and Bread—The Fairy Orphan—The Smallest Card—Only Fair
- Chapter Four Consensus with Newton—A Letter to Santa—Room for One More—The Gift That Must Be Given—The Bird of the Old World—Lucy and Lilac—Small and Big—Winter Solstice Night—All Directions
- Part Three The Old Order Farm
- Chapter One Blocking Idlers—News from Home—What George Mouse Heard—George Mouse Keeps Listening—The Doctor's Friend—The Bronx Shepherd—What Time Is It—The Club Meeting—The Imaginary Sky
- Chapter Two The Old Order Farm—Bees or Ocean—The Winged Messenger—The Folding Bedroom—Sylvie and Fate—The Side Gate
- Chapter Three Lilacs and Fireflies—It's a Secret—Books and Battles—Ancient Terrain—Hill and Valley—The Look of Escape—The Beautiful Sisters
- Chapter Four The Art of Memory—A Kind of Terrain—Awakening—The Road of No Return—The Slow Fall of Time—The Princess—The Brownie's Home—The Feast
- Part Four The Black Forest
- Chapter One A Time and a Journey—Rainy Day Confusion—That Is Fate—The Agent—Counterattack—Revealing Secrets—Glory—Not Yet Time
- Chapter Two Tossing and Turning—The Black Crone—The Seventh Saint—The Whispering Gallery—Face Up—A Mess
- Chapter Three At the Top of the Stairs—The Daughter of Time—The Child Turns Over—The Virtual Study—Spring Remains—Let Him Follow Love
- Chapter Four There Will Be More—Something Happened—Daddy Uncle—Surely Lost—The Black Forest—War Breaks Out—The Accidental Seam—East to West—Sylvie
- Part Five The Art of Memory
- Chapter One The Hero Awakens—Unknown Sorrow—Listing the Years—The First—The Second—The Third
- Chapter Two Not Her, This Park—Never, Never, Never—It Doesn't Matter—The End of Sylvie and Bruno—How Far Did You Go—The Last Drop of Wine—The Place That Doesn't Exist—Front and Back
- Chapter Three Right on Time—A Needle in a Haystack—The Crossroads—A Mess—Turning Slowly—Embracing Oneself
- Chapter Four Nothing for Everything—Foresight—Forever—Three Lilacs—Waiting to Wake
- Part Six The Fairy Council
- Chapter One Winter—Fifty-Two—Torches Raised—Stealing the Subject—The Escapement—The Merchant Caravan—The Newly Discovered Land—Soon to End
- Chapter Two A Surprise—From Elsewhere—The Council—Not Yet Over—The Lady with the Crocodile-Skin Bag—Not Yet Stolen
FAQ
《他方世界》有哪几个中文译本？
目前流传较广的中文版有两种：译林出版社2014年版（精装，ISBN 9787544712378），以及湖南文艺出版社2020年版（ISBN 9787540494018），两者均由魏靖仪翻译。
这本书是科幻还是奇幻？
它更接近带有魔幻元素的文学奇幻。书中有精灵、纸牌预言等幻想设定，但叙事重心在家族史、时间与记忆，因此常被归入世界奇幻奖一类的奇幻范畴，也被主流文学评论当作严肃小说讨论。
没读过奇幻小说能读得懂吗？
可以。它不依赖既有的奇幻设定体系，不需要前置知识；真正的门槛在于叙事节奏慢、人物多、结构像迷宫，建议带着耐心读完前两部分再下判断。
书名 Little, Big 是什么意思？
英文原名为 Little, Big，直译接近“小与大”。小说中外部的世界与精灵世界在尺度、空间上彼此交错，勒古恩甚至说读者“离开时的大小会跟进来时不一样”，书名正指向这种大小、内外之间的转换。
这本书适合当睡前读物吗？
篇幅较长、结构繁复，不太适合碎片化跳读；但如果喜欢每天读一小节、慢慢沉浸的阅读方式，它舒缓绵长的叙述反而适合每晚读几页。
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