As Simple as Snow

by Gregory Galloway

Paper Book, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

F Gal

Call number

F Gal

Barcode

453

Publication

New York : Putnam, 2005.

Description

Fiction. Mystery. HTML: It begins as a romance between two teenagers searching for a deeper meaning in life in their small town. When the enigmatic Annaâ??who prefers to go by Anastasiaâ??shows up in the halls of Hamilton High, she changes the narrator's life, opening his mind to Baudelaire and Mozart and revealing a world of magic tricks, ghost stories, and affectionate mind games. Together the couple probe through enchanted woods, the Internet, and everything in betweenâ??until, one winter evening a week before Valentine's Day, Anastasia disappears, leaving only a dress on a frozen river. Suddenly alone, the narrator is hit with the weight of life's less playful mysteries, possible signs from the supernatural, and the mystery of what actually happened to his missing love. Determined to find Anna, he begins to retrace their past five months together and finds that the fragments of memory coalesce into haunting revelations. A mesmerizing labyrinth of art, magic, and cryptic codes that sparks the imagination and teases the intellect, As Simple as Snow is a mind-bending mystery, as well as a poignant and wise look at young love, loss, and fam… (more)

Original publication date

2005

User reviews

LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: Anna Cayne is like no one that our narrator has ever met: she dresses like a goth, writes obituaries for everyone in town, listens to shortwave radio, seems to have read everything, is obsessed with Houdini and secret codes, and sends him cryptic messages and puzzles. Being her boyfriend
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has changed our narrator's life, but then she disappears a week before Valentine's day, with the only trace of where she's gone as cryptic as everything else she's ever done. No one knows if it was murder, suicide, or if she just ran away, and our narrator is desperate to find her, desperate to understand what happened, and turns to the only source of information he has - the months of notes and e-mails and mix CDs and other ephemera of their relationship, searching for a message that only Anna could leave.

Review: As Simple as Snow is extraordinarily similar in plot to John Green's Paper Towns, and yet they were worlds apart in how much I enjoyed them. And, for the life of me, I can't quite put my finger on why I loved Paper Towns but could barely finish As Simple as Snow.

My first instinct was that the difference was in the leading lady - that I found Anna so obnoxious that it ruined the book for me. It's not a bad guess - the narrator and the author find Anna's quirkiness charming, and the narrative pull of the book seems to rely on the reader finding her charming too... which I didn't (to say the least.) But then I remembered that I found Margo, the leading lady of Paper Towns, pretty obnoxious as well, although it was somewhat mediated by the fact that she wasn't around for as long. So it has to be something else.

The main character? I think that's got some explanatory power; Quentin from Paper Towns is likeable enough to carry the story in his own right, even when the girl in question is in absentia, while the unnamed narrator of As Simple as Snow is kind of a cipher, with no real personality to recommend him. Also, this was clearly meant as a coming of age novel, but since the narrator only rebuilds his identity under the impetus and direction of another person, it was less than convincing on that front.

Maybe it was the tone of the book? I don't think As Simple as Snow made me laugh once, whereas Paper Towns had me rolling on the floor in between making its serious points. Maybe the difference in the resolutions? As Simple as Snow leaves a *lot* - read: almost all - of questions unanswered, and while I realize that in real life not all threads wrap up neatly, it was still a little frustrating to listen to hour after hour of story where every little detail was treated as a Highly Significant and Meaningful Clue and then have nothing pan out. Or maybe it did pan out, but I was too annoyed by Anna during the Actually Important Clues to be paying full attention. Either way, I was disappointed. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I should have liked this book. I liked Stargirl; I loved Paper Towns. It seems like most people who liked one liked the others; I just didn't. But, at the same time, I can't entirely figure out why not, so if you liked the others, it might be worth your while to give As Simple as Snow a try.
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LibraryThing member conradrader
A good read, yet somewhat nihilistic tone, very close to what I remember high school being like for not being a popular jock.
LibraryThing member raspberrybee
I loved this book. This was easily the best and most wonderful book I've read so far this year.

It is the story of Anna and the narrator (who's name we are never told). They fall in love and I don't want to say much more. It is not a love story, I want to make that clear. It is just a wonderful
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novel and I recommend you go read it right now.
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LibraryThing member megrockstar
This book was very different than my usual read, it had a 'dark' feeling and a hint of mystery. I felt that it started off very slow for the first ~125pgs. After that I couldnt put it down. I will say the ending could have been better and left alot of questions. I did particularly like the readers
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guide at the end, it helped me recollect alot of question and things I had forgotten.
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LibraryThing member TPLThing
This is an interesting first book by Gregory Galloway, but nothing in it is as simple as the title suggests. The narrator is a teenage boy who meets Anna, the newcomer in town. Anna is an intriguing character & has an opinion on everything and even recommends books to him. Her hobby is writing
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obituaries of all people who live in that town! Then halfway Anna disappears, & then it is a search for Anna thru codes, buried maps etc. This book did get the ALA Alex award for 2006. Alex awards are given to 10 books that are written for adults and can be recommended to young adults. Everything in the book is a clue even the ending!. Try deciphering it.
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LibraryThing member escondidolibrary
Story of the mysterious disappearance of goth girl Anna Cayne as told by the plain, normal guy who falls in love with her.
LibraryThing member Cygnus555
Great kick off to a writing career. As far as I know, this is Greg's first novel. I was drawn in and curious throughout. Recommended highly!
LibraryThing member kpickett
The main character of this book, who is forever unnamed, falls in love with the mysterious Anna. Anna delights in challenging her lover with riddles and enigmas in a journey through the possibilities of the paranormal. When suddenly disappears leaving only a hole in the ice everyone supposes she is
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dead. The main character goes on a journey to try and reach her, where ever she is. The mystery is a little annoying but the book grips the reader and takes you along and makes you wonder.
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LibraryThing member Djupstrom
Great story!! I am always looking for different story lines for my high school students. I like recommending this one to them. I think it is clever how there are music play lists to go along with the literature.
LibraryThing member krsball
This is a book I would have definitely loved as a high schooler. As an adult I liked the mystery. It was a quick, exciting read.
LibraryThing member GaylDasherSmith
Teens really like this and it is pretty well written. It caused me to write my own obituary. It may inspire others.
LibraryThing member dandelion1
Strange, eccentric goth girl meets suburan (or rural) boy whose name is never actually revealed. They hit it off, have a 4 month relationship that ends half way through the novel in her disappearance. The young man spends the rest of the story trying to discover the truth about family, what
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happened and himself. A very good read.
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LibraryThing member dw0rd
A "Young Adult" book that could only be called such because the characters are high school age. Yes, it explores many "coming of age" themes but not sophomorically. Very thought provoking, with memorable characters, a bit of mystery, some heavy elements, and a wee bit of humor. Later, I discovered
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there was a whole thing going on with people trying to figure out the story. Google the title, visit the author's website, get totally involved, or just enjoy a good read.
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LibraryThing member edecklund
A "Young Adult" book that could only be called such because the characters are high school age. Yes, it explores many "coming of age" themes but not sophomorically. Very thought provoking, with memorable characters, a bit of mystery, some heavy elements, and a wee bit of humor. Later, I discovered
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there was a whole thing going on with people trying to figure out the story. Google the title, visit the author's website, get totally involved, or just enjoy a good read.
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LibraryThing member kurlykee
I ' ve read online that this book has quite the cult following and I understand why. Although the main characters, especially Anna Cayne, can at many times throughout the book be very annoying the book, contrary to the title is not simple. It's a complex story that still confuses and haunts me to
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this day even though I finished reading the book over a month ago. The book weaves an intricate tale, that almost seems true, and leaves you wanting more in the end. It was a great book that hooked me from the first page and held my interest even after I had finished reading the book. The ending was excellent, it left me wanting a sequel but then again the whole mystery of the book is that there really is no definite ending to the story, the author leaves it up to you to interept the clues throughout the book and figure it our for yourself what happened to Anna.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
A YA puzzler, As Simple As Snow tells the story of a straight forward teen who meets a complicated Goth girl and falls hard. Over the course of one winter they are together. She is full of tricks and mind games, weaving herself into his life as they plan to be together forever. One of her hobbies
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is writing obituaries for everyone in the town. She talks about death and suicide and they make a pact to try to contact each other if anything happens. Their code is the phrase ‘as simple as snow’.

One February night she disappears. All that is found is her dress and a hole in the river. Did she drown? Was it suicide or murder? Where had she gone? Her body is never recovered and our main character is left to try and put the pieces together. At this point the book descended into an valley of teen angst and I basically lost interest.

A disappointing ending to a book that started with so much promise. Lots of literary and musical references but the writing turned stilted and clumsy, and the characters were just too one dimensional and lacked depth. Unfortunately As Simple As Snow never really developed into the interesting story I had hoped for.
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LibraryThing member kimpiddington
Left me with too many unanswered questions-about almost every major character-to be truely satisfying.
LibraryThing member elleceetee
As Simple As Snow is the story of the narrator (who always remains nameless) and Anastasia Cayne. Anna is one of the "goth" kids - different in many ways. She writes obituaries for all of the people in the town, listens to the shortwave radio, and creates puzzles for people. She is also the
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narrator's girlfriend, despite his being average and unnoticeable in every way. About halfway through the book, she goes missing and the narrator tries to find out whether she ran away or if she committed suicide. This book was extremely engaging with a lot of interesting subtext. It's aimed at young adults but there are allusions that most teens would not understand. Most interesting is the question of what actually happened to Anna.
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LibraryThing member IssacDiamond
Wonderful book. Thoughtful writing and creative characters. I would love to give this book 5 stars, but not knowiing the name of the main chaaracter (______ G_____) takes away from the plot.
I was also very disapointed that the book didn't have a solution to the reason Anna left. It ends with
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G______ leaving his hometown, but he never finds out what happened to Anna or Carl.
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LibraryThing member schinders
one of my favorite books of '05, enigmatic and engaging.
LibraryThing member mahallett
alex award scott brick 18 earphone, 2003 audie golden voice 2004 awards

Rating

½ (151 ratings; 3.9)

Pages

308
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