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Loading... A Box of Matchesby Nicholson Baker
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. This was among a bag of however many books could be stuffed into a bag for £1 at the local library. It falls open at a page which describes snoring at 5 a.m. Bought solely for the plastic reusable wrapper which protects the book and can be easily removed to protect a different book of similar size. Nicholson Baker is the master of the small thing. The subtle and seemingly forgettable gets put in an entirely new light. His descriptions of everyday life fill me with joy. interesting character study and premise. I enjoyed this light, evocative and rather sweet book about the 'trivial' side of life. It created that quieter part of your mind that sorts the small events of the day and actually reflects realities of life. (It also makes me feel better about being 'in a dream world' a significant part of my day). Contemplating the mundane is made effortless and maybe even important - his prose is very evocative. no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0375502874, Hardcover)One man's simple, colloquial meditations on his past, his family, and his life's daily minutia are the substance of Nicholson Baker's A Box of Matches. Feeling that life is passing him by, Emmett, a middle-aged medical textbook editor, decides to wake up early each day to sit by a fire in his country house and record his thoughts in a diary. "Good morning," Emmett begins, "it's January and its 4:17 a.m., and I'm going to sit here in the dark." From this vantage point, Emmett reflects stream-of-consciousness style on whatever occurs to him, no matter how mundane: his recent trip to Home Depot, how he met his wife, the habits of the family duck. Routines, such as how he makes his morning coffee in the dark or picks up his underwear with his toes, are described with childlike reverence and directness. All told, nothing much happens in A Box of Matches, which seems to be the point. Baker is more interested in the idea that for many, life is made up of such apparent trivialities, and that only by pausing to appreciate them can anyone gain any lasting satisfaction. Baker emphasizes this through the moments of understated wisdom and joy that Emmett derives from ordinary occurrences, such as the daylight through the window: "a simple light that goes everywhere but with no heat, aware that it is taken for granted and content to be so." This is the philosophical equivalent of a one-joke premise, however, and there are moments when Emmett's naiveté and laundry list-like narrative wear thin. Likely understanding this, Baker has wisely kept things short. A curious, often charming novel, A Box of Matches will inspire some readers, while inspiring frustration in others. --Ross Doll(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:04 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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They deal with minutia but in an enjoyable artistic way that makes you wish you could comprehend all the little things in life as clearly. This and [Mezzanine] are "Stop and smell the roses," books.
I wish I thought of it before....it'd be worth reading a chapter each morning when you wake up, if for nothing else than to have someone say "good morning." (