White Time [Hardcover]

Margo Lanagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Lose yourself in White Time

White Time is mind time, body time, soul time, heart time.

White Time is other worlds, other dimensions, other states of being.

White Time is out of time.

In this transcendent collection of short stories, Margo Lanagan, author of the award-winning story collection Black Juice, deftly navigates a new set of worlds in which the boundaries between reality and possibility are paper-thin . . . and sometimes disappear altogether.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–This esoteric short-story collection celebrates creative and expressive literature in a big, broad way. Lanagan's themes range from reckoning to healing, and her conflicts tackle eating disorders, terrorists, and self-empowerment. One heartening story, Big Rage, is a modern-day social take on Beauty and the Beast. At once romantic and tragic, filled with rough-and-tumble jousting scenes, it is the story of a woman whose control-freak husband continually overshadows her, and she is broken by his opinion of who, and what, she is. When she stumbles upon a wounded man on a beach, she takes a risk and helps save him. Slowly, she begins to heal. Nested within the artful prose and riveting action of these stories is writing that challenges readers with fantastical and emotional dexterity. Here are intricate styles, genres, and examples of the lengths an author can go to raise storytelling to personal, profound, and mysterious heights. The selections are not simple to navigate through, but if given the concentration they deserve, they reveal an unfettered sensitivity, intelligence, and humanistic conscience.–Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Although this is the second story collection by Australian author Lanagan to reach American readers, it was actually published abroad several years before her 2006 Printz Honor Book, Black Juice. Fans of Lanagan's fantastical, often surreal sensibility will regard its arrival as long overdue. Further showcasing her mastery of the craft, each story underscores Lanagan's talent for inspiring curiosity, disturbing sensibilities, and provoking thought. The collection comprises 10 stories of varying lengths that together demonstrate great versatility and highlight the author's talent for inventing entirely new realities and subtly shifting our own. The futuristic title story features a girl whose career exploration project finds her floating in a reservoir of "time out of time," where she is mentored by a troubled man who redirects stuck entities from other parts of the universe. "The Queen's Notice," set in an antlike hive, follows a befuddled warrior-creature whose valor requires him to assume a new role. In "Tell and Kiss," physical weight is accumulated by the unhealthy storage of thought and feeling, creating a problem for a boy secretly falling for his best female friend. The singular perspectives, environments, goals, and challenges of Lanagan's distinctive characters will both intrigue and stimulate teen minds. Holly Koelling
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006074393X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060743932
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,121,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good, some not so good, June 25, 2010

By 

YA book lover - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: White Time (Hardcover)

My second Margo Lanagan's collection of short stories. While enjoyable, it is less compelling than Red Spikes.

First, unlike Red Spikes which had a feel magical realism throughout, White Time is a blend of genres - it consists of sci-fi, fantasy and distopian stories. It makes the collection a little uneven.

And second, a couple of stories are just a little too sketchy for my taste and not very successful in bringing their points across - "Welcome Blue," for instance, a story about the arrival of aliens who get attracted by a certain shade of blue (what?).

On the other hand, some stories are fantastic and have enough "meat" in them for full-length novels. For example, "The Boy Who Didn't Yearn" is a tale of a girl who has a special ability to see the hurts people carry around, be that someone's death, or parents' expectation, or guilt. She helps people to realize and deal with them. The story is the girl's journey to uncover what her own "baggage" is.

All in all, a decedent, but not mind-blowing collection of stories that could be read one by one between novels. (I came to realize that I enjoy short stories much more when reading them one at a time, taking breaks between them to ponder on them.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, arrived in excellent condition., February 5, 2010

By 

D. Campbell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Time (Hardcover)

I had read one of the short stories in this book at a library, and after puchasing it and reading the rest, I am very glad I did; Margo Lanagan really outdoes herself here. The stories carefully balance science fiction and dark surrealism in a way that guarantees each story leaves the reader a little bit haunted by the ending.
It arrived in perfect condition; I might as well have bought it at a major bookstore. No dog-eared pages, rips, or markings that shouldn't have been there... as a whole, I am very satisfied with it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection!, November 10, 2006

By 

Mette Ivie Harrison (Layton, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Time (Hardcover)

For anyone who loves well-written, thought-provoking science fiction, this is the book for you. I loved "The Boy Who Didn't Yearn." I should have guessed it right off, too, but I didn't. I like stories that surprise me.