Customer Reviews

Outside the Dog Museum

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

 

 

Amazing how this author handles his story... or stories?... there are so many of them. The main impression this novel left in me is the vivacity of its writing. It gives off tremendous energy and I just wonder how you can achieve that in a WRITTEN medium. It's like looking beyond the pages at the reality of the author's mind. Everything's for real, and funny how such a "real" book can contain so many supernatural elements. All in all, I'm amazed by the abilities of Jonathan Carroll.

When the likes of fantasy authors as diverse as Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub and Jonathan Lethem are praising Jonathan Carroll's work, offering it the finest compliments that they can muster, then you know that Carroll is an author worthy of your attention (All three provided memorable blurbs in the back cover of this book's paperback edition.). Truly, without question, Carroll is both a memorable writer and a fine literary stylist. However, at least not in "Outside the Dog Museum", should he be regarded as a writer of fantasy. Instead, I concur with another reviewer who noted that this novel is truly a philosophical novel draped in moments of magical realism. Carroll's usage of magical realism may not be as beguiling as those from the likes of Borges and Garcia Marquez for example, but nonetheless, he manages to do a fine job of it in this novel.

Caroll's fine prose is written in a breezy, almost conversational, style, that works well in his depictions of the protagonist, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Harry Radcliffe, and his intense personal and romantic relationship with both of his mistresses, Claire and Fanny, who know each other well. After winning his award - and recovering from a recent divorce through the aid of a bizarre mental therapist - Radcliffe is offered a commission by the Sultan of Saru - a fictitious Gulf State emirate - to be a dog museum in honor of the sultan's late father, the previous ruler of the emirate. What follows is a series of fascinating, and occasionally confusing, adventures and misadventures for Harry Radcliffe set in both the emirate and Vienna, Austria - where the museum is ultimately built. Not only must he contend with his complex personal relationships with both of his mistresses and his therapist, Harry is unexpectedly confronted with a fundamentalist Islamic rebellion against the Sultan of Saru within his emirate. Until the very end Carroll does a fine literary juggling act, but his less than memorable conclusion is the main reason why his fine novel isn't earning my highest praise.

"I read the reissue of OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM and was blown away by it. It may very well be his best book. I made the mistake, the first time I read it 14 years ago, of thinking of it as a fantasy novel instead of a mainstream philosophical novel with fantasy tropes. Carroll, like Graham Joyce, uses fantasy tropes but he isn't a fantasy writer. There's an argument that Mahler's 10 symphonies are really only parts of one vast search for the meaning of life. I think of Carroll's novels the same way. They're all a search for transcendence through mystic or surrealist means."

Carroll continually amazes me in his writing style. He writes in a way that is both casual and literal, allowing the reader to fully submerge themselves into the story. His dialogue reads as a movie or play and not as a book, creating an image that is fully alive within your mind (such as leaving the tedious details out that many writers feel are necessary, such as a question and answer, where Carroll would state the question and imply an answer by continuing on with the story).

I think it is because of this that I still gave this book a four star. The book is great, until you begin to get to the end and wonder where it was going. It had a fluid storyline that developed and intrigued the reader, but then it turns into something that didn't have a connection (or, at the most, a very loose connection) to what was written before it. But, all in all, a story was told and ideas were perceived, not to mention the smooth and enjoyable fluidity of his words, which creates a book worth reading.

Harry Radcliffe lives a complicated life. He's a brilliant architect (if he does say so himself) who's recently recovered from a nervous breakdown. He has two mistresses and a demanding shaman, and now he's being corralled into designing the sultan of Saru's dog museum. Could things get more complicated? Oh yes they can, and do, under the skillful pen of Jonathan Carroll, American magical realist and author of fascinating, intricate novels about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

If you are familiar with Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum will be as good as you've come to expect from this fine author; if you are not familiar with Carroll, do your mind a favor and expand it a bit!

Also, check out the author's web site for short stories, plays, etc.: www.jonathancarroll.com

There are books I read again and again. Some of them are old friends who give me a place to come home to, some of them disturb me in ways I need to be disturbed.

Outside the Dog Museum always encourages me in ways I most want to be encouraged. I love this book. More than any other.

The Sultan of Saru tries to hire Pritzer Prize winning architect Harry Radcliffe to design a dog museum, but though he takes the bribes like a brand new car, Harry declines. Recently divorced over his Colonel Sanders' recipe and balancing two beautiful strong women, Fanny Neville and Claire Stansfield, at the same time he is a recovering mental breakdown patient struggling with what is reality under the guide of psychiatrist Venasque.

Reality strikes in the form of an earthquake devastating Harry's Santa Barbara home. Venasque's dog and the Sultan rescue Harry, who now feels obligated to both so agrees to the zillion dollar canine museum. In the Saru, Harry feels the magic is now in him, but soon finds himself in the middle of a Civil War in which his patron dies. Still Harry begins to understand the meaning of reality as magically altering when perceptions change while Harry also changes.

OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM is a fantastic allegorical tale of a not so nice individual falling through the rabbit's hole. The amusing story line contains a powerful message while making a case that perception is relative. Readers will wonder if Harry's physical and mental transformations are magical or just the antihero going further over the edge following the insane shopping spree, the earthquake, and the war. Fans of metaphorical action tales will appreciate this fine satire by an author with the perfect surname even if Harry lacks Alice's innocence.

Harriet Klausner

Jonathan Carroll proved that he is one of the best writers in the world. All his books are classics. Outside the dog museum is a book that in few words cant be described in words. Magic and sensitive also combining a supernatural essence this book is one of the best.

Harry, a famous architect recently recovered from a bout of insanity, has been asked by the Sultan of Saru to build a Dog Museum. The rest of the book is centered around Harry's responses to this request-- refusing, agreeing, making plans, changing plans, understanding and failing to understand.

There's lots of Carroll's famous magic realism sprinkled along the way, and at least a little bit of emotional exploration carried out via Harry's relationships with his two very different mistresses.

Unfortunately, this book is cursed with too much glibness-- the achilles heel that sometimes makes Carroll feel dangerously like a more esoteric Tom Robbins. Still-- clever, well-written, and generally entertaining.

Everyone tells you how good it is, and if you see it at a party you will almost certainly have some, but not many people will drive to the grocery store at midnight to get some.

I enjoyed the book and it certainly is well written and contains some absolutely wonderful turns of phrase but it just isn't something that I can get really wrapped up in.

The story basically just seems to go along until we reach the end. There are some revelations, some tragedy, some triumph but in the end it just really doesn't do that much for me.