What are the main themes in the novel, Little, Big?

Crowley moves back and forth through the generations of Drinkwaters, tracing their individual growth as well as their difficulty in understanding their role in the fairy Tale. These two major themes are linked to two lesser themes, politics and memory. Crowley ties the political theme to a war between the fairy and human worlds, explaining the decay in the political order as an assault by the fairy world on their enemies. As part of their war plan, the fairies call Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, back to life and enlist his aid in the destabilization of the social order. Taking the name Russell Eigenblick, Barbarossa presides over the economic ruin of the United States and in the process reawakens his desire for power. The other theme involves the classical art of memory that was used to assist orators in ordering and memorizing material for later recall before the invention of the printing press.