White Apples (SIGNED) [Hardcover]

Jonathan Carroll (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Tor; First edition. edition (2002)
• ISBN-10: 0312708793
• ISBN-13: 978-0312708795
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,218,596 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

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone, but, September 19, 2003

By 

"excession" (Westfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Apples (Paperback)

If you're reading this, it's likely that it is for you. Jonathan Carroll is hard to categorize, and this book is relatively typical of his style and theme. The book's protagonist doesn't realize that he's dead (I'm not giving anything away -- it's on the back cover), and White Apples follows the series of revelations and transformations he's about to undergo as a result of the chain of events his growing "enlightenment" provokes.

The main complaint that people have about this novel is that it seems incomplete or fails to give the reader a tidy package at its conclusion: don't be put off by those criticisms, rather embrace them. Carroll doesn't write easy fiction with simple answers. If you like to ruminate about characters and themes after you finish reading, then this novel (and other Carroll novels) is for you.

White Apples comes with a reader's guide at the end that would be especially handy if you're part of a group or if you like to get an idea of what others make of the novel. I've become increasingly disenchanted with mainstream fiction and the predictability of many authors ... if this description fits you as well, it's probably time to start reading the likes of Jonathan Carroll, China Mieville, A.M. Homes, George Saunders, and the other writers who show that fiction can still be surprising.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surreal Philanderer Seeks Beautiful Non-Committal Women, November 5, 2002

By 

Eric Franklin (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Apples (Hardcover)

Vincent Ettrich was once dead. Now that he's returned to life, he has discovered that he's soon to be a father to a child the world will desperately need. Isabelle, the mother, is the one that brought him back. Pursued by destructive forces, and helped along by benificent guardians (including the unborn fetus itself), the two attempt to protect their unborn child and themselves from death, chaos, and a sinister henchman known only as "King of the Park". Somehow this all makes much more sense in the book.

Jonathan Carroll is one hell of a good writer and I look forward to reading some of his other work. Not one to be cubby-holed into a genre, this book spans fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and a beautifully portrayed look at metaphysics without so much as batting an eyelash. The dialog is written wonderfully. The scenes between Vincent and his women really sparkle. I tore through this book in a day - which I haven't done for any book in quite some time. While the book is not without a couple of loose ends, the ambience more than makes up for it and makes this one you should place high on your reading list.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Annoying, January 9, 2004

By 

Silas Traitor (The South, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Apples (Paperback)

Vincent Ettrich, the suave ladies man, goes on a date one night only to learn that he has died and come back, but can't remember anything about it. His task in a nutshell: remember everything and pass the knowledge of the afterlife to his unborn son. Each chapter of White Apples contains a surprise. Carroll won't let a dozen pages slip past without throwing out a shocker. In the beginning, I was intrigued; as the book wore on, it became grating. I wanted to like this book, but it was just too annoying. The characters were interesting, but unlikable. The bad guys were undefined and incomprehensible, and the same could be said for some of the good guys. New "rules" were constantly popping into existence to justify or limit sudden miracles or newfound powers. The characters did a lot of explaining to each other, because nothing made sense. Through it all, the reader suffers. By the end, I gained the strong impression that Carroll was making it all up as he went along, without ever having a clear idea of where he was going. That's great as a creative exercise, but not as something to sell to others in the guise of a novel. Avoid.