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geekwayne's review
5.0
'I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land' by Connie Willis is a novella about lost things.
Author Jim is in New York City at Christmas trying to see his new book about how overrated nostalgia is for things that are gone. On a rainy day, he ducks into a most unusual book store that seems to be overflowing with extinct books. His visit gets cut short, but will he change his mind about lost things?
I loved this homage to old books and bookstores. Connie Willis is a master storyteller and knows how to pull at any emotion.
Author Jim is in New York City at Christmas trying to see his new book about how overrated nostalgia is for things that are gone. On a rainy day, he ducks into a most unusual book store that seems to be overflowing with extinct books. His visit gets cut short, but will he change his mind about lost things?
I loved this homage to old books and bookstores. Connie Willis is a master storyteller and knows how to pull at any emotion.
tosta's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
damselflies's review
4.0
Books - Lot of books - Passing of Time - Felt unfinished - Great read - Hoping on a continuation - 4 stars, wouldve been 5 if it didn't felt so unfinished
chirson's review
3.0
I received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars. I feel like this was a bit of a waste of Connie Willis's talent, and had all of its weaknesses and only a little of its strength. This short novella is a story of a single episode - a guy (writing a blog about how books might be a tad obsolete but who cares) wanders New York in the rain, ends up in a magical place, takes too long to realise the place is magic but is taught a valuable lesson.
There is some material to like here - the place is written with love, and the stories of forgotten and lost books give this a nostalgic atmosphere. Unfortunately, the story has little beyond the place and its ambience, and the books themselves. The character is somewhat insufferable - the story is of course about him learning his lesson, but I'm not convinced he needed to require that lesson quite so badly. And the didacticism is fairly obvious, and the ending - less than convincing or satisfactory.
I think the allusions to Connie Willis's other novels were quite pleasant though. Overall, however, if I had bought it, I don't think I would have been satisfied.
2.5 stars. I feel like this was a bit of a waste of Connie Willis's talent, and had all of its weaknesses and only a little of its strength. This short novella is a story of a single episode - a guy (writing a blog about how books might be a tad obsolete but who cares) wanders New York in the rain, ends up in a magical place, takes too long to realise the place is magic but is taught a valuable lesson.
There is some material to like here - the place is written with love, and the stories of forgotten and lost books give this a nostalgic atmosphere. Unfortunately, the story has little beyond the place and its ambience, and the books themselves. The character is somewhat insufferable - the story is of course about him learning his lesson, but I'm not convinced he needed to require that lesson quite so badly. And the didacticism is fairly obvious, and the ending - less than convincing or satisfactory.
I think the allusions to Connie Willis's other novels were quite pleasant though. Overall, however, if I had bought it, I don't think I would have been satisfied.
lapingveno's review
4.0
A chilling story about the mortality of books.
Its plot (rather basic TBH) reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann."
Its plot (rather basic TBH) reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann."
ashleylm's review
5.0
Five stars for such a small book? Well, it's the right size for the story, it held my interest throughout, I didn't once quibble with it (I'm assuming "between Broadway and Madison" in midtown is intentionally non-existent), and it unexpected moved me. So there!
It's really just premise, description of premise, and denouement. Don't expect to be swept away into an epic saga with beloved characters, it's not that. But I do love what it was.
Oh, and I have one of the 1,260 signed and numbered copies, which made reading it (as a physical book) even more special, given its subject matter.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
It's really just premise, description of premise, and denouement. Don't expect to be swept away into an epic saga with beloved characters, it's not that. But I do love what it was.
Oh, and I have one of the 1,260 signed and numbered copies, which made reading it (as a physical book) even more special, given its subject matter.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
lazygal's review
2.0
So much promise, but so little actually happens. Yes, that's probably the point, but we spend so much time in Ozymandis Books that something more should have happened. And the part about libraries weeding books? Just stop.
eARC provided by publisher.
eARC provided by publisher.
auntblh's review
4.0
This is a novella about a man, author of a blog about the ridiculousness of being nostalgic about things that have disappeared because they were no longer needed...including physical books which are being replaced by e-books and digitizing, who stumbles into what he thinks is the most unorganized used book shop. He discovers that it isn't what it seems to be.
kindleandilluminate's review
I love Connie Willis, but why does she hate librarians (whose work she vastly misrepresents) so much?
There’s just not much to this story - under a hundred pages and I still felt like it needed tightening up and trimming - and what there is honestly pissed me off. I could make both sides’ arguments better, and I disagree so fundamentally, so deeply, with the moral of the story, it barely matters how good Connie Willis’s writing normally is. As both a fan and someone with archival & library science training, I’m pretty disappointed.
There’s just not much to this story - under a hundred pages and I still felt like it needed tightening up and trimming - and what there is honestly pissed me off. I could make both sides’ arguments better, and I disagree so fundamentally, so deeply, with the moral of the story, it barely matters how good Connie Willis’s writing normally is. As both a fan and someone with archival & library science training, I’m pretty disappointed.