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A review by orlion
El verano del pequeño San John by John Crowley
5.0
I am kinda in literary shock right now. It is clear from my rating that I felt this novel was fantastic... it is just...
Engine Summer is the third novel by John Crowley. It is definitely at this point that he begins to become the writer that would later write the better known novel: Little, Big. There is quite a bit similar between Little, Big and Engine Summer. Seasons play a huge role both symbolically and plotwise in both, and you could sum up both by saying they are about "The Tale" (to use Little, Big terminology)/"Snake's-hands"(Engine Summer terminology). Essentially, stories about stories.
Engine Summer also marks the end of John Crowley as a science fiction writer. Even in this book, you can see that he is starting to lay out his tools to write fantasy. The next time he will write science fiction will be in short story form ("Snow", followed by "Great Work of Time", both of which you should totally read).
This is, at least on the surface, a coming of age story (Bildungsroman for you snobs out there) set in a post apocalyptic New York state. (the exact location is never mentioned in the novel, but when in doubt, it's New York in John Crowley's writings). Our protagonist, Rush That Speaks, is setting off on a voyage of discovery. Hoping to bring back knowledge that is lost, find his first true love, and/or become a saint; he actually sets off on a path to become something...else... greater, perhaps.
Aside from being a fantastic novel, Engine Summer could actually act as a treatise to the writing style of John Crowley. It is always the 'snake's-hands' (side-plots that do not necessarily go anywhere except to deviate from the main plot for a bit)that are the important parts, nay, the best parts of a story (and review. Further, it is also the jarring change(s) in perspective that make a John Crowley novel fantastic. These changes in frames of references really change the meaning of the story, even though the narrative itself does not change. Or rather, it adds depth and complexity to what otherwise may be a standard, sinuous fantasy.
Engine Summer is the third novel by John Crowley. It is definitely at this point that he begins to become the writer that would later write the better known novel: Little, Big. There is quite a bit similar between Little, Big and Engine Summer. Seasons play a huge role both symbolically and plotwise in both, and you could sum up both by saying they are about "The Tale" (to use Little, Big terminology)/"Snake's-hands"(Engine Summer terminology). Essentially, stories about stories.
Engine Summer also marks the end of John Crowley as a science fiction writer. Even in this book, you can see that he is starting to lay out his tools to write fantasy. The next time he will write science fiction will be in short story form ("Snow", followed by "Great Work of Time", both of which you should totally read).
This is, at least on the surface, a coming of age story (Bildungsroman for you snobs out there) set in a post apocalyptic New York state. (the exact location is never mentioned in the novel, but when in doubt, it's New York in John Crowley's writings). Our protagonist, Rush That Speaks, is setting off on a voyage of discovery. Hoping to bring back knowledge that is lost, find his first true love, and/or become a saint; he actually sets off on a path to become something...else... greater, perhaps.
Aside from being a fantastic novel, Engine Summer could actually act as a treatise to the writing style of John Crowley. It is always the 'snake's-hands' (side-plots that do not necessarily go anywhere except to deviate from the main plot for a bit)that are the important parts, nay, the best parts of a story (and review. Further, it is also the jarring change(s) in perspective that make a John Crowley novel fantastic. These changes in frames of references really change the meaning of the story, even though the narrative itself does not change. Or rather, it adds depth and complexity to what otherwise may be a standard, sinuous fantasy.