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A poignant and fantastical first novel by a timeless new literary voice.
With all the elements of a classic fable, vivid descriptions, and a wholly unique style, this idiosyncratic debut introduces a new and exciting voice to readers of such authors as George Saunders, Kurt Vonnegut, and Yann Martel.
In Light Boxes, the inhabitants of one closely-knit town are experiencing perpetual February. It turns out that a god-like spirit who lives in the sky, named February, is punishing the town for flying, and bans flight of all kind, including hot air balloons and even children's kites. It's February who makes the sun nothing but a faint memory, who blankets the ground with snow, who freezes the rivers and the lakes. As endless February continues, children go missing and more and more adults become nearly catatonic with depression. But others find the strength to fight back, waging war on February.
View an excerpt from Light Boxes.
I enjoy the atmosphere created by this book through the clever use of language and unique characters. At the end of the day, this is a light fun read. There isn't necessarily a point to it. Think of it as a literacy equivalent to eating ice cream: the best part is how it feels and taste while you're consuming it, but when it's over, you don't need to feel like you learned anything at all.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.'Light Boxes' is certainly not a bad book, but it has been the disappointment of the year for me so far. I discovered this book while researching one of my new favorites, 'The Lost Books of the Odyssey'. The cover drew me in and the premise convinced me I would like it. Also learning that Spike Jonze was going to make it into a movie piqued my interest even more. The problem with this story is that it feels like a really short little fairytale that has been contrived into a 160 page book. The whole thing feels unnatural. As far as the writing style goes, it is abrupt, unique, but still engaging enough. That's not the problem. The problem is the story itself just does not warrant being as long as is is. The plot is very disjointed and don't look for very much to make sense. Characters seemed to simply exist, motivation was given to some of their actions but due to the writing style it was difficult to feel too convinced. I sometimes got the sense that Jones was being weird just for weirdness sake. It's certainly a commendable first effort from a very promising author, but 'Light Boxes' never quite delivers.
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Posted March 19, 2011
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Posted October 31, 2011
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Posted February 26, 2011
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Posted August 10, 2010
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Posted February 26, 2011
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Overview
A poignant and fantastical first novel by a timeless new literary voice.
With all the elements of a classic fable, vivid descriptions, and a wholly unique style, this idiosyncratic debut introduces a new and exciting voice to readers of such authors as George Saunders, Kurt Vonnegut, and Yann Martel.
In Light Boxes, the inhabitants of one closely-knit town are experiencing perpetual February. It turns out that a god-like spirit who lives in the...