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nigellicus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
5.0
Jonathan Carroll has been writing novels a lot longer than Neil Gaiman, and is still producing confident, baffling little boxes of wonders and terrors like his latest: The Wooden Sea. Returning again to the setting of Kissing The Beehive and The Marriage Of Sticks, town Chief of Police Frannie McCabe buries an ugly old dog that comes back to life, meets a younger version of himself and goes to experience the last week of his life somewhere off in the future. They’re all clues in an elaborate riddle, clues he must decipher, and decipher quickly, if he’s to have a hope of saving the world, from what he doesn’t know, but there are those who want to stop him and those who want to help him, and it’s kind of hard to tell which is which.
If you read Jonathan Carroll, you’ll know what to expect, if you don’t: it’s well written, painfully human and profoundly mischievous.
If you read Jonathan Carroll, you’ll know what to expect, if you don’t: it’s well written, painfully human and profoundly mischievous.
branch_c's review against another edition
3.0
I read The Land of Laughs years ago and found it to be interesting but not exactly my type of story, so I never tried anything else by Carroll until now. Starting this one, I initially thought maybe I just wasn’t ready for it back then, and this time it was really going to draw me in.
And I have to admit, he’s got an engaging style, and imaginative to say the least. But for me, the fantastical elements have to hang together with an underlying logic, and I didn’t get that feeling here.
In fact, I think this exchange between Frannie and Gee-Gee in the middle of the book sums things up fairly accurately:
And I have to admit, he’s got an engaging style, and imaginative to say the least. But for me, the fantastical elements have to hang together with an underlying logic, and I didn’t get that feeling here.
In fact, I think this exchange between Frannie and Gee-Gee in the middle of the book sums things up fairly accurately:
“This is insane! How am I supposed to know what to do if the rules keep changing?”
“There are no rules, man. Get used to it. Why do you think I’m here, eating your eggs?” (p. 143)
That’s how I felt too. Believe me, stories where the protagonist finds himself dragged into confusing chaos with unexpected supernatural twists thrown at him at every turn are right up my alley - it’s exactly what I expect from Tim Powers, my long time fave.
But where Powers builds up a explanatory framework that the protagonist and the reader discover together, Carroll goes a different way, leaning into the “anything can happen” approach. The logic of the fantasy elements matters less to Carroll than putting his character under stress in order to make thoughtful commentary on the turns life can take, both comic and tragic, and the nature of identity over time.
Confident and stylish, and I think Carroll accomplishes exactly what he sets out to do here, but as I concluded after Land of Laughs, I don’t think I’m the target audience for his work.
thegoodmariner's review against another edition
5.0
note to self: don't finish anymore Jonathan Carroll books while at the public library, unless you want any number of patrons and librarians to see you sobbing like a blithering fool.
I put this book down and couldn't tell which part of me was more satisfied, my mind or my soul. It was just all kinds of wonderful, and the final pages before the epilogue might even work their way into some of the classes I teach on thinking about the stories we tell of our own lives.
I love this man and I love his books.
I put this book down and couldn't tell which part of me was more satisfied, my mind or my soul. It was just all kinds of wonderful, and the final pages before the epilogue might even work their way into some of the classes I teach on thinking about the stories we tell of our own lives.
I love this man and I love his books.
sashucity's review against another edition
5.0
Without a doubt, Jonathan Carroll is my favorite author from the living ones.
He combines beautiful sense with magical nonsense in a way nobody can.
Usually, Carroll stories start pretty normal and become weirder with each page. There is no time for a long exposition in The Wooden Sea, cause author has a lot to speak about and a lot of things will happen, so let's start with a weird one: here is a three-legged dog, here he dies, here we bury him and here he is alive again.
Magical realism as its best.
P.S. Can you understood everything in this book without reading first two in series? Yes, sure. But surely it would be difficult in any case, cause, you know, it's Jonathan Carroll.
He combines beautiful sense with magical nonsense in a way nobody can.
Usually, Carroll stories start pretty normal and become weirder with each page. There is no time for a long exposition in The Wooden Sea, cause author has a lot to speak about and a lot of things will happen, so let's start with a weird one: here is a three-legged dog, here he dies, here we bury him and here he is alive again.
Magical realism as its best.
P.S. Can you understood everything in this book without reading first two in series? Yes, sure. But surely it would be difficult in any case, cause, you know, it's Jonathan Carroll.
jaimc's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
jrmama42's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a hoot! Time travel, quirky characters, totally absurd plot - what a fun read. The author obviously had a blast creating and moving his characters around. It's not sci-fi (despite the time travel), just a very creative story that requires you to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the ride.
moxiedoll's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it from start to finish. I think I might have a found a new author to obsess over.
jyan's review against another edition
4.0
3.5. Carroll is an author fascinated with examining dying; not death, the final ending of it all, but the process of dying, of coming to terms with your past, with reconciling with the mistakes you've made, and it's always fascinating to see how he uses the fantastic as metaphors for these very human elements. His idea of coming to terms with your past by literally confronted your previous selves is fascinating, but I feel he adds a few too many elements to create a muddled whole. Still, it's rarely less than gripping, even if the characters don't feel as rounded as many of his previous creations.
marhill31's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve spent the last month of 2015 reading three novels by Jonathan Carroll. The Wooden Sea is the third of the Carroll novels I’ve read. You can look at the reviews of the other two Carroll novels: White Apples and Glass Soup here. I will admit after reading these novels that Jonathan Carroll has joined my must read author list. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these works and they have shown me how far the boundaries of fantasy fiction can extend.
The Wooden Sea is the story of small town police chief, Frannie McCabe of Crane’s View, New York. Chief McCabe has a three-legged dog that drops dead in front of him and the event takes him on a life-altering ride throughout the novel unveiling the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
I could not help but think of this passage of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. {1 Corinthians 13:1-8 The Message Bible}
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians in that passage of New Testament Scripture what the true meaning of love is in 1st century Greek Culture. It seems to me by happenstance that Carroll has woven the same theme in the Wooden Sea (as well as White Apples & Glass Soup). The Wooden Sea would never be mistaken for a Christian novel, but there is spiritual resonance along with touches of the surrealistic and fantastic interwoven together making it a surprising novel with emotion and depth.
The only issue I had with the novel was the ending. The abrupt ending of the novel left me wanting more time with Chief McCabe and his wife, Magda. However, this novel was my favorite of the Carroll novels and I will give it my highest recommendation as one of my best reads of 2015.
The Wooden Sea is the story of small town police chief, Frannie McCabe of Crane’s View, New York. Chief McCabe has a three-legged dog that drops dead in front of him and the event takes him on a life-altering ride throughout the novel unveiling the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
I could not help but think of this passage of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. {1 Corinthians 13:1-8 The Message Bible}
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians in that passage of New Testament Scripture what the true meaning of love is in 1st century Greek Culture. It seems to me by happenstance that Carroll has woven the same theme in the Wooden Sea (as well as White Apples & Glass Soup). The Wooden Sea would never be mistaken for a Christian novel, but there is spiritual resonance along with touches of the surrealistic and fantastic interwoven together making it a surprising novel with emotion and depth.
The only issue I had with the novel was the ending. The abrupt ending of the novel left me wanting more time with Chief McCabe and his wife, Magda. However, this novel was my favorite of the Carroll novels and I will give it my highest recommendation as one of my best reads of 2015.
strongman's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book! So unique and visual and fun. A great surprise find! "Sunlit surrealism."