The Wooden Sea: A Novel

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Frannie McCabe was an obnoxious juvenile delinquent in his teens, but has settled down into comfortable middle age in the small town of Crane's View as its chief of police; like other Jonathan Carroll protagonists, the hero of The Wooden Sea is about to find himself caught up in uncanny goings-on. First a dog walks into his office and drops dead--more importantly, it will not stay buried. Then a quarreling couple simply disappears, and then Frannie finds himself haunted by his younger, more abrasive self, and by visions of the last day of his life, as an old man about to be knocked down by a motorbike in Vienna.

What all this means and what lessons Frannie is supposed to take from it all are where the questions lie; anyone who has read an earlier Carroll novel will know the sorts of thing that are liable to happen, the sorts of thing that they are likely to mean--but any reader of an earlier Carroll novel will almost certainly be buying any of his books they can get hold of, anyway. This is an inventive and moving fantasy by a writer who more or less defined dark fantasy as a critical term. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Immensely popular abroad, Carroll (The Marriage of Sticks) has yet to achieve commensurate stature on his native shore. His latest novel combines George Perec's pleasure in puzzles and Philip Dick's interest in metaphysics. Frannie McCabe is the 47-year-old police chief of Crane's View, N.Y., who one day adopts an old, three-legged stray dog. This is typical of his style, as his wife, Magda, recognizes: "The more goofy they are, the more you like them, huh, Fran?" The dog, Old Vertue, dies; the weirdness begins when McCabe tries to bury him. The burial is interrupted by a report about the perpetually battling Schiavo couple, who seem to have tidied up and abandoned their usually squalid house. McCabe's investigation of the domicile turns up a bizarrely patterned feather which, along with the dog's carcass, reappears in the trunk of Magda's car the next day, spooking McCabe. Even spookier, Pauline, McCabe's stepdaughter, now has a tattoo that exactly matches the feather. Then McCabe's world turns surreal: he is visited by his teenage self. The adolescent McCabe, who had been a notorious delinquent, leads his older self to Astropel, a black extraterrestrial. The aliens know Crane's View has some connection to the cosmic puzzle of the universe itself, but they need McCabe to figure out the specifics. Astropel shuttles Frannie back and forth in time, piling up such clues as a maniac Dutch millionaire from 2030 and a koan ("How do you row a boat on a wooden sea?") pronounced by a dead high school girl. Carroll's best set piece shows McCabe watching Crane's View physically fast forward from the '60s to the '90s. Although the story's resolution is weaker than its buildup, this wonderfully offbeat novel will further augment Carroll's growing reputation as the pop writer's pop writer. (Feb.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (February 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765300133
• ISBN-13: 978-0765300133
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,135 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wild ride.. destination unknown, August 10, 2001

By	Pamela Goldman "desertpam" (Scottsdale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wooden Sea (Hardcover)

I bought this book after hearing a reference to it on an NPR show about "Summer Reading" lists. The person recommending it read a passage from early on -- I think it was a description of the dog Old Vertue -- which struck a chord with me. I thought anything that starts out this odd must get odder and be quite fun in the process. I was right.

But I didn't expect to be as sucked in as I was to the story and its various turns and bizarre events. I could not put this book down.. and as soon as I finished reading it I started it again. After the first read I was left with questions -- I think I took some of the more fantastic elements of the plot a bit literally -- the answers to which become more apparent on the second read -- which I approached in terms of looking at the life of Frannie McCabe, much as the first reviewer suggested. But dont see this as a reason NOT to dive into The Wooden Sea. It was well worth the journey!

The writing style is a joy: very conversational with a pearl that made me smile every few pages and at least one stunner per chapter. Carroll made me care about these people and I plan to buy his others books as soon as I finish writing this review!

And I liked the idea that seemingly odd things would occur that I did not expect -- life throws us wingers every day, okay maybe not as strange as those in the book, but I appreciate the wonder he presents the reader. Its a small book that tells a fun story and packs a lot in besides that if you care to investigate. The notion of our various "selves" at different ages being present to help us out of jams and to consult with about life's problems is a provacative one. Carroll is an author to keep an eye on, no doubt. Read this, again and again.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't stereotype Carroll, February 21, 2001

By	Andrea L. Padinha (Melbourne, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wooden Sea (Hardcover)

If you have never picked up a Carroll book because the terms "fantasy" or "science fiction" scare you, or because you are convinced that "that kind of writing" isn't for you, I urge you to move past the stereotype and give THE WOODEN SEA a chance. Carroll is an amazing novelist, severly underappreciated in this country. Since his first novel, THE LAND OF LAUGHS, he has been introducing his readers to characters who have heart, soul, a sense of wonder, and a sense of humor. His latest work is no exception. Frannie McCabe, Police Chief of Crane's View, is content and happy... until such time as he buries a dead dog only to find that it continues to come back to life. While trying to understand why, McCabe meets past and future versions of himself, is forced to make decisions that will affect those people he cares the deepest about, and searches for answers to questions that we all ask at some point in our lives: "What is life really all about? Are we alone here, or is there some higher power influencing who we are? What is death? And does any of it matter in the end? Carroll leads his readers down a mystical and imaginative path that could only be better if it never had to end. He continues to be one of my favorite authors and his latest work does not disappoint. It is no wonder that authors like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Stanislaw Lem continue to sing the praises of Jonathan Carroll.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Shock of Versimilitude, October 3, 2002

By	Robert J. Hard (Norwalk, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I rarely have time for fiction anymore, but I heard an excerpt from The Wooden Sea read aloud on NPR. Naturally, I couldn't remember the name of the book, or the author for that matter, but the wrting was so powerful and zesty--so much like the best of Dashell Hammett--that I tracked it down on the NPR web site. It turned out that the excerpt was the first page, and if the rest of the book is not quite as good, it is ALMOST as good. That's why the four stars instead of the five.

Carroll's talent for conveying a setting is so strong it's almost unnerving. The story is set in what I take to be a small town along the Hudson, north of New York City. I know what those towns are like (Irvington, Croton, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry et al.), know what they were like in the time he is describing. Carroll absolutely nails it. There was also a tiny detail about an old fart with a Jaguar. I recognized him immediately. It was my father (or someone ... like him), and believe me, this little detail gave me the shakes.

The central character, Frannie McCabe, is police chief in this small town, no small thing given his teen years as a total screw-up. Yet its really not a contradiction: Frannie young and Frannie mature is simply a guy who doesn't take any crap, and he has worked his way into a job where he doesn't have to. Hard bitten and a tad cynical he may be, but he is also caring, even loving, and thus is someone you don't mind spending some time with.

Frannie has a serious need to know what's going on. He's supposed to know what's going on. He's the top cop. But what starts going on gets weirder and weirder. Time seems to have slipped its moorings, and reality keeps replaying itself, like a film moving back and forth through an editing machine. And that's the thing: reality really is being edited in subtle and not so subtle ways.

When Frannie finds the editors, he wonders (naturally enough) whether they are messengers from God. No, they're not. I won't spoil it for people who haven't read this, but suffice to say here that the time benders are only slightly less clueless than we are.

I found the fantasy/supernatural aspect quite plausible. Some people like this stuff, some people don't. I didn't think I'd like it, but I did. It had a certain spiritual resonance without being the slightest bit preachy, and some of the concluding imagery was so emotionally engaging it put tears in my eyes.

Funnily enough, what I didn't find quite plausble was Franny being the chief of police. He's just too much of a rule breaker, too insubordinate. To me, he would have been better placed as a detective, but this is a quibble. Immediately after reading The Wooden Sea I picked up Land of Laughs, which was also excellent. As I say, I rarely have time for fiction anymore, so that should give you a clue about how much I enjoyed this.