Mention Books Concering Fool on the Hill
| Original Title: | Fool on the Hill |
| ISBN: | 0802135358 (ISBN13: 9780802135353) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Ithaca, New York(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee (1990) |
Matt Ruff
Paperback | Pages: 400 pages Rating: 4.1 | 4072 Users | 251 Reviews
List Containing Books Fool on the Hill
| Title | : | Fool on the Hill |
| Author | : | Matt Ruff |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 400 pages |
| Published | : | December 8th 1997 by Grove Press (first published 1988) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Humor. Urban Fantasy. Novels. Contemporary. Literature |
Commentary To Books Fool on the Hill
It is a literary event when a genuinely new fictional voice comes along. When that voice achieves its newness not through a certain formal facility but through the freshness of its vision, there is truly something to celebrate. Matt Ruff was only twenty-two when Fool on the Hill was first published, but with his novel he gave us a story that won over readers of every persuasion. Not your usual first effort, Fool on the Hill is a full-blown epic of life and death, good and evil, magic and love.Think of the imaginative daring of Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. The zany popism of Tom Robbins’s Another Roadside Attraction. The gnomish fantasies of J.R. Tolkien. Think of these and you begin to get some idea of one of the most remarkable first novels to come along in years.
In the world of Fool on the Hill dogs and cats can talk, a subculture of sprites lives in the shadows and underfoot (if you’re the sensitive type, or drunk enough, you might see them cavorting across the lawn), and the Bohemians, a group of Harley- and horseback-riding students dedicated to all things unconventional, hold all-night revels for the glory of their cause.
Then there is Stephen Titus George, the novel’s youthful hero, who somehow finds himself the main player in a story that began well over a century ago. George is a mild-mannered flier of kites, a sometimes writer of bestselling fiction, and would-be knight looking for a maiden. George will find his girl and the century-old story will provide the proverbial dragon whose slaying will sanctify their love. But it will not be a sword that fells the foe but the transforming power of the imagination.
Rating Containing Books Fool on the Hill
Ratings: 4.1 From 4072 Users | 251 ReviewsEvaluation Containing Books Fool on the Hill
This book was first lent to me by a coworker and fellow Cornell alum who said, "I don't know quite how to describe this book. It's kind of out there, with fairies and talking dogs, but it's set at Cornell and somehow I just know you will like it." She had me at talking dogs. It's a treasure trove for fans of literature, mixing quest sagas, fairy tales, Greek mythology, Shakespeare, Tolkien, Richard Adams, not to mention cinematic Westerns, epic battles, zombie-like attacks, and motorcycleI like Matt Ruff. I first discovered him with Bad Monkeys and more recently with Lovecraft Country. I adored both of those books. This book reads like a undergraduates Creative Writing Class fart. I had a somewhat loose rule before picking this up of never read a book about an author in college, this book made that a solid rule. This was Ruffs first novel. Dont judge him based on this and for the love of all that holy, dont make this the first book you read by him. He wrote this while attending
I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's so elaborate and exciting and trippy... But most of all, it's got quite a bit of deep philosophy in it. Moving, exciting, imaginative, intense.... It screams fun and games and Ruff delights the reader by flicking through half a century of literary allusions with an extra punch of magic to keep it enticing. Each of the characters sizzle with their own style...From a mongrel dog who dreams of Heaven to a manx named Blackjack who is the definition of badass to a girl named
A few of my thoughts on the author, having read only this, his debut effort:Matt Ruff is smart. Not Nabokov smart. Not Pynchon smart. Not Dave Foster Wallace neurotic, tortuously smart. In fact, maybe he's not quite so smart after all.Matt Ruff has read a few books. Tolkien. Who doesn't like Tolkien? Greek and Norse mythology is fun, too. And V.! I love V. Wait, though; besides the pun (Benny Profane and the V-necks, a college band) there's no substance to that reference. Nor most of the others
I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's so elaborate and exciting and trippy... But most of all, it's got quite a bit of deep philosophy in it. Moving, exciting, imaginative, intense.... It screams fun and games and Ruff delights the reader by flicking through half a century of literary allusions with an extra punch of magic to keep it enticing. Each of the characters sizzle with their own style...From a mongrel dog who dreams of Heaven to a manx named Blackjack who is the definition of badass to a girl named
Is it ever a good idea for a magician to explain his tricks? When you find out the mechanics behind an illusion, it leaves you feeling disappointed when you realize there isnt really any magic involved. Even worse to be shown how a hot dog is made. There are some things man was not meant to know. It should come as no surprise, then, that when Matt Ruff shows us the ugly workings of how a story is made in his novel Fool on the Hill, he gets mixed results.That I felt that there was some
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