Customer Reviews

Glass Soup

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Preparing for a recent interview with Carroll, I reread a pair of his earlier works to reacquaint myself with his unique storytelling style and the themes and motifs he returns to again and again. Sampling The Land of Laughs and Outside the Dog Museum again was pure pleasure--notable for their memorable lead characters, and for the nimble way Carroll depicts the intersection of the fantastic and the ordinary, both books demonstrate why Carroll is one of the most respected fantasists working today. Reading those books, however, did little to prepare me for the overall eloquence and bravado of Carroll's latest effort, Glass Soup.

Building on characters and situations established in his previous novel, 2004's estimable White Apples, Glass Soup tells the continuing story of lovers Vincent Ettrich and Isabelle Nuekor, a couple whose relationship can only be described as extraordinary--their love is so strong that Isabelle actually succeeded in rescuing Vincent from death. Because all actions have consequences, and extraordinary actions have extraordinary consequences, Isabelle's rescue of Vincent causes Chaos to actually achieve consciousness, an awareness he/it will lose if things are allowed to progress the way they have since the beginning of time. Seeking to shift the cosmic balance in his favor, Chaos works through various emissaries to lure the now pregnant Isabelle back to the land of the dead; it seems that if her baby is born there, Chaos will remain sentient. Before the novel's touching conclusion, Isabelle's dilemma will touch the lives of all those around her in surprising and sometimes lethal ways.

Along the way, Carroll waxes poetic about the nature of love, friendship, responsibility and the very fabric of reality. Even the pettiest of his characters manage to evoke sympathy, primarily because the villains of the piece are manipulating them in heinous ways. And those villains--Carroll knows heroes need formidable foes, which he provides in the malicious John Flannery and the smooth as silk Putnam. These two positively ooze evil as they try to force Vincent and Isabelle into increasingly untenable positions.

Charming and absolutely enthralling, Glass Soup displays the creativity, intelligence and wit for which Carroll has become famous. As it says on the front flap of the book's dust jacket, "For connoisseurs of imaginative fiction, the novels of Jonathan Carroll are a special treat that occupy a space of their own." Glass Soup is perhaps the best example of that phenomenon to date.

Once again Carrolls work causes bouts of discussion about exactly what the story is about and ' this doesn't work for me ..' and ' that is a bit ambiguous ..' or '...his finest piece of work since...' and '....I will never look at scrabble in the same way again ..' ...BUT ...people that is EXACTLY what a good book should do !!!!
You should be stimulated into talking about it....it should make you angry, sad , happy, annoyed....heartbroken...awe-struck....you should laugh, you should cry !
If you have read it and it has provoked a reaction, be that positive or negative, then the story has worked ! It has made you think !
I have been reading Jonathan Carrolls' work from the first book published and no I didn't like every book he wrote, I am not a Carroll groupie, but I have READ every book he has wrote and each one causes a huge reaction within me and have loved him for it.
If I have to pull a favourite from the past then Bones of the Moon it would be for its exploration of life within death which is certainly the topic of Glass Soup and its predecessor White Apples. I for one and am happy that the author has returned to his weird imagery of yore ' a la Bones of the Moon and Child Across the Sky ' but that is merely a personal whim as many readers were ehthralled by the very subtle weridness of the likes of The Wooden Sea and Kissing the Beehive. As with all of his books his characters are brilliantly alive and reactive to the scenes he sets, they are consumate in their life be they human, bear or otherwise ! ......and he is an absolute master in teasing the readers sensiblities and dangling carrots of wonder in front of your eyes causing you to read on and finish the book. I often wonder what it would be like to actually listen to Carroll read from his own words and would have no doubt that he would have made a fine travelling storyteller in medieval times.
Is it fantasy ?....all fiction is fantasy so that question is not really one you should be asking...
Is it frightening ?....Is it this ?..is it that ?...
Why are you reading this review when you should be reading the book and finding out for yourself and eating his carrots !

The important thing to remember when thinking about _White Apples_ and its follow up, _Glass Soup_, is that these are primarily love stories. The tensions between chaos and control, the willingness to love the current form of the universe while maintaining openness toward its eventual demise, are all analogs of romantic love: what preserves it, what kills it, what makes it grow. Carroll doesn't write genre fiction, but if he did, he is probably best understood as a magical -- or even supernatural -- realist. He maps our real lives, and our emotional lives, onto a fantastic landscape. His books are our hearts writ large. Only the imaginative can comprehend the insights provided by such imaginative work. If you're not used to this type of writing, try it...with an open mind.

Speaking of cracked, this is another Jonathan Carroll book. What else could we expect? This time we are introduced to characters who are dead - except when they were but aren't. Or is it they were alive but they were also dead? Maybe none of that is true.

What is true is that this is a very funny book. Carroll, for those of you who haven't read him (yet), knows how to put together a story. Sometimes they are put together better than at other times, but they are always interesting to read.

Creative to the max, we get to tour both our world and the world of the dead - actually one person's world of the dead. I recommend this one highly. It is easily read over a weekend and will help your attitude as you head into Monday.

This was my first time reading jonathan carroll and I really enjoyed it. Wasn't sure at first beacause I didn't know anything about him besides what I read in a review. I cannot wait to read more!

This will probably be a short review - which is odd given how much I love Jonathan Carroll's books. I read them out of order, so I am always a bit lost in his world(s). The same characters appear in several books, but I can't keep track of what they've done and how they are all connected...but I am perfectly fine with that. In fact, I love it.

I was lucky enough to attend one of his readings of "White Apples" - and was sucked into his universe. Life, death, love, bull terriers, life sized bags of caramels...his "magical realism" (per his website) is a delight.

For instance, I can be reading along - interested enough in the first character in "Glass Soup", Simon Haden, when suddenly, the following paragraph yanks my eyebrows up into my hairline.

"If someone had told Simon Haden that he was a colossal prick and why, he would not have understood. He would not have denied it, he would not have understood. Because pretty people think the world should forgive whatever their sins are simply because they exist."

"He finished in the bathroom and went to the bedroom. The envelope containing the day's instructions lay on the dresser. In his underpants and sheer black socks, he picked it up and tore it open."

"A little man the size of a candy bar stepped out of the envelope and into his hand. `Haden, how you doin'?'"

HELLO! My attention has been kicked into overdrive and I remember why I like these books so much. I love being caught off guard.

The story progresses as Simon gets onto his tour bus, "There were a few people, a few animals, two cartoon characters, and an almost six foot tall bag of caramels."

I don't mean to suggest that Carroll's writing or characters or plot are goofy or silly...everything has its reason for existing in his world. Everything is a symbol, a link to another book or another character's life.

I am a lazy Carroll reader, I must admit. I KNOW there is so much more to be gleaned from his books, but I mostly just settle back and enjoy the ride.

"God's office was nothing special. By the way it was furnished it could just as easily have belonged to a North Dakota dentist or some comb-over in middle management. The secretary/receptionist was a forty-something nondescript who told Haden in a neutral voice to take a seat. "He'll be with you in a minute." Then she went back to typing - on a typewriter. God's secretary used a manual typewriter."

But still? Sometimes I put down this box of literary bon-bons and savor an idea like this one:
"Another time they might have had a rewarding relationship. But there are people we meet in life that miss being important to us by inches, days or heartbeats. Another place or time or emotional frame of mind and we would willingly fall into their arms; gladly take up their challenge or invitation. But as it is, we encounter them when we are discontent or content and they are not. Whatever serious chemistry might have possible if, isn't."

Hmmm. Maybe this review wasn't that short after all.

Jonathan Carroll is one very strange writer! This is the first book of his that I have read, and I certainly intend to read many more of them. I understand that this is a sequel to one of his other books, but it certainly stands on its own after some initial confusion. The whole book is surreal, and there is a shock and surprise on every page.I certainly don't want to spoil anyone's enjoyment who hasn't read the book, so I refuse to discuss the plot, except to say that it kept me quite interested from beginning to end. If you want to find out why God is a polar bear named Bob, you're just going to have to read the book for yourself!

I'm a big Jonathan Carroll fan, ever since I read The Land of Laughs: A Novel. Carroll manages to mix mundane with mystical in a very charming way. Glass Soup continues where White Apples left the story of Vincent, Isabelle and their child messiah. This makes recommending this book very straightforward: if you've read White Apples and enjoyed it, Glass Soup is a must read book. If you haven't read White Apples, start there.

That said, I think this is quite a worthy sequel to White Apples. The story is quite as odd and profound as it was before. Carroll weaves the events beautifully, as the main characters travel around Vienna and cross the borders between life and death. There's odd humour, curious characters, and fairly deep thinking. The opening of the book is delightfully surreal.

This book is a sequel to "White Apples," but you'll be able to understand it just fine without reading the first book. It's a surrealistic tale of the struggle between good and chaos, and the main characters slip back and forth between modern-day Vienna and a dream world. It's frequently very funny and I find the characters likable despite their flaws.

I didn't like this book as much as its predecessor, however. For one thing, it goes over some of the same explanatory ground. I suppose this is good if you've never read the first book or if you've forgotten it, but otherwise it's a bit tiresome. Second, the plot is just a bit too unpredictable. Not that I want to be able to predict everything, of course. But the danger of a plot involving God, chaos, and dream worlds is that you can make just about anything happen any time you want to, and the helpless reader can't really complain that it's unbelievable. I mean, if you're willing to swallow octopus bus drivers and people made of butter, anything goes, right? But this can make it just a bit too easy for the heroes to and villians to accomplish their goals. The entire plot is sort of one big deus ex machina. Finally, I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, not too mention that it leaves several loose ends.

All these criticisms aside, however, it really is an enjoyable book and I do recommend it. I just wish it was as good as some of the author's other works.

This novel is a pretty good attempt at transcendence and deep ruminations on life and death, but a lack of focus keeps the story a few steps away from genius. In fact, those very same transcendent thoughts come across as abrupt statements, rather than ideas that arise organically, while the sly humor is also occasionally effective but usually seems forced. The vaguely surreal plotline is complex and intricately constructed, but many aspects are equally under-developed and poorly explained, especially the functioning of chaos and most of the characters' motivations. And speaking of inconsistent characters, most of them here display a social snobbery and emotional promiscuousness that is very difficult to love. Jonathan Carroll also has the habit of breaking the momentum of his story with dreadfully boring and sappy dissertations on the complex emotions of shifting relationships, which may seem deep at first but take on the characteristics of the worst of over-written but under-conceived romance novels. Carroll is a strong writer with some potentially groundbreaking ideas, but he needs to decide what kinds of themes and characterizations he's really trying to explore, before those explorations can really go anywhere interesting. [~doomsdayer520~]