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barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
1.0
I tried to listen to this on audio - it's read by Claire Danes which was awesome, but disc one was so much description and run on sentences that I just couldn't focus on any of it. It'd probably be easier to read it on paper, but even though I've enjoyed other Cunningham books, I've already heard bad reviews about this one so it's probably not even worth it.
nixieknox's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the actual story. All the metaphoric and metaphysical stuff, I really could have lived without.
maria_pulver's review against another edition
4.0
An insight into some troubled souls - gentle and delicate and yet very deep
stevienlcf's review against another edition
3.0
Cunningham sets his novel between two moments in history, the re-election of George W. Bush and the historic election of Barack Obama, and focuses on two middle-aged brothers, Barrett and Tyler Meeks, and Tyler’s live-in girlfriend, Beth. Trudging home through Central Park after being dumped (via text) by his latest boyfriend, Barrett sees a strange light in the sky. Since he is “adamantly secular,” Barrett doesn’t know what to make of this otherworldly vision, but he senses that it may have contributed to Beth’s remission from liver cancer. Cunningham abruptly drops this narrative thread never explaining the implications of Barrett’s revelation. Instead, Cunningham presents a series of connected vignettes about these two over-educated and under-employed brothers who are bumping up against their disappointing lives. Tyler is a bartender and “unknown musician” with a secret drug habit who harbors nostalgia for beth’s illness and “the singularity and purpose they conferred.” Barrett’s early promise, including a Yale education, has been squandered because he lacks “the ability to choose, and persist.” Instead, he works in Beth’s high-end used clothing store in Williamsburg where “it’s essentially an ongoing act of folding and re-folding, and re-re-folding, interrupted by the greeting of customers and periodic transactions.” While Tyler questions whether he looked after Barrett too ardently “by being the endlessly understanding big brother, the guy who never questions or criticizes,” Barrett isn’t interested in correcting the mistaken impressions of those who think he is on an aimless search. Nothing much happens during the four years that the novel covers. Beth dies and the brothers “move from a total s^&thole to a semi-s^&thole.” The lack of plot is saved by Cunningham’s exquisite language and resonant observations, particularly of a pre-gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood.
gilmoreguide's review against another edition
3.0
People are more than you think they are. And they’re less, as well. The trick lies in negotiating your way between the two.
Michael Cunningham’s new novel, The Snow Queen, has an opalescent blue-green cover that shimmers with the same light Barrett Meeks sees above his head one stormy winter night in Central Park. Is it real or a product of his imagination? That same night, his brother Tyler leans out of his bedroom window into the snow and feels a small sliver of something cold enter his eye. Both brothers return to the comfort of their shabby but familiar rooms and resume their lives the next day.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobook.com/2014/05/snow-queen/
Michael Cunningham’s new novel, The Snow Queen, has an opalescent blue-green cover that shimmers with the same light Barrett Meeks sees above his head one stormy winter night in Central Park. Is it real or a product of his imagination? That same night, his brother Tyler leans out of his bedroom window into the snow and feels a small sliver of something cold enter his eye. Both brothers return to the comfort of their shabby but familiar rooms and resume their lives the next day.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobook.com/2014/05/snow-queen/
mlautchi's review against another edition
5.0
“There’s that difference, between yesterday and today.” (21)
“They pass through a moment of silence as old as either of them can remember, the quietude of growing up together, of sleeping in the same room; the shared quiet that has always been their true element, interrupted of course by talks and fights and farts and laughter over the farts but essential, the atmosphere to which they’ve always returned, a field of soundless oxygen made up of their combined molecules.” (33)
“Something like anger, but the anger of a philosopher, the anger of a poet, an anger directed at the transience of the world, at its heartbreaking beauty that collides eventually with our awareness of the fact that everything gets taken away; that we’re being shown marvels but reminded, always, that they don’t belong to us, they’re sultan’s treasures, we’re lucky (we’re expected to feel lucky) to have been invited to see them at all.” (50)
“Here’s the room in which he currently resides: Shinto-inspired, just a mattress and a low table, the walls and floor painted white.” (54)
“Who doesn’t want – who doesn’t need – a moon at which to marvel, a fable city of glass and gold on the far side of the ocean? Who would insist that his corporeal lover – the guy in his bed, the man who forgets to throw his used Kleenexes away, who used the last of the coffee before he left for work – be the moon or the city?” (56)
“Is it more tragic, or is it less, to slip so quietly and briefly into and out of the world? To have added, and altered, so little.” (59)
“Hers until he isn’t anymore.” (62)
“‘I sometimes wonder how you live with such a modest sense of romance,’ Barrett says.” (67)
“They kiss, ravenously. As they kiss, he breathes into her and, at the same time, inhales her.” (141)
“People are more than you think they are. And they’re less, as well. The trick lies in negotiating your way between the two.” (142)
“It’s remarkable, being alive.” (157)
“Love, it seems, arrives not only unannounced, but so accidentally, so randomly, as to make you wonder why you, why anyone, believes even fleetingly in laws of cause and effect.” (220)
“A living silence passes between them; a brief interlude of quiet during which the very molecules of the air feel as if they’re more agitated than usual, more alive with some sort of invisible spark, some barely audible buzz.” (249)
“They pass through a moment of silence as old as either of them can remember, the quietude of growing up together, of sleeping in the same room; the shared quiet that has always been their true element, interrupted of course by talks and fights and farts and laughter over the farts but essential, the atmosphere to which they’ve always returned, a field of soundless oxygen made up of their combined molecules.” (33)
“Something like anger, but the anger of a philosopher, the anger of a poet, an anger directed at the transience of the world, at its heartbreaking beauty that collides eventually with our awareness of the fact that everything gets taken away; that we’re being shown marvels but reminded, always, that they don’t belong to us, they’re sultan’s treasures, we’re lucky (we’re expected to feel lucky) to have been invited to see them at all.” (50)
“Here’s the room in which he currently resides: Shinto-inspired, just a mattress and a low table, the walls and floor painted white.” (54)
“Who doesn’t want – who doesn’t need – a moon at which to marvel, a fable city of glass and gold on the far side of the ocean? Who would insist that his corporeal lover – the guy in his bed, the man who forgets to throw his used Kleenexes away, who used the last of the coffee before he left for work – be the moon or the city?” (56)
“Is it more tragic, or is it less, to slip so quietly and briefly into and out of the world? To have added, and altered, so little.” (59)
“Hers until he isn’t anymore.” (62)
“‘I sometimes wonder how you live with such a modest sense of romance,’ Barrett says.” (67)
“They kiss, ravenously. As they kiss, he breathes into her and, at the same time, inhales her.” (141)
“People are more than you think they are. And they’re less, as well. The trick lies in negotiating your way between the two.” (142)
“It’s remarkable, being alive.” (157)
“Love, it seems, arrives not only unannounced, but so accidentally, so randomly, as to make you wonder why you, why anyone, believes even fleetingly in laws of cause and effect.” (220)
“A living silence passes between them; a brief interlude of quiet during which the very molecules of the air feel as if they’re more agitated than usual, more alive with some sort of invisible spark, some barely audible buzz.” (249)
sve100's review against another edition
3.0
Обичам Кънингам и неговите объркани, измъчвани от екзистенциални кризи и оплетени в странни връзки чудаци.
И да, тази книга е по-слаба от "Дом на края на света" или "Дни образци". Действието е фокусирано почти изцяло във вътрешния свят на героите, което вероятно ще се стори тегаво и може би претенциозно за някой, който за пръв път подхваща книга на този автор.
И въпреки това - дори слабите книги на добър автор са по-добри от силните на слаб писач.
И да, тази книга е по-слаба от "Дом на края на света" или "Дни образци". Действието е фокусирано почти изцяло във вътрешния свят на героите, което вероятно ще се стори тегаво и може би претенциозно за някой, който за пръв път подхваща книга на този автор.
И въпреки това - дори слабите книги на добър автор са по-добри от силните на слаб писач.
categal's review against another edition
1.0
Who is the Snow Queen in Michael Cunningham book? The first answer that pops into my head after finishing this novel is who cares? This was a story without much of a plot, filled with flat characters and some seriously self indulgent writing. It's short, but even so, I found myself just skimming over long, dull paragraphs of blahblahblah, looking for the parts where something actually happens.
We begin with Barrett, whose walking through Central Park and sees a light in the sky - what is this light and what does it mean? Dunno, never find out or end up caring. Then we meet Tyler, Barrett's brother - will he jump off the ledge? I sure hope so, because his idea of being a musician is to take drugs and wait for songs to visit him - yes, this is indeedy the work of the musician. Beth, his wife, is dying. That's all we get from her, then there's Liz, who is exciting because she is most like an actual character you might find in a well written novel. Sigh.
I vote Tyler for Snow Queen based on all the coke he stuffs up his nose.
We begin with Barrett, whose walking through Central Park and sees a light in the sky - what is this light and what does it mean? Dunno, never find out or end up caring. Then we meet Tyler, Barrett's brother - will he jump off the ledge? I sure hope so, because his idea of being a musician is to take drugs and wait for songs to visit him - yes, this is indeedy the work of the musician. Beth, his wife, is dying. That's all we get from her, then there's Liz, who is exciting because she is most like an actual character you might find in a well written novel. Sigh.
I vote Tyler for Snow Queen based on all the coke he stuffs up his nose.
obscuredbyclouds's review against another edition
4.0
I'm on a mission to read all Cunningham novels now. Which should be easy, there aren't that many.
He clearly has his themes: brothers, drugs, New York City, child prodigies who grow up to be undecided (and possibly a disappointment), bitter thoughts about youth and early love. I really don't mind. He just writes so well. I'm kind of baffled at the 1 star reviews of this. Is it prententious and full of big words? Maybe sometimes and maybe a few, but nothing over the top. My only critique would be the end of the novel, which felt too much like the author trying to be profound and teach us something.
He clearly has his themes: brothers, drugs, New York City, child prodigies who grow up to be undecided (and possibly a disappointment), bitter thoughts about youth and early love. I really don't mind. He just writes so well. I'm kind of baffled at the 1 star reviews of this. Is it prententious and full of big words? Maybe sometimes and maybe a few, but nothing over the top. My only critique would be the end of the novel, which felt too much like the author trying to be profound and teach us something.