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Novelty: Four Stories
This collection of four never-before-published, superbly crafted novellas, includes: Why the Nightingale Sings at Night, Great Work of Time, In Blue and Novelty.
227 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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136 people want to read
About the author
John Crowley
129 books833 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did find work in documentary films, an occupation he still pursues. He published his first novel (The Deep) in 1975, and his 15th volume of fiction (Endless Things) in 2007. Since 1993 he has taught creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
His first published novels were science fiction: The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976). Engine Summer (1979) was nominated for the 1980 American Book Award; it appears in David Pringle’s 100 Best Science Fiction Novels.
In 1981 came Little, Big, which Ursula Le Guin described as a book that “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
In 1980 Crowley embarked on an ambitious four-volume novel, Ægypt, comprising The Solitudes (originally published as Ægypt), Love & Sleep, Dæmonomania, and Endless Things, published in May 2007. This series and Little, Big were cited when Crowley received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.
He is also the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Foundation grant. His recent novels are The Translator, recipient of the Premio Flaianno (Italy), and Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, which contains an entire imaginary novel by the poet. A novella, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines, appeared in 2002. A museum-quality 25th anniversary edition of Little, Big, featuring the art of Peter Milton and a critical introduction by Harold Bloom, is in preparation.
Note: The John Crowley who wrote Sans épines, la rose: Tony Blair, un modèle pour l'Europe? is a different author with the same name. (website)
John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did find work in documentary films, an occupation he still pursues. He published his first novel (The Deep) in 1975, and his 15th volume of fiction (Endless Things) in 2007. Since 1993 he has taught creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
His first published novels were science fiction: The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976). Engine Summer (1979) was nominated for the 1980 American Book Award; it appears in David Pringle’s 100 Best Science Fiction Novels.
In 1981 came Little, Big, which Ursula Le Guin described as a book that “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
In 1980 Crowley embarked on an ambitious four-volume novel, Ægypt, comprising The Solitudes (originally published as Ægypt), Love & Sleep, Dæmonomania, and Endless Things, published in May 2007. This series and Little, Big were cited when Crowley received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.
He is also the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Foundation grant. His recent novels are The Translator, recipient of the Premio Flaianno (Italy), and Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, which contains an entire imaginary novel by the poet. A novella, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines, appeared in 2002. A museum-quality 25th anniversary edition of Little, Big, featuring the art of Peter Milton and a critical introduction by Harold Bloom, is in preparation.
Note: The John Crowley who wrote Sans épines, la rose: Tony Blair, un modèle pour l'Europe? is a different author with the same name. (website)
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 30, 2020
-Elegancia sensible en la exposición, sea cual sea la trama.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Magna obra de tiempo (publicación original: Novelty, 1989) presenta tres relatos y una novela corta (premiada a nivel internacional) que nos permitirán conocer las decisiones creativas que toma un escritor, el paraíso bíblico desde una óptica diferente, viajes en el tiempo en el seno de un Imperio Británico distinto al que conocemos y la aportación alienígena a una sociedad (anti)utópica.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Magna obra de tiempo (publicación original: Novelty, 1989) presenta tres relatos y una novela corta (premiada a nivel internacional) que nos permitirán conocer las decisiones creativas que toma un escritor, el paraíso bíblico desde una óptica diferente, viajes en el tiempo en el seno de un Imperio Británico distinto al que conocemos y la aportación alienígena a una sociedad (anti)utópica.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
April 29, 2018
This collection of four stories was given away at my local library. The author, John Crowley, is best known for the fantasy novel and family saga Little, Big which won the World Fantasy Award. (I read Little, Big in 2012. I didn't get around to reviewing it, but it's a wonderful book.)
"The Nightingale Sings at Night" is an elegant creation myth about the first man and woman discovering Time and Change, and about why the nightingale sings at night.
"Great Work of Time" (World Fantasy Award Winner for Best Novella, 1990) is the real standout in this collection, a bleak and haunting time travel tale. The premise: In the year 1983, the scientist Caspar Last invents time travel. He sells his invention to a secret society established in 1893 by the will of British entrepreneur and African colonialist Cecil Rhodes. The mission of this society, which calls itself the Otherhood, is to "preserve and extend the British Empire in all parts of the world, and to strengthen it against all dangers." The Otherhood sets out to remake the history of the 20th century. In the end, however, they repeat the error of 19th century imperialism: the assumption that they could decide the fate of the world and foresee the consequences of holding such great power. (This one is collected in several later collections/anthologies, listed here). I think this is one of my favorite short stories.
"In Blue" is a science fiction story about a dystopia where everything that will happen is known. This one went right over my head, I’m afraid, to the point where I have no idea what to say about it.
"Novelty" is about a writer working on a alternate history novel. I didn’t particularly understand this one either.
"The Nightingale Sings at Night" is an elegant creation myth about the first man and woman discovering Time and Change, and about why the nightingale sings at night.
"Great Work of Time" (World Fantasy Award Winner for Best Novella, 1990) is the real standout in this collection, a bleak and haunting time travel tale. The premise: In the year 1983, the scientist Caspar Last invents time travel. He sells his invention to a secret society established in 1893 by the will of British entrepreneur and African colonialist Cecil Rhodes. The mission of this society, which calls itself the Otherhood, is to "preserve and extend the British Empire in all parts of the world, and to strengthen it against all dangers." The Otherhood sets out to remake the history of the 20th century. In the end, however, they repeat the error of 19th century imperialism: the assumption that they could decide the fate of the world and foresee the consequences of holding such great power. (This one is collected in several later collections/anthologies, listed here). I think this is one of my favorite short stories.
"In Blue" is a science fiction story about a dystopia where everything that will happen is known. This one went right over my head, I’m afraid, to the point where I have no idea what to say about it.
"Novelty" is about a writer working on a alternate history novel. I didn’t particularly understand this one either.
July 3, 2018
A collection of four novellas from John Crowley, perhaps best known as the author of Little, Big. I admire Crowley’s writing, although, like Howard Waldrop’s, I often don’t follow everything that’s going on. In particular in this volume, I was lost in the time travel story, “Great Work of Time.” History was never one of my strong suits, so I guess I shouldn’t wonder why I’m not that attracted by alternate history. “In Blue” and “Novelty” were both reminiscent of stories that I had previously read in SF, but done with an artistic frame of mind.
For me it was “The Nightengale Sings at Night” that made this collection worthwhile. One of the hoariest cliches of SF is the Adam and Eve story, and although “Nightengale” has Adam and Eve in it, it is nowhere near the cliche. That’s because the starting point of this story is the creation–that same moment in Genesis–whereas the cliche ends at the creation. Crowley, although “explaining” an aspect of the creation myth here, is also being slightly satirical in his exploration of it. In all, it makes for a wonderful story.
For me it was “The Nightengale Sings at Night” that made this collection worthwhile. One of the hoariest cliches of SF is the Adam and Eve story, and although “Nightengale” has Adam and Eve in it, it is nowhere near the cliche. That’s because the starting point of this story is the creation–that same moment in Genesis–whereas the cliche ends at the creation. Crowley, although “explaining” an aspect of the creation myth here, is also being slightly satirical in his exploration of it. In all, it makes for a wonderful story.
June 17, 2024
A nice collection of four shorts by Crowley, the most notable being Great Work of Time, a pretty haunting take on time-travel, regarding the hypothetical expansion of the British Empire and Cecil Rhodes' imperialist legacy.
Beautifully written as always, though the latter two stories (In Blue & Novelty) are a bit confounding and admittedly, I'm not sure what my takeaway from them is.
Beautifully written as always, though the latter two stories (In Blue & Novelty) are a bit confounding and admittedly, I'm not sure what my takeaway from them is.
August 8, 2024
on its own, slight, in many ways, but I read this just before reading little, big and it was fascinating to see so many ideas and objects – dame kind, the seventh saint bar, act-field theory – from this recur there. perhaps a useful primer for crowley's longer, better works
August 4, 2016
I will read anything by this author. I think of him as a mind-expanding type of writer, similar to Ray Bradbury, though he's completely different from Bradbury.
This book is four separate stories. The 1st is a creation myth involving a nightingale. The 2nd is a time-travel story with an interesting concept, involving Cecil Rhodes. The other 2 stories were ok, but not great. I gave it 4 stars for the 1st two stories.
This book is four separate stories. The 1st is a creation myth involving a nightingale. The 2nd is a time-travel story with an interesting concept, involving Cecil Rhodes. The other 2 stories were ok, but not great. I gave it 4 stars for the 1st two stories.
October 18, 2011
In Blue is my current favorite short story. The entire collection makes me shake my head that Crowley isn't better known.
July 23, 2023
This is a collection of four pieces of Crowley's short fiction.
The Nightingale Sings at Night is a fable outlining a creation myth garnished with a touch of Just So story. It tells how Boy and Girl (later to become Man and Woman) were the first to name things in the world made by Dame Kind in times when the Moon could talk, and did so slyly. And it tells us why the nightingale, who only ever had this one idea, came to sing only at night.
As its title might suggest, Great Work of Time is a tale of time travel, hinging on whether – or not – Cecil Rhodes was assassinated at his house Groote Schuur, in 1893. A society calling itself the Otherhood was set up after a provision in his will in order to preserve the Empire to which he was so attached. The story starts with Caspar Last in 1983 inventing a method of time travel which involves what our narrator (as in Heinlein’s “‘-All You Zombies-’”, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You...) despite superficial appearances, there is really only one) calls orthogonal logic – past and present do not lie before and behind the present but at right angles to it. Yet this story could start anywhere – or anywhen - and is mainly concerned with the life of Denys Winterset, the President pro tem of the Otherhood (all its presidents are pro tem) who is contacted in Khartoum on a journey north on the Cape to Cairo railway, enticed into the Otherhood and given the job of assassinating Rhodes. In the Otherhood’s timeline the Empire was prolonged, the Great War wasn’t so great since it ended in 1915 with the Treaty of Monaco and as a consequence the Holocaust never happened. The story roams hither and thither across the Empire’s history including to time’s end in a forest in the sea. The writing here is wonderful and Crowley’s altered worlds are enticing.
In Blue is a story set, post Revolution, in a kind of eutopia based on coincidence magnitude calculations and the act-field theory (which predicts the occurrence, within any given parameters of the field, of coincidences of a certain magnitude.) Whatever you do, whatever comes about in the whole act field, is by definition what act-field theory predicts. All possible disproofs were themselves provable parts of act-field theory as was everything else. Our protagonist, Hare, meets a woman who thinks there is no such thing as act-field theory but that as long as everybody else believes in it, then it does work. A beautiful expression of the type of double-think which exists in authoritarian societies.
Novelty relates the struggle of a writer to come to terms with his theme, the contrary pull people feel between Novelty and Security.
The Nightingale Sings at Night is a fable outlining a creation myth garnished with a touch of Just So story. It tells how Boy and Girl (later to become Man and Woman) were the first to name things in the world made by Dame Kind in times when the Moon could talk, and did so slyly. And it tells us why the nightingale, who only ever had this one idea, came to sing only at night.
As its title might suggest, Great Work of Time is a tale of time travel, hinging on whether – or not – Cecil Rhodes was assassinated at his house Groote Schuur, in 1893. A society calling itself the Otherhood was set up after a provision in his will in order to preserve the Empire to which he was so attached. The story starts with Caspar Last in 1983 inventing a method of time travel which involves what our narrator (as in Heinlein’s “‘-All You Zombies-’”, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You...) despite superficial appearances, there is really only one) calls orthogonal logic – past and present do not lie before and behind the present but at right angles to it. Yet this story could start anywhere – or anywhen - and is mainly concerned with the life of Denys Winterset, the President pro tem of the Otherhood (all its presidents are pro tem) who is contacted in Khartoum on a journey north on the Cape to Cairo railway, enticed into the Otherhood and given the job of assassinating Rhodes. In the Otherhood’s timeline the Empire was prolonged, the Great War wasn’t so great since it ended in 1915 with the Treaty of Monaco and as a consequence the Holocaust never happened. The story roams hither and thither across the Empire’s history including to time’s end in a forest in the sea. The writing here is wonderful and Crowley’s altered worlds are enticing.
In Blue is a story set, post Revolution, in a kind of eutopia based on coincidence magnitude calculations and the act-field theory (which predicts the occurrence, within any given parameters of the field, of coincidences of a certain magnitude.) Whatever you do, whatever comes about in the whole act field, is by definition what act-field theory predicts. All possible disproofs were themselves provable parts of act-field theory as was everything else. Our protagonist, Hare, meets a woman who thinks there is no such thing as act-field theory but that as long as everybody else believes in it, then it does work. A beautiful expression of the type of double-think which exists in authoritarian societies.
Novelty relates the struggle of a writer to come to terms with his theme, the contrary pull people feel between Novelty and Security.
April 3, 2024
I can't remember why I picked up this book in the first place....I *think* it was related to reading Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven. The story Great Work of Time was excellent with a good dose of mind-bending "time travel" and "many worlds" stuff going on. The Nightingale Sings At Night was pretty fun too, dealing with the idea that naming things (or having words for them) makes them real. I struggled to get into In Blue. And Novelty started off really interesting but took a weird turn about a third of the way in that left my unmoored. Nothing earth shattering here, but I'd read more Crowley.
January 31, 2019
Would have been four stars, but for the novella
"Great Work of Time".
"Great Work of Time".
September 5, 2007
A pass-along book from Mom, thought I'd give Novelty a try after losing interest in Little, Big a few months ago.
The bulk of the book is an alt-history/time travel novella - "Great Work of Time". A British secret society, charged with maintaining the Empire has discovered the ability to travel back in time (using orthogonal logic, among other tools). They decide that the life and career of Cecil Rhodes is a keystone, and the story follows their interactions with him. If nothing else, this novella got me interested in finding out more about the (abusive?) father of the former Rhodesia.
"The Nightingale Sings at Night" starts the collection, and is an interesting twist on the Creation/Adam and Eve story. It would be lovely to hear read aloud by the right person, I think. "Novelty" had a feeling of autobiography to it (although I know nothing of Crowley's personal life) with a writer reaching for the ineffable, and "In Blue" was a fairly compelling dystopia that I would have liked to have seen enlarged upon.
Recommended to fans of open-minded fantasy.
Notes & Quotes
"The theme was the contrary pull men feel between Novelty and Security. Between boredom and adventure, between safety and dislocation, between the snug and the wild. Yes! Not only a grand human theme, but a truly *mammalian* theme, perhaps the only one." -- "Novelty"
Pax Brittania 1968 & Farewell the Trumpets 1978 - Jan Morris
The Social History of the Machine Gun John Ellis 1975
The bulk of the book is an alt-history/time travel novella - "Great Work of Time". A British secret society, charged with maintaining the Empire has discovered the ability to travel back in time (using orthogonal logic, among other tools). They decide that the life and career of Cecil Rhodes is a keystone, and the story follows their interactions with him. If nothing else, this novella got me interested in finding out more about the (abusive?) father of the former Rhodesia.
"The Nightingale Sings at Night" starts the collection, and is an interesting twist on the Creation/Adam and Eve story. It would be lovely to hear read aloud by the right person, I think. "Novelty" had a feeling of autobiography to it (although I know nothing of Crowley's personal life) with a writer reaching for the ineffable, and "In Blue" was a fairly compelling dystopia that I would have liked to have seen enlarged upon.
Recommended to fans of open-minded fantasy.
Notes & Quotes
"The theme was the contrary pull men feel between Novelty and Security. Between boredom and adventure, between safety and dislocation, between the snug and the wild. Yes! Not only a grand human theme, but a truly *mammalian* theme, perhaps the only one." -- "Novelty"
Pax Brittania 1968 & Farewell the Trumpets 1978 - Jan Morris
The Social History of the Machine Gun John Ellis 1975
December 10, 2014
My first exposure to John Crowley, and so enjoyable that I can't wait to read the rest of his work. All four stories are excellent, showcasing different sides of Crowley: mythic fable, plotty sci-fi, character study, and meta-fictional introspection. That last is the title essay, a short piece that recalls something like Nicholson Baker's non-X-rated fiction.
The rest are longer, with the first a fable in the vein of Calvino's COSMICOMICS short stories, describing the naming of things and what that meant for the world. The second is the longest, a chronicle of men willing to do anything possible to preserve the British Empire, even tampering with world history itself. (This is one where Crowley flexes his world-building muscles, setting out some tantalizing ideas and following them to their conclusion.) and the third covers a man trapped in a static society, and asking why it should be so static after all. (The fourth actually covers Crowley coming up with this idea, making it an interesting coda.)
Anyways, these same stories are also included in the later collection NOVELTIES AND SOUVENIRS, so that may be an easier way to get ahold of them. For me, I found this book in a used bookstore and it turned out to be a good get!
The rest are longer, with the first a fable in the vein of Calvino's COSMICOMICS short stories, describing the naming of things and what that meant for the world. The second is the longest, a chronicle of men willing to do anything possible to preserve the British Empire, even tampering with world history itself. (This is one where Crowley flexes his world-building muscles, setting out some tantalizing ideas and following them to their conclusion.) and the third covers a man trapped in a static society, and asking why it should be so static after all. (The fourth actually covers Crowley coming up with this idea, making it an interesting coda.)
Anyways, these same stories are also included in the later collection NOVELTIES AND SOUVENIRS, so that may be an easier way to get ahold of them. For me, I found this book in a used bookstore and it turned out to be a good get!
May 18, 2016
I don't often see John Crowley's books in used bookstores, so I bought this when I had the chance. Two of the short stories are incredible: "Great Work of Time" is a really compelling and somehow empathetic novella about at the idea of time travel being used to prop up the British Empire. The final story in the collection ("Novelty") is about a novelist struggling to find a theme for his book. The other two are not that impressive, but I'd still recommend seeking this out for the other two stories. Crowley is always worth giving a chance, I think.
September 11, 2007
The short Novel "Great Work of Time" is an interesting thematic precursor to the Aegypt tetraology. Also a great time travel story.
sadly-abandoned
August 5, 2011not enough lyricism, too full of expository junk and self-conscious cleverness.
February 5, 2015
A great book, although the more complete collection "Novelties & Souvenirs" gives a more complete overview of this writer's prodigious talents.
June 22, 2024
Crowley's 1st collection, 4 novellas:
Novelty (1983)
The Nightingale Sings at Night (1989)
Great Work of Time (1989)
In Blue (1989)
Novelty (1983)
The Nightingale Sings at Night (1989)
Great Work of Time (1989)
In Blue (1989)
May 22, 2015
Good.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews