Customer Reviews

Black Cocktail

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm on a quest now to acquire all of Carroll's books since they tend to go out of print quickly, at least in the United States (he lives in Vienna and his books are big sellers in Europe). I just got a copy of Black Cocktail which I had never read and was again blown away by his imagination and story-telling ability. He gets this idea from Plato -- that all humans originally were joined to another being and spend the rest of their lives looking for their other half (also Plato's explanation for sexual preference as those that started as two men obviously look for the male half). Only Carroll makes it the perfect 5 (i.e. everyone used to be 5 people connected) and has his usual interesting and quirky characters trying to reunite. This is only a 75 page novella, but it has all the classic Carroll elements. Read it!

Sleek and absorbing, this is a book that draws you in with the embrace of a close relative.
The plot dissects the occurences in the life of Ingram York, an L.A. disc-jockey with a difference. As always, the major character here is a minor character elsewhere in Carroll's work, forming piece of what would almost seem to be an intricate collage of people and their interactions.
Moreover, this is a book that probes the age old question "Who am I?", and actually dares to suggest an answer.

A chain of events in York's life leaves him reeling in contemplation, and a chance introduction to a shadowy character named Michael Billa soon has him questioning things he once considered sacred and took for granted.

Written with equal parts fantasy and dark comedy, this tale slowly slices through your heart until you find yourself shivering in the corner of the room.

Here is one cocktail that will defintely leave you feeling intoxicated... Ronan Glynn (glynnr98@yahoo.com), New Jersey.

Jonathan Carroll, Black Cocktail (St. Martin's Press, 2000)

I've spent a good deal of time thinking about how I'm going to review Black Cocktail; a full month, in fact (I finished it on February 1, and I'm writing the review on February 29). That should probably tell me something; this novella-length volume has stuck with me a lot longer than most books of its size would.

To explain this would be to give away a great deal, and I generally don't like to do that; you can read the descriptions found on Amazon, which are more spoiler-laden than the flap copy. I'll just call it a weird little new-agey-feeling story that wanders into the realms of existential horror every now and again. It's very well-written, and very interesting, through the ending could have used a bit (okay, a great deal) of fleshing out. Still, if you're looking for a quick, easy read that has a lot going on under the hood, Black Cocktail is worth your time. Also, Gaiman fans take note: there are a few Dave McKean illustrations scattered throughout. ****

I have to agree with the other reviewer who said this felt unedited. There's too much going on in this story for the 60 or so pages. Many of the familiar Carroll themes are there and the two main characters are engaging, but the "aha" moment felt rushed and incomplete. It probably should have been a longer novel, or at least one of the many twists should have come out to streamline the story. Nice illustrations and cover art by Dave McKean.

I understand the novella Black Cocktail is only 76 pages long and can't be considered in the same league as Carroll's novels (which I love) - but this was very disappointing.

It's as if Carroll, unable to sleep one night, sat down to write a novel, changed his mind, dashed off these pages, and published them without looking them over (or passing them to an editor to read.)

Familiar characters and themes without any new revelations...and an ending that seems to have been drawn from a tired mind. I'll keep it along with his other books, but will probably never read this again.