Like everybody else, I loved Cunningham’s book The Hours — it had a certain something very special going on. So I continued reading his books, but by the time I bought this one, I’d grown somewhat weary of his style. But I’ve got this strange habit of continuing to buy books from authors I’ve gone off of for a couple years… so I bought this in 2014, and then never read it.
And I’d forgotten all of that until I started reading this book today, and then it came rushing back in. I think there’s probably people out there that will swoon over this prose and call it things like “well written”, but I just find it cloying and annoying.
So I made it to page 60, and then I ditched it.
A light isn’t just a light. A snowflake isn’t just a snowflake. Themes of youth and aging, expectation versus reality, and providence are scattered all about, like snow. The characters themselves are symbolic, within a context, within the context of the other characters. There is never a wasted sentence. If it seems like there is a wasted sentence, you’re probably missing something.
Overall: If you get turned on by good sentences, clever perspectives on life, or feeling 10 years wiser after reading a novel, The Snow Queen will leave you satisfied in an almost sexual way.
I could not and did not connect with this novel by one of my favorite contemporary writers. And the overuse of parentheticals (parentheticals everywhere) (and once a parenthetical following a parenthetical) (all much to my annoyance) was beyond distracting. Even so, stylistic quirks aside (annoying though they were) (annoyance being the overpowering effect of this slim volume), ain’t much here to ponder or (in my case) enjoy.
The Snow Queen (2014) by Michael Cunningham (buy used, 3.08 on Goodreads)