Selected Book
As Simple as Snow
- Paperback
- Edition: Abridged
- Author: Gregory Galloway
- Publisher: Berkley Trade
- Release Date: March 2006
- ISBN-10: 1845600320
- ISBN-13: 9781423306412
- List Price: $14.00
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryAnna-who prefers to be called Anastasia-is a slightly spooky and complicated high school girl. She spends much of her time writing obituaries for every living person in town. She is unlike anyone the narrator has ever known, and they make an unlikely, though happy, pair. |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
simply mysterious
Rating: 
in a sentence or two: Anna (prefers to be called Anastasia, thankyouverymuch), the quirky and secretive new goth girl disappears, and the only evidence left behind is her black dress laid out on the snow by a hole in the frozen river. her 'bland-as-water' boyfriend is wrapped up in her mysteries, which only seem to be multiplying after her disappearance...
the narrator, Anna's boyfriend, has quite the complicated home life. he's the last child at home with an older brother living down south and a sister that disappeared never to be heard from again. the death of his other sister so many years ago severely altered the way his parents treated him, each other, and the world (and not in a very pleasant way). the narrator (remains nameless throughout, except for the letter G) is going through his boring and pretty much useless high school existence until Anna comes along. she's pretty, sure, but she's also goth - complete with black make up, black clothes, and black doc martins. after a chance encounter in the library (where he is hoping to meet girls, ironically), they begin a relationship unlike anything he would have ever expected.
Anna was a total riddle, both in the book and to me as a reader. a lot of the things she said worked herself in circles or just averted the topic altogether. the narrator was intrigued by her and drawn into her mysterious ways, just accepting her the way she was. her disappearance really did shatter the world of the narrator, and the way in which that is portrayed is so authentic and realistic it hurt my heart and periodically brought tears to my eyes.
all of the characters in the book are flawed. seriously. and for some characters, you don't even know how they are flawed, just that they are. you are simply left to take Anna's word for it and deal with her insinuations and vague references. that was the heaviest part of the book for me - the total abundance of flaws and prevalence of hurtful behavior. realistic, but heavy.
this is the hardest review i've written so far. i just could not find the words to describe the book or the way i felt about it. much more than an edgy novel, more than a ghost story, more than a introspection of people in the narrator's life, hardly classifiable as a romance, impossibly crafty and creative, this book is a thoughtful and mysterious story full of riddles from within the characters and from the plot development from Galloway. the whole thing was suspenseful, sad, creepy, funny, and creative. most of all, it was intentionally mysterious and therefore (for me) a bit unfulfilling. overall, i do think it is deserved to win the Alex Award and is one that i will want to read again some day to try and pick up more of the subtle intricacies.
fave quote: "This is what I know happened, or think happened. I fell in love with a girl, and then she left, and later she tried to come back, or I thought she did, and I went after her. It should have been simple but in the end it could not have been more complicated, and maybe that was the whole point to begin with, but if love is true and still leaves you lonely, what good does it do? I started going over everything again, thinking I might find a way to her, wherever she was, or at least figure out what to do with all the things she left behind." (pg 3)
fix er up: there just was not enough resolution for me. i know it's a mystery and i know that a major point of the book is to be unresolved and unsettling...but it was too much for me!
A little on the long side...
Rating:
There was a lot of hype for this it seemed, and it didn't really pay off. It took a good half to two thirds of the book for the actual disappearance to occur - I almost quit reading before then. I then read straight through to the end, but wasn't exactly happy with the ending.
I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but the ending didn't bring as much closure as I would have liked to the story.
How do you prove a snowflake is unique?
Rating:
I'm stumped as to what to say about this captivating, mysterious tale. It is definitely a coming of age story, taking place over the course of the narrator's sophomore in high school. It is certainly a mystery: the narrator's girlfriend Anna Cayne bafflingly disappears halfway through the year. It's also a penetrating glimpse into a dysfunctional family whose adult members seek refuge in silence, routine and solitude. Above all, it's a teenage tale of secrets, complete with codes, riddles and puzzles. A secret decoder ring would not have been out of place.
What does it all add up to? I really don't know, but I'm considering reading it again to see if I can better grasp its mysteries. One thing I do know for sure: neither Anna Cayne nor snow is simple.
As Simple as Snow
Rating:
I purchased this book as a gift for another person. I have not read the text and so cannot evaluate it. However, the person who read the text said it was excellent.
This is an important book
Rating:
Apart from the fact that all parents of teenage children should read this book, this is in my opinion, a seminal work. In the tradition of "Catcher..." and my personal favorite, "Love For Lydia", Mr. Galloway has managed to make the easily forgotten, troublesome times of late adolescence tangible to the point of discomfort. As a parent, I cannot but cringe at the familiarity. How easy it is to succumb to the all emcompassing burden of child rearing - so much in fact, that we tend to lose touch with the reality of its essence! This is a wonderful book!
I could go on and on with lots of parentspeak and patronizing psyochabble but in the end it matters nought - Gregory Galloway hits the nail on the head. Hug your kids!!!!
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