**spoiler alertBefore I say anything else, I have to say that Elizabeth McCracken is a literary ballerina - she is in love with words and her use of them could not be more graceful or defined. The Giant's House is written in first person and I get the feeling that many of the thoughts & opinions are her own. Her intellect and wisdom had me reading and rereading sentences because many of them were so deep, so meaningful that they deserved a minute or more of reflection a piece. Other reviewers mentioned that Peggy's character aggravated them; that they felt she was too "woe is me", too focused on feeling unloved. I agree that it wasn't an easy read in that sense - I found myself wanting more from the character. As deep a thinker as she was, she was still an emotionally undeveloped person (though McCracken's writing itself could not have been better developed) and that made it difficult to connect with her at times. However, that was the point of this story and it became a bit more clear to me towards the end - James, a boy with his own reasons for solitude, becomes Peggy's outlet and fills a void that, as Peggy said herself, she couldn't let anybody else fill. There was a line in there somewhere about how maybe she loved him selfishly, loved him because he wouldn't be around to love for long. She mentioned that maybe that was the only type of love she could handle. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, James becomes that person and she becomes a much needed constant in his bizarre world. Its an exchange that probably ended up saving both of their lives at different points in the book. I wanted to give this book 4 stars, because the writing is beautiful beyond words and the story won't be one I soon forget, but the truth is, even so I found myself feeling bored and impatient in the middle. It started to get a little monotonous and just when it reached some sort of climax, it fell back down and soon after that the story comes to an end. The last few chapters were a quick read; updates on what happens after James's death. I didn't mind the romance between Peggy & James's father, because I understood the emotional reasons behind it and it seemed realistic enough. And I even thought that the pregnancy was an interesting way to wrap things up... Peggy's insistence on it being James's baby was realistic, because by this time we've gotten to know and understand the depth and complexities of her love for him. I liked that in doing that, she gave James a legacy that he couldn't otherwise have fulfilled.I guess that's what I liked most about it (aside from all of the beautiful metaphors and pieces of wisdom) - that James is a boy who's disability has taken so much from him and Peggy is a grown woman who, in a way, has taken so much from herself. I like that relationship; that there could be a line of understanding between two people like that. I just kept finding myself wishing that more had happened between them, not necessarily romantically, but emotionally. I wish somehow James had gotten Peggy to open up or to evolve in some way or that she made a deeper emotional impact on his world. I know that probably would have made the story less realistic, but as it was, it fell short for me. It just didn't feel like enough at times.Also, I have to mention that the scene in the shoe store with James's feet..... McCracken is such an amazingly detailed writer that I seriously dry heaved reading that. I don't think I've ever read something so grotesque in my life! It's a mental picture that will probably never leave me. Just a warning! If you get to the part that mentions feet, you may want to stop right there.My favorite quote in the book ended up being one by James's father. It's absolutely beautiful and something I've thought of myself, except of course, I could never put it in words like McCracken has:"People become immune to love like they become immune to any disease. Either they had it bad early in life, like chicken pox, and that's that; or they keep getting exposed to it in little doses and build up an immunity; or somehow they just don't catch it, something in them is born resistant... I'm immune to love and poison ivy."Overall I'd says its definitely worth the read. It was a memorable story and despite the areas where it dragged, the writing carried it enough to keep me reading.
My local public library is doing a great promotion right now that encourages participants to read books either published or set in different decades within the last 100 years. Normally that's the kind of challenge I might shy away from—I gravitate strongly toward contemporary books, and my to-read list is mostly full of books written within the past few years. What can I say, I'm a creature of the moment. Then I found out the finisher's prize is a tote bag, and I immediately started hunting for books that would fit the bill. Because (and I'm not ashamed to say this) I would do a lot of things for a free tote bag with a book-related logo on it.I chose The Giant's House because it was first published in 1996 and the story is set in the 1950s, giving me a couple options for how to record it on my entry form. And it turned out to be a win-win, because not only did it get me one step closer to a tote bag, it was also a good-if-a-bit-weird read. Dour, slightly misanthropic Peggy is a small-town librarian who at twenty-six has already given up on love. It's hard to be too surprised by this, because her crotchety narration makes it clear that she's not exactly Miss Congeniality. She became a librarian because she loves order and knowledge, but most workdays finds herself silently stamping books and filing cards behind the desk, unappreciated and unacknowledged. Then one day eleven-year-old James comes to the library, and everything changes for Peggy. James is literally a giant—he's already over six feet tall and will continue to grow for the rest of his life. He's also a sensitive soul and a voracious reader, and Peggy goes out of her way to supply her fascinating patron with a wide variety of books. Over the years, Peggy does whatever she can to stay in James's orbit, despite his mounting physical problems and her own solitary nature. In order to like this book, you have to not only like love stories, but like them weird. There is nothing normal about a cranky librarian falling in love with an eight-foot-tall man fifteen years her junior. But book lovers will find something to relate to in Peggy—some of her musings about her library and the books in it are humorously memorable. (At one point, she characterizes library books as slutty, opening their pages for anyone who wants to read them, as opposed to the virtuous books purchased in bookstores and married to their owners for life.) And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to claim myself a tote bag.More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
What do You think about The Giant's House (2006)?
I picked this book to read because I read somewhere that an author I liked (can’t remember which one) recommended it as a great love story - a favorite of theirs. It was also a National Book Award finalist. How bad could it be? Well, after forcing myself to finish this book, I can honestly say it was one of the strangest stories I’ve read. In my opinion, it is definitely not a romance story. The love was one sided and oddly inappropriate. The main character is a thirty something librarian who falls in love with a teenage boy who suffers from giantism. The odd “love” story ends on an even stranger note, with an encounter between the librarian and the boy’s estranged father.
—Ginny
This book get three stars because it was such a different kind of romance that I am used to reading. A spinster librarian falls in love with a boy about 15 years younger than her who is a giant - over 8 feet tall and growing. The book was pretty slow for the first half - almost 100 pages of Peggy dwelling on her lonely life and hopeless love for a boy so young. When James is finally old enough, the few pages of them expressing their love in such awkward ways is very sweet. The Giant's House is an interesting book if you want something different with an ending you don't expect, but if you need something peppy and cheery, not really the book to read.
—Shanda
I never read romances - but I’d heard about this one years ago. quirky story of a librarian who falls in love with a youth half her age, and twice as tall. Really nice writing and imagery - "She had the voice of a dancer, I mean like Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, someone who has such grae at another art that the grace suffuses their voice, which does not quite match the tune but instead strolls up to a note and stands right next to it, the slight difference so beautiful and heartbreaking that you never want to hear a professional sing again."
—Martha
