The Ghost in Love [Audio CD]

Carroll (Author), Jonathan (Author), To be announced (Narrator) (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Just after a man falls and hits his head, a ghost arrives to take his soul to the afterlife. But strangely, the man doesnt die. He is alive because, for the first time, human beings have decided to take back their fates from the gods.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Death is not the end but rather the start of a series of madcap and sometimes moving adventures for characters in this spry novel about the un-afterlife. Events begin on a wintry day in Connecticut when Ben Gould slips and hits his head on a curb. He should have died, but owing to a virus in heaven's computer system, Ben's body lives on. Soon, Ben and others in his life—including his talking dog, Pilot, and his own ghost (named Ling)—find themselves endowed with extraordinary and unpredictable talents, including time traveling, the ability to hobnob with multiple incarnations of their younger selves, and a capacity to see otherwise invisible forces of fate manifested in bizarre physical forms. Carroll (Glass Soup) tethers the series of loopy incidents that ensues and their shaggy-dog explanation to incisive and poignant observations about the wondrous possibilities of everyday life that are the hallmark of his flippant style of fantasy. Carroll fans will best appreciate this jeu d'esprit. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Ben Gould was supposed to die, but he didn't, and now he can talk to his dog, Pilot, and Ling, the ghost that's been sent to take his soul to the afterlife. This perspective-changing novel, which follows Carroll's (www.jonathancarroll.com) The Wooden Sea, explores what can happen when we choose to take control of our own fate. Actor/two-time Audie Award nominee Ray Porter does a good job of drawing in listeners. Recommended for most public libraries. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com; the Farrar hc received a starred review, LJ 9/1/08.—Ed.]—Donna Bachowski, Orange Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc.; Unabridged Library edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433248697
• ISBN-13: 978-1433248696
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,014,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Biography,free downloadable stories, screenplays, daily blog and other relevant information available at

www.jonathancarroll.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you are different then you were 10 minutes ago..., October 8, 2008

By 

A. Boston (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Ghost in Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

...and when you read this work of art, my title will make sense to you. ;)

To begin, this book is amazing. It's completely out of this world while taking place in modern day reality, if that's possible! Wildly inventive with enough regular life mixed in to make it perfect.

Its reminiscent of a couple of other things that I love and not in a copy cat kind of way. Johnathan Carroll has a similar writing style to Neil Gaiman, with a very whimsical prose and they're both beyond creative. At times it reminded me of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger with the time travel and love aspects. Also of the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the "what is going on?!" kind of feel, like you're totally just chasing yourself in circles. If any of these interest you, I think you'd love this book.

There was so much story in 308 pages, that it's impossible to categorize. I won't go over what it's about because it can be read in the Amazon description or in another review. I will say, it was much different then I expected from the short synopsis that I read. But don't mistake 'different' for bad. This book was enlightening, amazing, funny, and thought provoking. A lot of the time I found myself exclaiming outloud -- tons of "what?!?!" or "you've got to be kidding" coming out of my mouth without my realizing it until my boyfriend would ask from another room what was wrong. It had feelings of The Time Traveler's Wife in that a couple times I was just so entirely confused I had to put down the book and work it out in my head. Sometimes It was so close to over my head, but then I would be able to grasp it. Most of the time I can speed read thru books, but this one I wanted to savor, and I took my time with it, not reading more then 50 pages at a time. It's main themes are love, learning to live with all parts of yourself both good and bad, and taking control of your own destiny.

UPDATE 12/08: I let my best friend and my mom borrow this book and neither of them liked it. My best friend isn't so keen on fantastical stuff mixed into reality so that's definitely why it didn't work for her. She particularly hated one of the creatures in the book, which I think is what really ruined it for her. My mom usually reads kids fantasy books(Harry Potter, Twilight series, Erragon), so it was too far out for her as well. I like stories that make me think, analyze and that I have to really have a super imagination for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How could I have missed this guy!, January 5, 2009

By 

G. Clifton "bookmobile man" (Ferrum, Va USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ghost in Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

What a delight to find a new author. What's even better is finding out he's been writing for years and there are all of these undiscovered countries to explore. I dislike too much information in reviews and on book jackets. (And besides, you can find out as much as, or more than you want, from other reviews.) So let me just say that if you enjoy traveling with the likes of Kurt Vonnegut(Breakfast of Champions) Tom Robbins(on his mellow days, something like Jitterbug Perfume) or even Richard Bach (Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) you may LOVE Jonathan Carroll. I think at the very least you will enjoy traveling with him in the world of THE GHOST IN LOVE.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Reader in Love, May 12, 2009

By 

Karie Hoskins "karieh" (Everett, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ghost in Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

I LOVE Jonathan Carroll's books. I love the crazy places his books take me, and the odd people I meet and the way he can be traveling down one path and then so subtly go a different way...while I am still happily going the original direction. When I finally catch on, it's still a delight to backtrack and join him on his new route.

I stumbled upon "A Ghost in Love" in Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, WA. Little did I know that one of my favorite writers had a new book out (well, I guess not THAT new), but Auntie's would be the place I would find it.

Somehow I held off and didn't start "Ghost" until days later when I was ready to sit down and bit off a big chunk, and then I fell into the world of Ben Gould and German Landis, and Pilot, their dog.

The reader is introduces to German in a perfect way, "Fifteen blocks away, a woman was walking down the street, carrying a large letter `D'." Of course she was. In a Jonathan Carroll book, of course she was. It is explained later, and everything ends up making sense, it's just a wonderful of making sure the reader is paying attention.

"A Ghost in Love" is about love and life and the choices people make in both. It deals with who people are at various stages in their lives and how later, all of those people and choices intersect. Instead of waxing philosophic about two such universal subjects, Carroll creates a world of ghosts, talking dogs and verses...and makes his points with a different slant to them.

"A Chinese farmer invented the idea of ghosts three thousand years ago as a way of explaining to his precious grandson what happens to people after they die. God thought it was such a novel and useful idea that He told his angels to make the concept real and allow it to flourish within the system."

And "German Landis simply didn't understand people who moped. Life was too interesting to choose suffering. Although she got a big kick out of him, she thought her brother, Guy, was goofy for spending his life writing songs only about things that either stank or sucked. In response, he drew a picture of what her gravestone would look like if he designed it: a big yellow smiley face on it and the words I LIKE BEING DEAD!"

Although I keep mentioning the humor and wonderful absurdity that I find in Carroll's books - it's the heart to them that keeps me coming back. He creates characters that I root for and laugh with and start to adore.

"Danielle put a hand flat against her chest. "We're born with everything in here - everything we need to be happy and complete. But as soon as life starts frightening us, we give away pieces of ourselves to make the danger go away. It's a trade: you want life to stop scaring you, so you give it a part of yourself. You give away your pride, your dignity, or your courage...When all you feel is fear, you don't need dignity. So you don't mind giving that away - at the moment. But you regret it later because you'll need all those pieces."

I found such beauty in this book. Even though I was lost at times, many times, it's such a wonderful journey that I didn't care. When by turns, I can read something that makes me laugh out loud and then something that makes me slow down and read again to capture the meaning and beauty of a phrase, then I am enjoying a book to the fullest.

And in this book, there was a part about a childhood object that took me back in time, recovered a memory for me that I'd though I'd lost.

"Usually at least once in a person's childhood we lose an object that at the time is invaluable and irreplaceable to us, although it is worthless to others. Many people remember that article for the rest of their lives...If we describe it to others and explain why it was so important, even those who love us smile indulgently because to them it sounds like a trivial thing to lose. Kid stuff. But it is not. Those who forget about this object have lost a valuable, even crucial memory. Because something central to our younger self resided in that thing. When we lost it, for whatever reason, a part of us shifted permanently."

For me, that object was an ivory (probably fake ivory) bracelet that my dad bought me at a Chinese restaurant. When it broke, I knew something, some part of me, was broken and couldn't stop crying. When I read the passage above, the memory of the delight in having it and the sorrow in losing it came back to me.

That's the power of books. We live lives that are not our own, and in doing so, discover things about ourselves and others that we might never have known, or have forgotten. This idea of forgotten or unknown aspects to ourselves is woven throughout "A Ghost in Love" in a wonderful way. We are the sum of all that we have done...and more than that, we are different things to different people.

"Why do people love us, Ben? We're always trying to figure that out, but only by using our own point of view. That's so limited. Sometimes they love us for things we don't even know about ourselves. For example, they love our hands. My hands? Why would someone love my hands? But they've got their reasons. You must accept that and realize that the Ben they know is different from the Ben you know."

"The Ghost in Love", too, is a book that is different for me than it is for any other person; all books are. The version of it read through my eyes? Wonderful.