Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Canongate Books Ltd, Edition: Main
Description
Fiction. Literature. Mythology. Historical Fiction. HTML:A magical novel, based on a Japanese folk tale, that imagines how the life of a broken-hearted man is transformed when he rescues an injured white crane that has landed in his backyard. George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At forty-eight, he owns a small print shop, is divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. All of the women with whom he has relationships eventually leave him for being too nice. But one night he is woken by an astonishing sound�??a terrific keening, which is coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a great white crane, a bird taller than even himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird's wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky. The next morning, a shaken George tries to go about his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books�??a harmless, personal hobby�??when through the front door of the shop a woman walks in. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature, and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has brought her artwork to him. Witty, magical, and romantic, The Crane Wife is a story of passion and sacrifice, that resonates on the level of dream and myth. It is a novel that celebrates the creative imagination, and the disruptive power… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
There is nothing flashy about The Crane Wife. It is a simple story simply told, one that relies on the beauty of the words rather than action and suspense. This makes sense in the fact that Mr. Ness is retelling a folktale. It does not need anything other than gorgeous imagery and even better prose
There is a poetic quality, not only to the narrative but also in the characters, that makes The Crane Wife so compelling. George is a bit of a recluse by choice and still struggling to come to terms with the loneliness that resulted from his divorce. In fact, he may be one of the few people in which being “too nice” is a character flaw. However, his awakening upon Kumiko’s arrival is spectacular to behold. While he remains a genuinely nice guy – eager to please and selfless – his love for Kumiko brings about new feelings and emotions within him that are exciting and build tension. He is jealous and like a jilted lover at times, especially when she refuses to let him into her house or answer his increasingly frantic questions. It is a metamorphosis that is fascinating to watch unfold in that it emphasizes the all-encompassing power that love can have.
By incorporating the original folktale behind The Crane Wife into the narrative, the suspense within the story is not a result of concern for George and Kumiko but rather a curiosity at how this fable with its volcano and crane will play out in George’s life. That the poem upon which Kumiko bases her work is an allegory for Kumiko herself is no surprise. The mystery lays in how it will all fit together, the fable and the fiction, the metaphors with the realistic. The careful method by which Mr. Ness pieces everything together only heightens a reader’s appreciation for his ability to craft a story.
Because The Crane Wife is not necessarily an original piece, Mr. Ness focuses on his craft, and the results are obvious. The Crane Wife is one of the most beautiful pieces of fiction in recent months. It traverses the lands of fable and fiction, poetry and prose without a single hiccup. The flawless transitions make for superb reading, as does the care with which he brings George and Kumiko’s relationship to life. The simplicity and tragedy of the story as well as the impeccable prose create a gorgeous novel on the cyclical and far-reaching aspects of love.
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to highlight the story’s charms and lessons, something at which Mr. Ness excels.There is a poetic quality, not only to the narrative but also in the characters, that makes The Crane Wife so compelling. George is a bit of a recluse by choice and still struggling to come to terms with the loneliness that resulted from his divorce. In fact, he may be one of the few people in which being “too nice” is a character flaw. However, his awakening upon Kumiko’s arrival is spectacular to behold. While he remains a genuinely nice guy – eager to please and selfless – his love for Kumiko brings about new feelings and emotions within him that are exciting and build tension. He is jealous and like a jilted lover at times, especially when she refuses to let him into her house or answer his increasingly frantic questions. It is a metamorphosis that is fascinating to watch unfold in that it emphasizes the all-encompassing power that love can have.
By incorporating the original folktale behind The Crane Wife into the narrative, the suspense within the story is not a result of concern for George and Kumiko but rather a curiosity at how this fable with its volcano and crane will play out in George’s life. That the poem upon which Kumiko bases her work is an allegory for Kumiko herself is no surprise. The mystery lays in how it will all fit together, the fable and the fiction, the metaphors with the realistic. The careful method by which Mr. Ness pieces everything together only heightens a reader’s appreciation for his ability to craft a story.
Because The Crane Wife is not necessarily an original piece, Mr. Ness focuses on his craft, and the results are obvious. The Crane Wife is one of the most beautiful pieces of fiction in recent months. It traverses the lands of fable and fiction, poetry and prose without a single hiccup. The flawless transitions make for superb reading, as does the care with which he brings George and Kumiko’s relationship to life. The simplicity and tragedy of the story as well as the impeccable prose create a gorgeous novel on the cyclical and far-reaching aspects of love.
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LibraryThing member clfisha
Based on a Japanese story that entwines the mystical in the every day. As a 50 yr old divorcee George rescues a crane in his back garden and falls in love with a mysterious women all in the same week.
I loved the exploration of the myth, the wonderful descriptions of the art and its impact. I loved
However I really didn't get on with some of the other characters, mostly Amanda who I never understood and couldn't empathise with. Some of things she said or did just seemed weird, I mean why would anyone would socialise with work colleagues they don't like? I was infuriated, too, that they were all female in a work place that was overwhelmingly male (it was made a big deal off). Nor did I buy that her character (or most women) would say things like:
"But as she watched Rachel's unfeasibly shapely bottom shuffle off in defeat, Amanda found herself feeling an emotion so unassociated with her that it took her a minute to identify it properly. It was pity."
Of course the HR women hating harpy, or backstabbing work "friend" and her insipid sidekick might say it but not her. Oh did I mention sexist stereotypes? Which is the other glaring problem with the book.
I don't think Ness is sexist but this book is, sometimes purely because I felt what he was trying to do just back fired
Spoilers:
Who the volcano 'embodies' is nicely inverted (gender wise) but then by turning a back-stabbing friend into relationship destroying harridan and you are starting to free fall into female stereotypes again.
End spoiler
So in the end I can't recommend this book. The moments I enjoyed equalled the moments I wanted to throw this book at the wall. Even if you don't care about gender issues or think all women are actually like that (sigh) I still think that Amanda is going to take some getting used to.
I loved the exploration of the myth, the wonderful descriptions of the art and its impact. I loved
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the blurring of reality and leaving the truth carefully unsaid. The romance at its heart was ok and the everyday "nice guy" lead and mysterious women worked well within the story.However I really didn't get on with some of the other characters, mostly Amanda who I never understood and couldn't empathise with. Some of things she said or did just seemed weird, I mean why would anyone would socialise with work colleagues they don't like? I was infuriated, too, that they were all female in a work place that was overwhelmingly male (it was made a big deal off). Nor did I buy that her character (or most women) would say things like:
"But as she watched Rachel's unfeasibly shapely bottom shuffle off in defeat, Amanda found herself feeling an emotion so unassociated with her that it took her a minute to identify it properly. It was pity."
Of course the HR women hating harpy, or backstabbing work "friend" and her insipid sidekick might say it but not her. Oh did I mention sexist stereotypes? Which is the other glaring problem with the book.
I don't think Ness is sexist but this book is, sometimes purely because I felt what he was trying to do just back fired
Spoilers:
Who the volcano 'embodies' is nicely inverted (gender wise) but then by turning a back-stabbing friend into relationship destroying harridan and you are starting to free fall into female stereotypes again.
End spoiler
So in the end I can't recommend this book. The moments I enjoyed equalled the moments I wanted to throw this book at the wall. Even if you don't care about gender issues or think all women are actually like that (sigh) I still think that Amanda is going to take some getting used to.
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LibraryThing member psutto
Good
Patrick Ness is usually a YA author and previously I’d only read the fabulous [a monster calls] but I do follow him on twitter and when he read out some of the novel at a Kitschies event I was at last year I thought it was interesting enough to get when it was available. Then my favourite
George is a divorcee approaching 50 who runs a print company with a deliberately incompetent Turkish assistant and makes art from cutting up old books. His marriage broke down as he was too nice but has left him with a daughter, Amanda. Amanda has a flaw in that she speaks her mind and cannot make lasting friendships, she does however love her son fiercely and is also still in love with her French ex-husband. When the mysterious Kumiko enters their lives George and Amanda are changed. Kumiko makes art out of feathers and when her art and George’s art is combined it creates something that is much more than the sum of its parts.
A story is not an explanation, it is a net, a net through which the truth flows. The net catches some of the truth, but not all, never all, only enough so that we can live with the extraordinary without it killing us
Ness has woven together two narratives and like Kumiko & George’s art the sum is greater than the parts. This is a story about love, but not just a love story, it is also about possession and loss and the nature of stories.
Overall – Highly recommended modern ancient tale
Patrick Ness is usually a YA author and previously I’d only read the fabulous [a monster calls] but I do follow him on twitter and when he read out some of the novel at a Kitschies event I was at last year I thought it was interesting enough to get when it was available. Then my favourite
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bookshop – Mr B’s Emporium of reading delights in Bath got him in to speak about the book and I knew I had to be there. The book is based on a Japanese folk tale, a man saves a Crane and shortly after a woman enters his life and he falls in love. Through her they become rich and yet the man has a growing dissatisfaction with the woman’s secretiveness. Ness spoke about the fact that some of the episodes in the book, Minor Spoiler (like the car accident) actually happened to him and his approach to writing. If a book you are writing cannot inspire emotion in the writer, how do you expect to inspire emotion in the reader. And this story is emotional. Ness interweaves a mythical story throughout the book in 32 short snippets of a love tale about the Crane and a Volcano which really underpins and informs what happens in the “main” plot. George is a divorcee approaching 50 who runs a print company with a deliberately incompetent Turkish assistant and makes art from cutting up old books. His marriage broke down as he was too nice but has left him with a daughter, Amanda. Amanda has a flaw in that she speaks her mind and cannot make lasting friendships, she does however love her son fiercely and is also still in love with her French ex-husband. When the mysterious Kumiko enters their lives George and Amanda are changed. Kumiko makes art out of feathers and when her art and George’s art is combined it creates something that is much more than the sum of its parts.
A story is not an explanation, it is a net, a net through which the truth flows. The net catches some of the truth, but not all, never all, only enough so that we can live with the extraordinary without it killing us
Ness has woven together two narratives and like Kumiko & George’s art the sum is greater than the parts. This is a story about love, but not just a love story, it is also about possession and loss and the nature of stories.
Overall – Highly recommended modern ancient tale
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LibraryThing member crsini
*i received this book through Goodreads. Thanks to those that made it happen!*
One thing is apparent after having finished this book, and that is Ness’ ability to write believable and multifaceted characters. Every character in The Crane Wife is an embodiment of the story’s themes: loneliness,
“There were as many truths – overlapping, stewed together – as there were tellers. The truth mattered less than the story’s life. A story forgotten died. A story remembered not only lived, but grew.” [42]
This book was a very compelling amalgam of various truths as held by particular individuals. As much as i enjoyed reading his writing, i must confess that the more fantastical aspects were my least favorite aspect of the writing, as they seemed to belie the beautiful narrative that he was able to tell without their presence.
Ness defines a story as “a net through which the truth flows. The net catches some of the truth, but not all, never all, only enough so that we can live with the extraordinary without it killing us.” [142] i would say that he’s woven an effective net.
One thing is apparent after having finished this book, and that is Ness’ ability to write believable and multifaceted characters. Every character in The Crane Wife is an embodiment of the story’s themes: loneliness,
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desire, fragility, and the labyrinthine cognitions and mental constructs that even the simplest of “truths” must invariably sieve through. The latter is summarized well in the book: “There were as many truths – overlapping, stewed together – as there were tellers. The truth mattered less than the story’s life. A story forgotten died. A story remembered not only lived, but grew.” [42]
This book was a very compelling amalgam of various truths as held by particular individuals. As much as i enjoyed reading his writing, i must confess that the more fantastical aspects were my least favorite aspect of the writing, as they seemed to belie the beautiful narrative that he was able to tell without their presence.
Ness defines a story as “a net through which the truth flows. The net catches some of the truth, but not all, never all, only enough so that we can live with the extraordinary without it killing us.” [142] i would say that he’s woven an effective net.
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LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
I love fairy tales, folk tales, mythological tales - if it's old, passed down through generations, generally speaking has a moral, and is something that inspires me to dream, I love it. I love it so much, in fact, that it's what I'm going to graduate school to study and research. Although my
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Jan. 7, 2014.
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interest is mostly centered on the oral traditions of Native Americans, I still am very interested in the stories being told around the world. So I was very excited to see that one of my favorite young adult authors, Patrick Ness, had a book, The Crane Wife, coming out that was geared toward the adult crowd - and it was based on a Japanese folktale, no less!Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Jan. 7, 2014.
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LibraryThing member cwhisenant11
After reading other reviews of this book, I was so afraid I would be disappointed. I am happy to say, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, the writing was beautiful. If you've ever read anything written by Patrick Ness, you know what I mean. Patrick is a masterful storyteller and the writing
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on the 32 tiles reminded me of A Monster Calls. I glimpsed similarities between the voice of the tree in A Monster Calls and the volcano in The Crane Wife. Second, even though this book was inspired by a Japanese folk tale, this story was completely original and intriguing. This was not at all a "boring" retelling of an old folk tale. Overall, I am still very much in awe of Patrick Ness and his writing. It is no secret that I think he is a brilliant writer and I have such a deep appreciation for his work. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
I liked it at first. In the middle, a little less. By the end, I was annoyed and bewildered.
(That’s the honest-to-goodness truth. You can stop reading now, if you want. Nobody is making you read the rest of this little review. Or you can simply discount it as the thoughts of one reader. It’s
Let me tell you a little more, just in case you are thinking about reading this book and those three sentences are not enough.
I liked the imagery at first. The mysterious arrival of a crane outside George Duncan’s door. The subsequent arrival the next day of Kumika at his workplace. George and Kumika’s combined art that caused such a stir.
But then I became confused. It’s very likely that it is just me. A volcano. Plunging fingers into a warrior and stopping his heart. George going out on Kumiko with his daughter’s difficult friend.
Dreams A fire.
On and on. I couldn’t fill in the spaces between the images. And I gave up caring about these characters, though I did manage to force myself to read through to the end. In the hope (unrealized) that the story would make some sort of sense by the conclusion.
I’ll tell you that this is not the review I wanted to write, not the review I thought I’d be writing when I was happily reading along, a few pages in.
And I’d love it if you could ‘splain to me what I’m missing. Maybe that’s all it would take.
(That’s the honest-to-goodness truth. You can stop reading now, if you want. Nobody is making you read the rest of this little review. Or you can simply discount it as the thoughts of one reader. It’s
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okay. Warning: lots and lots of spoilers.)Let me tell you a little more, just in case you are thinking about reading this book and those three sentences are not enough.
I liked the imagery at first. The mysterious arrival of a crane outside George Duncan’s door. The subsequent arrival the next day of Kumika at his workplace. George and Kumika’s combined art that caused such a stir.
But then I became confused. It’s very likely that it is just me. A volcano. Plunging fingers into a warrior and stopping his heart. George going out on Kumiko with his daughter’s difficult friend.
Dreams A fire.
On and on. I couldn’t fill in the spaces between the images. And I gave up caring about these characters, though I did manage to force myself to read through to the end. In the hope (unrealized) that the story would make some sort of sense by the conclusion.
I’ll tell you that this is not the review I wanted to write, not the review I thought I’d be writing when I was happily reading along, a few pages in.
And I’d love it if you could ‘splain to me what I’m missing. Maybe that’s all it would take.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Forty-eight-year-old George is a divorced father and grandfather, an American who has lived in England for years. One night, a mysterious bird shows up on his lawn with an arrow piercing her wing. The next day, a woman shows up at his printing office with some art, and his life is altered forever.
I
I
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finished this book days ago, but I'm still struggling to put my response into words. It's one of those books that you can't really explain to someone who hasn't read it. It's short but complicated, a potentially fast read but one that makes you want to slow down in case you missed anything. It's a blend of fairy tale and fiction where you're not quite sure where "real" ends and imagination begins. In the middle of the story of George, his daughter Amanda, and the woman Kumiko are musings on the importance of story and how it can't truly be contained in a novel or told from merely perspective; then there is the story of the flying woman and the volcano. So, clearly, it's not a story that can be boiled down to just a simple few words. I'm not quite sure I understood it and I'm not dying to reread it, but it's also staying with me longer than many tales do. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kirstie_Innes-Will
Spectacularly beautiful writing - and imaginatively powerful. The imagery that Ness brings to life is so vivid, and there are so many gems in the individual lines.
LibraryThing member RBeffa
The Crane Wife is an old Japanese folk tale that many people have probably heard even if they don't immediately recognize it.
The Crane Wife was also a rather brilliant song and album by The Decemberists released late in 2006 that was one of my favorite albums of that time.
The epigraph to Ness's
And all the stars were crashing round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found.
The Decemberists
In "The Crane Wife" Patrick Ness puts a modern spin on the old folk tale. This story starts off OK, and the old tale in modern trappings is immediately recognizable. But it veers somewhere else rather quickly, grabs some other things and later becomes rather surreal. As a genre this is probably magical realism. The storytelling is a little strange from the start, and I'd almost call it an odd sort of didactic at times. Ness seems to want to shove our nose in an odd assortment of things. Repeatedly. I stayed with the story when we entered the strange parts even as I wondered why we were there. And I liked some of those strange parts too. But I also got irritated.
The story is more than a single one, more than a simple one; it is parallel stories told in parts that the reader must put together somewhere down the line. As such, initially, it isn't the easiest read, although it is easy to read, per se. I admire what I think Ness is trying to do here but this ends up being a book I should have liked and enjoyed a lot more than I do. There are some good bits in here but they usually didn't add up to become great bits. I didn't glom on to the characters either. Mostly unlikeable. But sometimes here the story 'does' work and really catches my interest.
It isn't often that I can or do write a review without saying anything specific about the story itself. It is intentional here. I've liked this author a lot in the past but I was disappointed here.
The Crane Wife was also a rather brilliant song and album by The Decemberists released late in 2006 that was one of my favorite albums of that time.
The epigraph to Ness's
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recent novel is so:And all the stars were crashing round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found.
The Decemberists
In "The Crane Wife" Patrick Ness puts a modern spin on the old folk tale. This story starts off OK, and the old tale in modern trappings is immediately recognizable. But it veers somewhere else rather quickly, grabs some other things and later becomes rather surreal. As a genre this is probably magical realism. The storytelling is a little strange from the start, and I'd almost call it an odd sort of didactic at times. Ness seems to want to shove our nose in an odd assortment of things. Repeatedly. I stayed with the story when we entered the strange parts even as I wondered why we were there. And I liked some of those strange parts too. But I also got irritated.
The story is more than a single one, more than a simple one; it is parallel stories told in parts that the reader must put together somewhere down the line. As such, initially, it isn't the easiest read, although it is easy to read, per se. I admire what I think Ness is trying to do here but this ends up being a book I should have liked and enjoyed a lot more than I do. There are some good bits in here but they usually didn't add up to become great bits. I didn't glom on to the characters either. Mostly unlikeable. But sometimes here the story 'does' work and really catches my interest.
It isn't often that I can or do write a review without saying anything specific about the story itself. It is intentional here. I've liked this author a lot in the past but I was disappointed here.
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LibraryThing member ParadisePorch
Beautifully written, this modern-day story feels like a folkloric myth and although it is based on Japanese lore, it has universal appeal and could easily be Ukrainian, Finnish, or Native American.
Middle-aged & lonely George Duncan helps an injured crane that lands in his garden one night, and then
WARNING: one character in particular uses profanity including that word that begins with the sixth letter.
Read this if: you enjoy folklore or fairy tales; or you are a fan of beautifully crafted prose. 3½ stars
Note: I won this in a contest held by Tracey at Carpe Librum. She mailed it all the way from Australia (to Nova Scotia, Canada) for me! Thank you again, Tracey!
Middle-aged & lonely George Duncan helps an injured crane that lands in his garden one night, and then
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finds his life changed by the appearance at his shop the following day of a beautiful Japanese woman. The story depends on magical realism so be prepared to suspend disbelief.WARNING: one character in particular uses profanity including that word that begins with the sixth letter.
Read this if: you enjoy folklore or fairy tales; or you are a fan of beautifully crafted prose. 3½ stars
Note: I won this in a contest held by Tracey at Carpe Librum. She mailed it all the way from Australia (to Nova Scotia, Canada) for me! Thank you again, Tracey!
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LibraryThing member mztupelo
This was read for our book group, my first book by this author. I loved the imagery and the characters. Great interpretation of the Japanese folk tale
LibraryThing member drachenbraut23
Well, I finished listening to this book a couple of days ago and although it was a well told story it didn't quite fulfil my expectations. I have read his Chaos Walking Trilogy which I enjoyed and I absolutely loved his illustrated edition of A Monster Calls. However, to come back to the Crane
The story is loosely based on an old Japanese Folk Tale set in modern England, and that's how the story starts. We meet George a lonely, divorced, middle aged American, living in England. One night he awakens from a keening sound, and initially thinks he dreams. However, he than follows the sound into his back garden.
It is a sound that has awoken him – an ‘unearthly sound … a mournful shatter of frozen midnight falling to earth to pierce his heart and lodge there forever, never to move, never to melt’
This first sentence, gives us already an idea of what “we” the readers have to expect in this story. So this was to be a story about love and loss. Nevertheless, George ventures out into the moonlight, finds a wounded crane with a wing pierced by an arrow, frees the crane, and then watches it fly away. Completely overwhelmed by this experience and still not sure whether this was real or a dream. A crane in London? ....................AND the next day a beautiful woman turns up at his printing shop.
When Kumiko comes into the printing shop George is busy with cutting a crane from discarded book pages. She sees the cutting and asks George to give it to her so that she could meld the cutting into her own art, which are abstract figures formed from feathers. The resulting first tile is utterly stunning. However, Kumiko has got a set of other tiles which she uses to tell her story, a story in which anger is destructive and love involves the acceptance of loss.
Aside from George and Kumiko becoming lovers, the story presents two other narratives: The most interesting one is about George's daughter Amanda, a woman swamped by anger at everyone, at herself and the world, also somewhat isolated by her sharp tongue. The second and much more fragmented story is about a crane and a volcano, which is the story told via Kumiko's tiles.
No … Not explain. Stories do not explain. They seem to, but all they provide is a starting point. A story never ends at the end. There is always after. And even within itself, even by saying that this version is the right one, it suggests other versions, versions that exist in parallel.
However, the story was meant to be about love, forgiveness, anger, well just all the emotions we all go through from time to time, but somehow the story of Kumiko and George fell a little short as they were incredible distant and just somehow seemed to unreal, whereas the other two narratives were brilliantly told. So all in all a good read, despite some flaws in flow and characterisation.
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Wife.The story is loosely based on an old Japanese Folk Tale set in modern England, and that's how the story starts. We meet George a lonely, divorced, middle aged American, living in England. One night he awakens from a keening sound, and initially thinks he dreams. However, he than follows the sound into his back garden.
It is a sound that has awoken him – an ‘unearthly sound … a mournful shatter of frozen midnight falling to earth to pierce his heart and lodge there forever, never to move, never to melt’
This first sentence, gives us already an idea of what “we” the readers have to expect in this story. So this was to be a story about love and loss. Nevertheless, George ventures out into the moonlight, finds a wounded crane with a wing pierced by an arrow, frees the crane, and then watches it fly away. Completely overwhelmed by this experience and still not sure whether this was real or a dream. A crane in London? ....................AND the next day a beautiful woman turns up at his printing shop.
When Kumiko comes into the printing shop George is busy with cutting a crane from discarded book pages. She sees the cutting and asks George to give it to her so that she could meld the cutting into her own art, which are abstract figures formed from feathers. The resulting first tile is utterly stunning. However, Kumiko has got a set of other tiles which she uses to tell her story, a story in which anger is destructive and love involves the acceptance of loss.
Aside from George and Kumiko becoming lovers, the story presents two other narratives: The most interesting one is about George's daughter Amanda, a woman swamped by anger at everyone, at herself and the world, also somewhat isolated by her sharp tongue. The second and much more fragmented story is about a crane and a volcano, which is the story told via Kumiko's tiles.
No … Not explain. Stories do not explain. They seem to, but all they provide is a starting point. A story never ends at the end. There is always after. And even within itself, even by saying that this version is the right one, it suggests other versions, versions that exist in parallel.
However, the story was meant to be about love, forgiveness, anger, well just all the emotions we all go through from time to time, but somehow the story of Kumiko and George fell a little short as they were incredible distant and just somehow seemed to unreal, whereas the other two narratives were brilliantly told. So all in all a good read, despite some flaws in flow and characterisation.
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LibraryThing member SashaM
I don't know what to think of this book. Yes, I did like it but i'm still processing if it's great or pretentious, lyrical or over-done, An adult fairy tale / creation myth or total crap...
Patrick Ness is a lovely writer. There was depth to most of the characters and the relationships between them.
Did anyone else get that feeling?
Maybe I need to read it again...
Patrick Ness is a lovely writer. There was depth to most of the characters and the relationships between them.
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The story kept me reading and I wanted to know what would happen next. But I got to then end and I don't know how to feel about the book as a whole...Did anyone else get that feeling?
Maybe I need to read it again...
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LibraryThing member maryhollis
A well-crafted, whimsical story encompassing myth and magic, humor and heartbreak.
LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
I have very mixed feelings about this book, based on a Japanese Folktale.
From the inside flap:
"When George and his daughter, with their seemingly ordinary quirks and heartbreaks, are befriended by an enigmatic woman, art beauty and myth become living forces in their lives. This poignant novel
"George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At forty-eight, he is the owner of a small print shop, divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. But one night her is awoken by an astounding sound - a terrific keening, coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a Great White Crane, a bird taller than even George himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird's wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky.
The next morning, a shaken George tries to go on with his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books - a harmless, personal hobby - when through the front door of the shop a woman walks in. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork: cuttings made from what look like the most delicate slices of feathers. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has come to him.
Witty (not on your life), magical, and romantic (pushing it), 'The Crane Wife' is a story of passion and sacrifice that resonates on the level of dream and myth, a novel that celebrates the creative imagination and the disruptive powers of love."
I found the story intriguing, then it made me angry and I put it down, but I wanted to know about Kumiko who sacrificed her life for George until the very end.
I disliked the rest of the characters: George was an idiot & wishy-washy; his daughter was a bitch; his ex-wife was jealous & bitchy; Rachel, Amanda's insane boss & unbeknownst to Amanda, one of Georges former girlfriends is worse than all the other women put together.
The only characters I found to be decent beings & have redeeming qualities were: JP, George's grandson; Henri, Amanda's ex-husband; Amanda's co-worker Mei Lo; and Hank, George's ex's new husband.
So I hated the book but I liked the underlying original myth....
From the inside flap:
"When George and his daughter, with their seemingly ordinary quirks and heartbreaks, are befriended by an enigmatic woman, art beauty and myth become living forces in their lives. This poignant novel
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echoes with the longings and sorrows of of the ages. But what comes as a most delightful delightful is the humor and humanity that Patrick Ness brings to this story" -- Eowyn Ivey author of "The Snow Child" Well, I certainly missed the humor"George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At forty-eight, he is the owner of a small print shop, divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. But one night her is awoken by an astounding sound - a terrific keening, coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a Great White Crane, a bird taller than even George himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird's wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky.
The next morning, a shaken George tries to go on with his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books - a harmless, personal hobby - when through the front door of the shop a woman walks in. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork: cuttings made from what look like the most delicate slices of feathers. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has come to him.
Witty (not on your life), magical, and romantic (pushing it), 'The Crane Wife' is a story of passion and sacrifice that resonates on the level of dream and myth, a novel that celebrates the creative imagination and the disruptive powers of love."
I found the story intriguing, then it made me angry and I put it down, but I wanted to know about Kumiko who sacrificed her life for George until the very end.
I disliked the rest of the characters: George was an idiot & wishy-washy; his daughter was a bitch; his ex-wife was jealous & bitchy; Rachel, Amanda's insane boss & unbeknownst to Amanda, one of Georges former girlfriends is worse than all the other women put together.
The only characters I found to be decent beings & have redeeming qualities were: JP, George's grandson; Henri, Amanda's ex-husband; Amanda's co-worker Mei Lo; and Hank, George's ex's new husband.
So I hated the book but I liked the underlying original myth....
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LibraryThing member stephanie_M
So beautiful.....so touching....and so real. I adore this book, and every second I spent with the author’s story. The audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Jamie Glover.
5 huge stars, and highly recommended to anyone who loves a great story.
5 huge stars, and highly recommended to anyone who loves a great story.
LibraryThing member MandaTheStrange
This was a really bizarre read. I've actually realized that I am quite fond of dark fairytales/folktales and myths - a large percentage of my library consists of this. I have read some extremely bizarre books (*cough Tender Morsels cough* so for me to say that this book was strange, believe me when
I still haven't made my mind up, I felt that the characters were lacking and that the story was a little all over the place but it had an underlying sense of beauty. That beauty is what kept me reading.
It has made me want to research Japanese folk tales a little more thoroughly.
I also don't think I'll ever look at a crane the same way. They are now far more majestic and magical beings.
A good read but I'm not going to lie, I struggled to get to the end.
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I say that it is. I still haven't made my mind up, I felt that the characters were lacking and that the story was a little all over the place but it had an underlying sense of beauty. That beauty is what kept me reading.
It has made me want to research Japanese folk tales a little more thoroughly.
I also don't think I'll ever look at a crane the same way. They are now far more majestic and magical beings.
A good read but I'm not going to lie, I struggled to get to the end.
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LibraryThing member Fence
George is an American ex-pat living in England. He has been there for so long that, and is so unlike the stereotypical “loud American” that most people require convincing of that fact. He lives a quiet, almost content life, but a somewhat lonely one. He gets on well with women, but the
One night he wakes in the middle of the night, a strange sound, a keening, brings him to the back garden and a big white bird that has been shot by an arrow. The next day he meets Kumiko.
This book is loosely based on a Japanese folktale. In that story a fisherman rescues a crane who becomes a woman, and his wife. She brings him great wealth until his greed becomes overwhelming and he forces her to create too much. And so she leaves him.
I loved a lot of this book. Some of the quotes and ideas in it are fantastic. I always enjoy reading stories about stories, and that is a point that is brought up more than once in this book. That a story changes depending on point of view is not an original thought, but I thought it was handled well here. And the idea that no story ever ends, well, that’s true as fanfiction can attest to :)
The book may be called The Crane Wife but it isn’t about Kumiko, it is about George, and to a lesser extent his daughter Amanda. Kumiko isn’t that much of a character in the story, instead she is a catalyst and a turning point. She effects the world around her but she herself remains unchanged, unchanging, and unknowable.
I have read other reviews that say George is too much of a “nice guy” stereotype. One of those who because they do the right thing think themselves entitled to get the girl. I’d have to disagree with that reading of the story. Yes, George starts out as a nice guy, but maybe that’s because he hasn’t been challenged enough in life. He gets by with minimal fuss, and minimal drama. He gives himself in relationships but the women in his life complain that he isn’t really all there. That, to me, indicates a lack of passion. And that is what Kumiko brings to him. A passion that takes over and catches him by surprise.
And he really isn’t such a “good guy”, (but to say more would be a spoiler) but he does try his best, even when he is pushing for knowledge that he knows he shouldn’t be demanding. He is flawed, but it is a flaw that only becomes visible when he is put under strain.
The first half of this book I loved. It tailed off a little in the second half, but I still think that Ness is such a great writer. This isn’t one I can say that I totally and utterly loved but I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.
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relationships never last. He is described as being too kind, too giving, but not all there. And so they leave him.One night he wakes in the middle of the night, a strange sound, a keening, brings him to the back garden and a big white bird that has been shot by an arrow. The next day he meets Kumiko.
This book is loosely based on a Japanese folktale. In that story a fisherman rescues a crane who becomes a woman, and his wife. She brings him great wealth until his greed becomes overwhelming and he forces her to create too much. And so she leaves him.
I loved a lot of this book. Some of the quotes and ideas in it are fantastic. I always enjoy reading stories about stories, and that is a point that is brought up more than once in this book. That a story changes depending on point of view is not an original thought, but I thought it was handled well here. And the idea that no story ever ends, well, that’s true as fanfiction can attest to :)
The book may be called The Crane Wife but it isn’t about Kumiko, it is about George, and to a lesser extent his daughter Amanda. Kumiko isn’t that much of a character in the story, instead she is a catalyst and a turning point. She effects the world around her but she herself remains unchanged, unchanging, and unknowable.
I have read other reviews that say George is too much of a “nice guy” stereotype. One of those who because they do the right thing think themselves entitled to get the girl. I’d have to disagree with that reading of the story. Yes, George starts out as a nice guy, but maybe that’s because he hasn’t been challenged enough in life. He gets by with minimal fuss, and minimal drama. He gives himself in relationships but the women in his life complain that he isn’t really all there. That, to me, indicates a lack of passion. And that is what Kumiko brings to him. A passion that takes over and catches him by surprise.
And he really isn’t such a “good guy”, (but to say more would be a spoiler) but he does try his best, even when he is pushing for knowledge that he knows he shouldn’t be demanding. He is flawed, but it is a flaw that only becomes visible when he is put under strain.
The first half of this book I loved. It tailed off a little in the second half, but I still think that Ness is such a great writer. This isn’t one I can say that I totally and utterly loved but I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.
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LibraryThing member jolerie
But if it wasn't a dream, it was one of those special corners of what's real, one of those moments, only a handful of which he could recall throughout his lifetime, where the world dwindled down to almost no one, where it seemed to pause just for him, so that he could, for a moment, be seized into
George's life could be qualified as simple, mundane possibly. Nothing exciting and nothing extreme happens other than a divorce that left him with a grown daughter who tolerates him as one who tolerates a persistent, but necessary pest. Until that one night. A crane, wounded with an arrow piercing her wing lands in his backyard. She will set off a chain of events that will culminate into one devastating night and George's monotonous existence will cease to exist.
The Crane Wife is a blending of two different stories. Interwoven into George's story is a Japanese folktale that extolls grand themes that are the building blocks of what makes us human. In some ways, Ness seems to be overreaching in that by attempting to unravel everything under the sun, he neglects to combine all the different facets of the story together well. There is a sense that the lines between what is real, what is surreal, what are truths, what are lies is purposely blurred and you the reader are left to search in between the lines. The story is left to you to interpret and take what you wish from it. There is no doubt that Ness is a gifted writer as evidenced by the multitude of Post-It stickers I have poking out from the book. The story although lacking in cohesiveness never lacked from beautiful, poetical and lyrical writing. That alone made the reading worthwhile.
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life. Page 11George's life could be qualified as simple, mundane possibly. Nothing exciting and nothing extreme happens other than a divorce that left him with a grown daughter who tolerates him as one who tolerates a persistent, but necessary pest. Until that one night. A crane, wounded with an arrow piercing her wing lands in his backyard. She will set off a chain of events that will culminate into one devastating night and George's monotonous existence will cease to exist.
The Crane Wife is a blending of two different stories. Interwoven into George's story is a Japanese folktale that extolls grand themes that are the building blocks of what makes us human. In some ways, Ness seems to be overreaching in that by attempting to unravel everything under the sun, he neglects to combine all the different facets of the story together well. There is a sense that the lines between what is real, what is surreal, what are truths, what are lies is purposely blurred and you the reader are left to search in between the lines. The story is left to you to interpret and take what you wish from it. There is no doubt that Ness is a gifted writer as evidenced by the multitude of Post-It stickers I have poking out from the book. The story although lacking in cohesiveness never lacked from beautiful, poetical and lyrical writing. That alone made the reading worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
The first chapter looked like fantasy. Then, it was straight fiction for a long time. A sweet love story. Then, it changed and the ending was sad and OK. It made me want to buy scissors and paper.
Awards
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2013)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2015)
Notable Books List (2015)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2013
Physical description
320 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
0857868748 / 9780857868749