Connect
Sponsors
Currently Reading
My first romance novel!Terms
The Book Lady's Blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Reviews and articles posted here are property of The Book Lady's Blog and are not to be posted elsewhere without permission. Please contact me if you wish to post any of my work, or any excerpt thereof, in any other location or format.
Books and Blogs
Miscellaneous
Technical Stuff
Design Credits
May
27
Book Review: The Little Book by Selden Edwards
2009 at 8am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Originally published August 2008 by Dutton (a division of Penguin). Now available in paperback.
In 1988, Wheeler Burden is forty-seven years old. He has spent his entire life attempting to live up to the legacy left by his legendary father, the great Dilly Burden, baseball player extraordinaire, war hero, and all-around good guy. Wheeler had an interesting, if eccentric, childhood, made a name for himself in music, school, and sports, and left a lasting impression on pretty much everyone he met. He is the Last Burden, and his real name, as we learn from his mother Flora, who narrates the story, is Frank Standish Burden III. He is living in San Francisco and riding the wave of his post-Woodstock rockstar fame and the recent success of his book.
Then, all of a sudden, he finds himself—his modern self—walking down the street in Vienna in 1897. Wheeler, having nurtured a fascination with fin de siecle Vienna that was initiated by his relationship with a revered teacher at the private high school he attended, immediately recognizes where he is and sets out to find, nay, steal more suitable clothing and figure out just what has happened to him. He finds himself forming friendships with the coffeehouse set, the Jung-Wien, as they are known, and engaging in conversations about philosophy, art, history, and politics. He knows that Vienna and the world are on the verge of tragic and important events, and he is fascinated by the opportunity to experience those long-studied events firsthand.
Then he bumps into his father, Dilly Burden, who has also appeared in Vienna and is only in his late twenties. Dilly is coming from 1943, where he has been captured and tortured by the Gestapo, and he’s not sure exactly how it worked, but he believes he has escaped to this different place and time. He, too, is fascinated by the historic era and is thrilled to have the chance to meet his son as an adult and to hear about the outcome of World War II and the subsequent developments in U.S. history and culture.
Selden Edwards’s debut novel The Little Book, which was more than thirty years in the making, chronicles Wheeler and Dilly’s experiences in fin de siecle Vienna, where they encounter Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, and a whole host of to-be-famous politians, thinkers, and artists. They also encounter Dilly’s father, the original Frank Burden; his mother, who is traveling under a different name; and other individuals whose lives and decisions will come to affect their own existences.
Obsessed with the idea that they must ensure that “what happens happens,” Dilly orders Wheeler to keep to himself and not get involved with anyone in Vienna, and he plans to do the same. But this is easier said than done, especially when Wheeler meets an enchanting young woman from Boston and Dilly discovers that Adolf Hitler, now just ten years old, resides nearby. Dilly and Wheeler are never certain if what happens happens and cannot be changed or if they are looking at an opportunity to rewrite history, and as a result, they face some difficult and interesting decisions.
The Little Book has a whole lot of history, a little romance, and some moments of pure beauty. Edwards cleverly weaves real people with hefty significance into Wheeler’s story, and he successfully imagines his characters into the historic events of 1897 Vienna with skill and style. This is a sprawling story that in some ways reminded me of John Irving’s books, but I think it could have been tightened up just a bit. Edwards’s writing is strong and well-paced, and he’s telling a tale that is certainly fun to read if a little slow at times. The Little Book bore several resemblances to The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Dilly and Wheeler’s worries about whether or not they could affect history brought to mind the recent season of LOST, which made me feel that the concept was not entirely new or original, that . This is a very literary read that is packed with references from philosophy, music, art, history, and literature, and while it’s not a book for everyone, it is a very enjoyable read. 4 out of 5.
I have the audio version of this one; your review was excellent!
[...] Book Review: The Little Book by Selden Edwards [...]
I bought this book last year at Book Group Expo. I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, but I’m glad to hear you liked it!
That’s always such an interesting question – i.e., what if you could have changed things, how would it have turned out? Sounds like a really good read!
This one has been calling me from the bookstore shelf for quite awhile but I was waiting for someone to review it. I’m glad you liked it. I like when a book shares a bit about history without actually forcing it down your throat. I love the cover too.
There’s a lot to keep straight, but it’s definitely a good read. And you’re right—the cover is great!
There’s a lot to keep straight, but it’s definitely a good read. And you’re right—the cover is great!
There’s a lot to keep straight, but it’s definitely a good read. And you’re right—the cover is great!
I enjoyed reading this book. First, I like reading about Freud better than reading Freud (I’m sure there is some meaning behind that). Second, I didn’t know anything about that era and place in history. Third, I love it when I’m wondering is that real or fiction? Glad you enjoyed it also!
Your review has intrigued me. I am going to put The Little Book onto my TBR list.
[...] week, I read and reviewed The Little Book by Selden Edwards and Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs. I’ve also finished The Absolutely True [...]
The Little Book was an interesting read. I think some people (who enjoy historical fiction) will find it extremely interesting. Those who are a little more here and now oriented, probably might find it not their cup of tea.
Great review though!
[...] Reviewed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Lost Boy The Little Book The Blue Notebook The Senator's [...]
[...] (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)59. Margot (Annie’s Ghosts)60. Book Chatter (The Middle Place)61. Rebecca @ The Book Lady’s Blog (The Little Book)62. BOOKIE WOOGIE (Kidogo)63. Girl Detective (League of Extraordary Gentlemen 1910)64. Becky (Mind [...]
I thoroughly disliked this book. I got so tired of the author telling us how awesome the main character was. This lifetime’s work is clearly the author’s attempt to be the cool kid he never was. Beyond that, the story spent way too long in a school/college setting (grow up already Mr Edwards) and for me, was way too far-fetched with it’s time travel and character references. After such hype, this book has really disappointed.
Just finished “The Little Book”, after it sucked me into its magical vortex of characters, dilemmas, romance, and interconnectedness. The lengthy focus on the characters is, IMO, a necessary element to understanding their respective roles in the brilliant tapestry – almost to the point of reflecting the slower pace of the turn of the past century. So many novels of this kind rush through the plots and subplots – this one took its time to let us ‘feel’ like we were there as well. Similar but different than Jack Finney’s ‘Time and Again’, another one of my favorites. I give it an A.