Comments | misterdark: 2007 In Review, Pt. 2

misterdark

2007 In Review, Pt. 2 - Books And Television

Jan 02, 2008 14:08

One of the best parts of no longer being in school is all of the time I have to myself. Outside of my day-job, writing articles and my weekly gaming night, I don't have any commitments - no papers to write, no rehearsals to run. I spend my weekends in Waltham, and my weeknights in Stoneham, and basically all I do is read, watch TV and go to the ( Read more... )

Comments 4

Jonathan Carroll anonymous January 3 2008, 08:54:06 UTC

Interesting list, although I don't agree with you about Carroll's latest books. In an interview with Barnes and Noble, even Neil Gaiman(who for years has been one of Carroll's staunchest supporters) said he thought C's last two novels were the best he had ever written. I think he's right. The two combined are parts one and two of a moving and marvelously strange love story that works on many levels.

Right Brain

Re: Jonathan Carroll misterdark January 3 2008, 13:15:40 UTC

Yeah, I got into Carroll on Gaiman's recommendation via his blog, actually. I certainly enjoyed both White Apples and Glass Soup, but as much as I love his prose, there's only so many times I can read a book about expatriate Americans in Vienna who don't ever seem to work and have bizarre supernatural experiences. I think I'd just like to see him work in a different setting again, like in The Wooden Sea or something.

Re: Jonathan Carroll anonymous January 3 2008, 15:31:51 UTC

White Apples doesn't take place in Vienna, although Glass Soup does because it's a continuation of the WA story. IE the female protagonist is Viennese, so the couple go back there in the second book because she's pregnant and he wants to get away from his past life in America (I get the feeling the first novel takes place in either Seattle or Portland, judging by the physical description). But I think that misses the point. As Gaiman so rightly put it, Carroll's stories often take place in Vienna because the author lives there (write about what you know). But they are universal and could happen anywhere because the physical setting no matter where it happens to be is ultimately unimportant. These two books (which are really one long story) are a reenactment of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, it just happens to be reversed (the woman goes into the Afterlife to bring the man back from the dead, rather than vice versa) and takes place on two continents in our time. The overall issue addressed in the two stories has to do with Carroll's ( ... )

Re: Jonathan Carroll misterdark January 3 2008, 16:10:57 UTC

I think you're sort of missing my point. The supernatural aspects of reality that Carroll introduces (the Mosaic, etc.) are fascinating, but I just have started to feel as if his characters and premises have gotten a little repetitive. His earlier work feels fresher to me, that's all. Also, thank you for taking the time to point out the blindingly obvious connection to the Orpheus myth, because as someone who's been studying literature since childhood, I hadn't picked up on it. If you're going to get pedantic, do it somewhere else, or at least identify yourself