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Post by Bartwald on Apr 13, 2004 7:42:39 GMT -5
Jonathan Carroll [glow=red,2,300]From The Teeth Of Angels[/glow] (1994) ****
A guy is dreaming about the Death personified, and when he asks whether he can find out stuff about the afterlife he gets the permission; what the poor dude doesn't know at this point is that if he fails to understand Death's answers he'll get painful wounds on his body - one for one answer he didn't get. And once he started asking there's no way of stopping the dream of Death and the flow of the difficult 'answers'.
That's just the beginning, though. Then we find out that this guy - the one dreaming 'bout death - is not really our main character, and we'll have to wait some time for them to meet somewhere in the plot. However, what you know you can usually get from Carroll is in this book, too: smooth and original style, crazy ideas, plot that constantly changes direction, good characters and a satisfying ending. He's still one of my favourite writers (of horror and beyond) and only two of his books disappointed me so far: White Apples and Marriage Of Sticks; the rest of them are all thrilling experiences and I'm surprised that Carroll is not as famous as he earned to be. Put him in the Clash Of The Horror Authors and I'd have a huge problem choosing between him and Steve King!
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Apr 13, 2004 14:54:31 GMT -5
Wow, he must be good if you would think about choosing him over King!  I'll have to check him out. Which of his books would you suggest first? |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 14, 2004 10:03:22 GMT -5
He's wonderful! And truly one of my favourites! I was trying to convince many people in many places to give Carroll a try but no one ever did it!  I mean, it would even be better if someone read one of his books and told me it sucked instead of just ignoring the guy! (Alright, I did manage to convince some friends who live near enough my place to borrow a book from me - some loved him, some didn't... he's special, you know; but I haven't convinced anyone to read Carroll via internet). To cut it short: I'd be very glad if you grabbed one of Carroll's books and told me what you think of him! The best ones to start your journey into Carroll's twisted mind are: Wooden Sea (his best recent book), The Land Of Laughs (his pretty first book) or Voice Of Our Shadow (a short novel but very powerful and maybe the one I love most!). Tell me how it goes finding them! |
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Apr 14, 2004 12:08:43 GMT -5
Ok, the next time I'm in the bookstore I'll look for his stuff & let you know what I find.  |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 14, 2004 12:24:51 GMT -5
Very cool! Waiting for the news already!
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Post by nomatchcheck on Apr 15, 2004 13:08:41 GMT -5
I have read two books by Caroll just because someone encouraged me - actually via the internet -to try this author - so I did. Nicely suprised, though not particularly in love with Caroll I can say that he has a good imagination, the way the story reveals, really grips your attention - you actually feel like reading the whole book from the start to the ending at one go:) I've read The Land of Laughs and Voice of Our Shadow - the last I definitely liked more:) |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 15, 2004 13:33:36 GMT -5
I have read two books by Caroll just because someone encouraged me - actually via the internet -to try this author... Wasn't me, though.  Anyway, I agree that Voice Of Our Shadow is superior to The Land Of Laughs - it's more in your face, more merciless; in The Land the story needs more time to start biting... but they're both precious to me, they really are. And yes: I always feel the need to read Carroll's books at one go! It's difficult to get out of his world even for a while, yeah. |
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Post by Bartwald on Sept 4, 2004 11:17:06 GMT -5
A nice little story from Jonathan Carroll's website - www.jonathancarroll.com/indexframes.html - and it gives you a hint of the way he writes: IA Hollywood story from years ago: I had an appointment to meet a very high-powered producer who was flavor of the month with the studios at the time. The scuttlebutt was he could get any movie made because of a recent unbroken string of hits.
His director of development called and said this man had personally asked for a meeting with me because he liked my books so much. I was thrilled and delighted.
I’d heard the producer was also famous for dressing beautifully. So that day I made a point of dressing as nicely as I could. I had a Borrelli shirt in an unusual color that I hadn’t worn yet so I decided today was the day for its maiden voyage. Borrelli shirt, best suit, polish the shoes—Off to the meeting.
When I got to the company’s office it was like something out of CITIZEN KANE. On entering, I was met by a stunning secretary who marched me through room after beautiful room, full of light and arrangements of wildly exotic flowers. Flowers like I had never seen before in my life. To another, much bigger room, more knockout secretaries, more light, more flowers….
Until I reached HIS office. I was met there by the director of development, a woman dressed in a frighteningly chic black men’s suit. We shook hands and she opened the door to the inner sanctum.
Inside, the office looked as big as a basketball court. I’m talking HUGE here. And way on the other side of the room was the man. He was screaming into a telephone, furious, frothing at the mouth angry at whoever was on the other end. It sounded like he was going to kill the guy. I thought oh great, he’ll be in a good mood for this meeting.
But then a miracle occurred: The boss finally looked up from his desk, saw us standing there and froze. Without another word he hung up the phone. The assistant said “Mr. X , this is Jonathan Carroll, the novelist.” Mr. X immediately got up from his chair and walked towards us with his hand stuck out, as if he wanted to shake. I started to raise my hand to shake but realized at the last moment his hand was way too high. When he reached us, he took hold of my shirt in his hand and said “That is a great shirt! Where’d you get that shirt?”<br>
I told him, he nodded, and then asked me “Who are you?”<br>
I said my name again and just to make sure, said I wrote novels.
“Why are you here?”<br>
“Because we’re supposed to have a meeting.”<br>
He looked at me like I had two heads. “I never meet with novelists. They’re all nuts. Talk to her.” He pointed to his assistant and walked away.By the way: Carroll's new book, "Glass Soup", will soon be published. |
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I'll have to check him out. Which of his books would you suggest first?
I mean, it would even be better if someone read one of his books and told me it sucked instead of just ignoring the guy! (Alright, I did manage to convince some friends who live near enough my place to borrow a book from me - some loved him, some didn't... he's special, you know; but I haven't convinced anyone to read Carroll via internet).
