Light Boxes

by Shane Jones

Book Overview

A poignant and fantastical first novel by a timeless new literary voice. With all the elements of a classic fable, vivid descriptions, and a wholly unique style, this idiosyncratic debut introduces a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143117785
• ISBN13: 9780143117780
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and magical.

What a lovely little book. (And it is really little ... 150 pages which aren't exactly packed with text.) In many ways it reminds me of a children's story. There's a simplicity in the story, yet the imagery and mood created are quite sophisticated. It's beautiful and magical and brooding. The writing is wonderful. Sparse, and poetic and entirely captivating. The cover art really drew me to book, and I would absolutely buy a fully illustrated version. Not a graphic novel, but something like an illustrated children's book. I loved it! And I have every intention of reading it again.

Magical Little Book

As soon as you begin reading Light Boxes, you will realize it's a different little book. The story and wonderful writing will hook you right away. What would you do if that terminally, dark, cold month of February never went away? And what would you do if you could never dream of flying again, especially if your is hobby sailing upwards in a hot air balloon, or watching your kite flitter in the wind higher and higher in the sky? You'd probably try and not forget the feeling and beauty and the sensations of flight even as you watch the birds fall from the sky and bees become listless. The inhabitants of the village in Light Boxes have those things to face because flying has been banned, and it's always cold and dark, day after day and month after month, it's always February and it's February's fault that the children in the village are all disappearing. Where are they going and has February murdered them all? Shane Jones has written an enchanting book with sparse prose that creates grand imagery of a town in grave danger and how the villagers cope with all of it. This is a magical book that you'll want to read over and over and I am sure each time you do something new will reveal itself in the images and the thoughtfulness created by such a small, powerful book. There is a lot going on in this story and you'll enjoy reading it. There are a few lists in this book that are amazing along with the strong and meaningful writing and impressive imagery. Even if it's not February, make yourself a pot of mint tea and dive into this story. You'll be delighted and enchanted, perplexed and pleased, it will be a most sweet journey into that short but cold, dark time known as February. If you are just getting this book, cracking it open and are beginning to read it for the first time, I envy you.

GET IT.

What an imagination Shane Jones has...the story is creative and magically dark. I recommend to all who know how february can behave...

LIGHT BOXES by Shane Jones

Shane Jones' Light Boxes is a short but powerful novel, one that appears at first to be "experimental" in nature, but which is in fact a mash-up of several ancient forms, masterfully combined here into a new whole. Throughout the novel are elements of the fable and the fairy tale, of the historical romance, of the satire and the detective story. Holding together this pastiche of styles is Jones' rock-solid prose, which is itself complemented by Adam Robinson's extraordinary book design, which utilizes no less than six font faces, multiple sizes of text, and creative arrangements of the text itself. The book begins at the start of February and ends at the month's end, several years later. February is a month, a season, an enemy combatant, as well as the name of at least two characters in the novel who oppose and reflect protagonist Thaddeus Lowe, a balloonist whose family is at the center of the resistance against the endless winter and the flightless days it brings. After February brings his endless winter, he pronounces that "all things possessing the ability to fly had been destroyed... that no one living in the town should speak of flight ever again." But Thaddeus and his family do not give in so easily, fighting back first symbolically, and then, later with stronger actions: "Thaddeus, Bianca and Selah painted balloons everywhere they could. They pulled up floorboards and painted rows of balloons onto the dusty oak. Bianca drew tiny balloons on the bottom of tea cups. Behind the bathroom mirror, under the kitchen table, and on the inside cabinet doors, balloons appeared. And then Selah painted an intricate intertwining of kits on Bianca's hands and wrists, the tails extending up her forearms and around her shoulders. How long will February last, Bianca asked, stretching her hands out to her mother who was blowing on her arms. I really have no idea, said Thaddeus, who watched the snow fall outside the kitchen window. In the distance, the snow formed into mountains on top of mountains. Finished, her mother said. You will have to wear long sleeves from now on. But you'll never forget flight. You can wear beautiful dresses--that's what you can wear. Bianca studied her arms. The kites were yellow with black tails. The color melted into her skin. A breeze blew over the fresh ink and through her hair." In similarly short sections, Jones relays the story of Thaddeus, his family, the townspeople, even February himself, weaving their narratives together using any number of voices and styles. Strangeness abounds: A group of former balloonists wearing bird masks seeks Thaddeus' leadership, first as a group called The Solution, and then later, The War Effort, seeking in both incarnations to avenge the loss of their children and to bring about the end of winter, as if the two problems are one and the same (and raising questions as to whether or not they are). A mysterious "girl who smelled of honey and smoke" appears as both February's consort

Startlingly Fresh Debut

Here's a fresh voice/perspective coming out of the indy-press scene. Shane Jones does not disappoint in this new take on a fairy tale/fantasy. This novel is atmospheric. Jones draws you into a cold, flightless, child-filled world where the season never ends, the above-mentioned children drill underground tunnels, and twist the heads of owls, and even the villains are heart-achingly cared-for. This book makes creative use of white space that suggest the snowy planes of its setting. Some of the font play is clever, such as smaller sizes used for characters when they whisper, but probably unnecessary. However, in a Nora Roberts, Denis Johnson (the new, boring, and predictable D.J.), and Stephen King littered literary world, Jones's voice and insight are a welcomed spring from the winter readers have long been subjected to.