Encyclopedia of Snow

"Tell me," you said, "why you have been like a pool of frozen water since we came here . . ." I didn't reply, or move an inch, not even when the wind sent a new drift of snow over me. "Tell me," you said. "Otherwise how can I reach you?" After a moment you looked me in the eye, briefly, and I wanted to speak to you but my thoughts and feelings were trapped in a triad of cold, silence and height.

A man's love-letter to a woman, written in the form of an encyclopaedia about snow. The entries include stories, scientific article, myths and an Inuit's description of how to make kamiks (waterproof fur boots) from caribou skin.

I picked this book up on a whim because I liked the cover, and I'm glad I did.

I've loved winter and especially snow for as long as I can remember. And unconsciously I've waited for a book like this my whole life. It was one of those lucky purchases, I only bought it because of the title and the cover.
The whole book is a mosaic of poetic and philosophical stories, myths and scientific tidbits. A mosaic, just like life with and in the snow is to me. Snow in all its forms, be it on a sunny day in the mountains or during a harsh blizzard.
The thread that holds all the stories together is the snow and after a while one story sticks out as it is repeated in many different forms. Told from different perspectives and recounted at different points in time. It's a desperate and hopeless love story, yet it fills you with show more warmth. It also always circles around the same topic of ice, coldness and snow.
I simply love this book and I'm sure I'll discover more things the next time I read it. show less

For the most part, I'm going to repost my Amazon.com review because, well, I'm lazy. But I felt I would add a few comments first:

When I read this book back in 2004, I can safely say it was my favourite novel. Now, although this is no longer true, I need to stress that is not this book's fault. If anything, it is to Ms. Miano's credit in that her vision (combined, I guess, with that inevitable middle-class university awakening experience) opened me up to a world of literary complexity. "Encyclopaedia of Snow" still holds - and always will hold - a place in my heart and on my favourite books list. I just don't want people to think me hyperbolic in calling everything "my favourite".

I've corresponded with Ms. Miano, and I can say she is an show more amusing and delightful person, and I hope she continues to write in the future. I'm about to start reading her second novel, "Van Rijn", and look forward to it immensely.

(From Amazon:) Her "Encyclopaedia of Snow" is an incredibly complex, thematically rich work which pulls together dozens of stories, poems and vignettes that are in some way related to snow. At first glance, the stories - and the accompanying notes and epilogues - seem to have little in common, but as one reads and rereads them - each imbued with Miano's exquisite poetic style - all sorts of links and connections are discovered.

The stories range from a young girls' crushing experiences with anorexia, to an ancient Chinese maiden who waits to die to be with her lover; stories from Russia, Japan, the USA, and the ends of the Earth. Miano herself suggests links at the end of each "encyclopaedia entry" but the fun is also in being enveloped in the story and finding ones' own links. Her characters are rich and ranging from mythological figures to characters from literature (Joyce's "The Dead" recieves a re-working), to characters from Miano's own mind, and those from classic films (the "It's A Wonderful Life" piece is a particularly nice surprise).

I never get tired of this book, and its inherent beauty. Recommended to all but particularly those who like beautiful literature, and for those who have an affinity for snow. show less

An alphabetical list of entries, though you can actually read it in any order - a non-sequential novel, though novel is hardly the word. Some entries are related to snow, but duality and alchemy are major themes too. Gradually, threads linking some of the entries become evident, especially the longer ones. Self consciously clever and beautiful.

Weird, touching, unusual, intense. the book is indeed organised by alphabet with short articles on different aspects of snow. Sometimes these articles are short quotes, longer stories, an exchange of letters or poetry. Some of them are connected, some don't make a lot of sense but they are all interesting enough to keep me reading, despite my lack of discipline when it comes to collections of short stories. Maybe it's because the bits are somehow connected.

Great concept of having a series of texts set out in the form of an encyclopedia. Some stories grabbed me more than others.

Awful - plus any writer who confuses ‘lie’ and ‘lay’ doesn’t deserve to be published.