Wonderful magical realism tale about family and love.I'm not one to look at awards and keep lists of them so that I can read the titles that are nominated. I did not know that this was a Pulitzer nominee, I actually stumbled into this title because it was recommended to me by goodreads. I'm glad it did, thought I did not like it as much as other people did, I found the title to be engrossing and enjoyable:World: I've never been to Alaska, let alone in the 1920s, so this world was quite new it me. It felt magical, yet grounded in the harsh reality that was Alaska. I like the setting it had a flavour all it's own. I would not have liked living there, but it was interesting enough for me to want to visit. Ivey's description of Alaska was quite effortless and nonchalant, it was just there and it was what it was, it made for an effortless setting to display her tale in.Story: It's a fairy tale in the vain of a good Neil Gaiman book. It's magical realism, it's about flawed and normal people in a magical setting. I found the tale overall to be quite moving and intimate, however the story was also where I had the biggest problem. I found the short chapters a bit fragmented and well, too short. There were certain times that I wish we would have lingered on the characters and story beats, but the story moved quite fast. I would have liked more time about Jack and Mabel slogging through the harsh environment of Alaska, I would have like more magical mystery in regarding the child (I'll let her name unknown here as I found that aspect of her important to the story). I found the pacing to be actually a bit like Alaska, cold, uninviting, distant. It lacked the closeness that would have made the tale a bit more moving.Characters: I liked the characters, I liked Mabel and what she was going through. I like the stuff that Jack was also going through, the start of the book and throughout (though it loses some of that) where the chapters alternated between Mabel and Jack were quite good. These chapters gave us insight into each character and their motivations and thought process. I did find that when the amount of characters increased at the tail end of the book, that effective storytelling method got lost. I also enjoyed the rest of the cast, the child obviously was always a bit vague for obvious purposes, and it did make for a tale of people which I liked.It was a good read, It was a magical tale in line with Neil Gaiman. If the pacing problems were addressed I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more.Onward to the next book! holy snow this is an amazing book. The best I've read all year. The characters are whole and real, even those who are less involved are developed and human. Garrett remains closest to my heart and always will I'd say. Ivey is a very very talented author, she has this way of making the reader feel every detail of the characters emotions without the rambling emotional description I read so much of. I loved the fact that while there was romance in the end, it wasn't a romance. It wasn't a drawn out courtship that had the inevitable rejection and then acceptance, it happened with grace, blundering, mistaken grace. As is fit for the characters. My only slight niggle is the ending, I understand it and all, but by god I wish it were different.
What do You think about The Snow Child (2012)?
I love books with a touch of magic in them. Looking forward to our first snow.
—neng_nong
Exquisite combination of fairy tale and frontier literature. Simply beautiful.
—ujun
Fairytale-esque but written very beautifully
—chimichanga
