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Title: A Box of Matches: A Novel by Nicholson Baker ISBN: 0-375-50287-4 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (35 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Box of Matches has no plot!!!!
Comment: And yet somehow the book works. Baker takes the ancient tradition of telling stories around a fire to put us in the mind of Emmett, a pretty ordinary guy with an interesting way of looking at the world. Emmett reflects on the small events of life from watching the sunrise to the cunundrum of going to the bathroom in the dark in a way that makes the most mundane anecdotes seem amusing and ultimately inciteful.
It's a good book to read if you want to just sit back and unwind. It's short so you can take your time with it. Read a chapter and pick it back up whenever life gets too stressful.
Rating: 4
Summary: A trip through your own mind...
Comment: This creative piece of fiction by Nicholson Baker is really more than just that. Baker's main character, Emmett, runs a parallel, rural life not unlike the authors own. Baker throws all his own feelings about the tiny things around him and their vast impact on his life into his character's daily ritual. It all starts out with the flare of a match. "Good Morning, it's 4:45 a.m."
If you think an ordinary man with an ordinary life has nothing to say at four o'clock in the morning, you couldn't be more off-base. While sitting in the dark and sipping hot coffee, Emmett explores everything from the nuisance of having a hole in his bedtime sock, to the perplexity of life "passing him by". The beauty of this book is that Baker takes these thoughts and pushes them one step further, bringing the eating habits of a pet duck or a root beer-stained brief case full circle. This kind of writing always bring validation to our normal lives.
"I've just ridden my tricycle, gone to school, greased my bearings, gotten a job, gotten married, had children, and here I am."
Each chapter starts out with Emmett's familiar greeting, a quick, usually comical, quibble of his morning run-down, and then a thoughtful stream of whatever is on the top of his mind. Whether he reminisces about his youth or contemplates the lives of chimney sweeps, he wraps each section up in a pointedly keen observation about the meaning of these things in life.
While this book is categorized as a 'novel' I find it really hard to thing of in such a way. If it weren't for the fictional name of the character I would've just assumed this was a personal memoir. Also, besides the message that the everyday coming's and going's of our lives make up who we are, I felt this book didn't carry a very strong theme. I fully believe in Bakers underlying philosophy, but was hoping that there would be some kind of a story line to tie all these vignettes together (there were a couple of chapters where Emmett battles an illness that I thought would lead to something, but it never did). Even so, there's so much to enjoy in this book. Anyone who's raised a family, gotten married, or lived an 'ordinary' life would thoroughly enjoy reading this.
Rating: 4
Summary: Everyday Life
Comment: Did you ever stop to think about the little things that happen in everyday life? Well Baker does a great job of this in the book. The main character sees one sunrise and realizes the world is passing him by and he isn't watching. We get so caught up with our busy lives that we never have time for ourselves. Most of us are to focused on work, school or families. The main character makes it a New Year's resolution to have self thinking time. This first hand account is filled with great little pieces of advice on everyday life. There are even some strange pieces of advice that you might be daring to try if you are sick of using the alarm clock. This novel makes you stop and think, everyone should grab a copy. I know that you will say thank god someone else thinks that way too!!
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Title: The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker ISBN: 0679725768 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 16 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker ISBN: 0679734406 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 03 April, 1991 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: Any Human Heart by WILLIAM BOYD ISBN: 1400031001 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Size of Thoughts : Essays and Other Lumber by Nicholson Baker ISBN: 0679776249 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 25 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Fermata by Nicholson Baker ISBN: 0679759336 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 24 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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