The Little Country
by Charles de Lint
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When folk musician Janey Little finds a mysterious manuscript in an old trunk, she is swept into a dangerous realm. But the book draws genuine danger from across the oceans into Janey's life.Tags
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Member Reviews
As per usual, an absolute delight to read - de Lint is just the best urban fantasy writer going.
This one is less an urban fantasy than some of his, but it still has its foot firmly planted in that oeuvre. There are essentially two stories, parallel and tracking together. In one, a young girl is transformed into a tiny person by a witch - in the other, a long-lost book from a fantasy writer is being protected by a family because it has unknown but certain power. de Lint favors us with a complete cast of well-drawn and complicated characters for each story. In the end, the narrative of the young girl's quest to regain her size is influenced by the world in the narrative of the book, and vice versa. For the girl's quest is the subject of show more the book, at least in one reader's mind. As per usual, there is also a shadowy conspiracy to grab the book for its power, and the good guys win out, though just.
de Lint's tightrope walk here weaving the stories together is worth the read alone.
5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!!!!! show less
This one is less an urban fantasy than some of his, but it still has its foot firmly planted in that oeuvre. There are essentially two stories, parallel and tracking together. In one, a young girl is transformed into a tiny person by a witch - in the other, a long-lost book from a fantasy writer is being protected by a family because it has unknown but certain power. de Lint favors us with a complete cast of well-drawn and complicated characters for each story. In the end, the narrative of the young girl's quest to regain her size is influenced by the world in the narrative of the book, and vice versa. For the girl's quest is the subject of show more the book, at least in one reader's mind. As per usual, there is also a shadowy conspiracy to grab the book for its power, and the good guys win out, though just.
de Lint's tightrope walk here weaving the stories together is worth the read alone.
5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!!!!! show less
8/10
So much of this book is a delightful, magical, thought-provoking story, but the mismatched romance aspects (every woman loves Felix?) and the powerful, evil, mystical cabal who run the world plot(s) don’t work as well as the story of Jodi and her companions dealing with the Widow Pender and central tale surrounding William Dunthorn’s mysterious book. The author’s philosophizing is neatly woven into the themes and plots of the tales, adding depth rather than distractions within the story.
So much of this book is a delightful, magical, thought-provoking story, but the mismatched romance aspects (every woman loves Felix?) and the powerful, evil, mystical cabal who run the world plot(s) don’t work as well as the story of Jodi and her companions dealing with the Widow Pender and central tale surrounding William Dunthorn’s mysterious book. The author’s philosophizing is neatly woven into the themes and plots of the tales, adding depth rather than distractions within the story.
A great book about worlds within worlds and the music that permeates them. Set in modern-day (well, 1980-1990's) Cornwall, the story unfolds with a mysterious book written by the best friend of the Gaffer, a former fisherman and grandfather to musician Janey Little. Other friends of Janey's play a role, and then there are some enemies who come looking for this mysterious book as a bit of a magic talisman.
There are standing stones, and a concurrent story with a young girl who is changed into a Small, the Widow who changes her (and her sad story), and lots of romps through the countryside and the town.
Each of the chapter headings points to a musical piece which gives an idea of what's going on in that particular chapter.
There are standing stones, and a concurrent story with a young girl who is changed into a Small, the Widow who changes her (and her sad story), and lots of romps through the countryside and the town.
Each of the chapter headings points to a musical piece which gives an idea of what's going on in that particular chapter.
This book has in it both standing stones and a book that tells a different story to each reader (and, it is suggested, upon each reading). I'm terribly susceptible to such archetypal images. Loved the book.
The two stories set along the far Cornish coast don't up to a whole for me. Neither seemed quite as fully realized as it should have been, with lots of arbitrary actions and basically uninteresting horrid villains. The fairie realm itself is sort of a wee appendage. The unifying music is a fine idea, but if drums aren't involved, it doesn't work for me, and while it's cool that Crowley came from Cornwall and all, a corner of a British Isle isn't where I'd set a tale of universal music.
Perhaps switching from Modernist to fantasy wasn't such a great idea. Through this I kept thinking, Oh really. But overall the book is good, although not Mr. De Lint's best. Directed more to the younger reader, some of the themes are very adult however.
One of the first Charles de Lint novels I read. I've been hooked ever since. It's still one of my favorites. I think it's the combination of well-written fantasy, the coast of Cornwall, and all the music that makes this one so wonderful.
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Author Information
196+ Works 43,440 Members
Charles de Lint, an extraordinarily prolific writer of fantasy works, was born in the Netherlands in 1951. Due to his father's work as a surveyor, the family lived in many different places, including Canada, Turkey, and Lebanon. De Lint was influenced by many writers in the areas of mythology, folklore, and science fiction. De Lint originally show more wanted to play Celtic music. He only began to write seriously to provide an artist friend with stories to illustrate. The combination of the success of his work, The Fane of the Grey Rose (which he later developed into the novel The Harp of the Grey Rose), the loss of his job in a record store, and the support of his wife, Mary Ann, helped encourage de Lint to pursue writing fulltime. After selling three novels in one year, his career soared and he has become a most successful fantasy writer. De Lint's works include novels, novellas, short stories, chapbooks, and verse. He also publishes under the pseudonyms Wendelessen, Henri Cuiscard, and Jan Penalurick. He has received many awards, including the 2000 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines, the Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award, as well as the Great Lakes Great Books Award for his young adult novel The Blue Girl. His novel Widdershins won first place, Amazon.com Editors' Picks: Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2006. In 1988 he won Canadian SF/Fantasy Award, the Casper, now known as the Aurora for his novel Jack, the Giant Killer. Also, de Lint has been a judge for the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award and the Bram Stoker Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Little Country
- Original publication date
- 1991 (copyright) (copyright)
- People/Characters
- Michael Bett (imposter reincarnation of Aleister Crowley | alias Mike Betcher); George Bodener (Mousehole native); Charlie Boyd; Dinny Boyd (piper); Helen Bray (Peter Goninan's great-niece); John Briello (stuffed) (show all 46); Sam Dennison (private investigator); Eva Diesel (Order of the Grey Dove); William Dunthorn (author of The Hidden People and The Lost Music, friend of Tom Little); Kara Faull (one of the Tatters children); Chalkie Fisher; Ratty Friggens (real name Richard | one of the Tatters children); Felix Gavin (the musician with stage fright); Jim Gazo (bodyguard); Edern Gee; Peter Goninan; Denzil Gossip (inventor); Lena Grant; Roland Grant (Lena's father, Order of the Grey Dove); John Kelly Hale (J. K. | Order of the Grey Dove); Ron Hollinshead (at the hotel desk); Willie Keel; Adeline Little (Janey's grandmother); Constance Hetherington Little (Janey's mother); Janey Little; Tom Little (the Gaffer, Janey Little's grandfather); Clare Mabley (friend of Janey and of Felix); Lilith Mabley (Clare's mother); John Madden; Armand Monette (Order of the Grey Dove); Peter Moyle (one of the Tatters children); Edwin Pender (Hedra Scorce's late husband); Widow Pender (born Hedra Scorce); Harvey Ross (one of the Tatters children); Davie Rowe; Jodi Shepherd; Nettie Shepherd; Lizzie Snell; Brengy Taupin (claims to be a hedgerow philosopher); Cadan Tremeer (Bodbury's chief constable); Cadwal Welet (Ethy's father); Ethy Welet (one of the Tatters children); Hedrik Whale (painter and town reprobate); Windle (the Widow's fetch); Frank Woolnough (storyteller who has a farm just outside St. Buryan); Ted Grimes
- Important places
- Bodbury, Cornwall, England, UK (fictional); Cornwall, England, UK; Mousehole, Cornwall, England, UK (fictional); Penzance, Cornwall, England, UK
- Epigraph
- myself, a brat who...
couldn't figure numbers worth a damn
was always a chancer
and given three lines to add I'd put the middle row
down as the answer
but I could read all day if I could get away with it
and... (show all) all night too with a flashlight under the covers
of that Green Man... or of Merlin of the borders...
- ROBIN WILLIAMSON, from "Five Denials on Merlin's Grave"
He wanted the sort of book that didn't seem to need a beginning and end, that could be opened at any page without suffering for it - slow, candlelight reading.
- JAMES P. BLAYLOCK, from Land of Dreams - Dedication
- for
Don Flamanck and Colin Wilson
two wise Cornishmen
and for all those traditional musicians
who, wittingly or unwittingly,
but with great good skill,
still seek to recapture that first music - First words
- There were two things Janey Little loved best in the world: music and books, and not necessarily in that order.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It had been an echo of the first music, she had explained to Felix and Clare the next day.
The music of the Little Country that every person had hidden away inside them. - Original language
- English
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- Reviews
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- (3.93)
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- ISBNs
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