REVIEW: The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

The Ghost in Love
by Jonathan Carroll
Adult Fiction
3/5 stars

Carroll does some very interesting and clever things with the ideas of ghosts and the afterlife, which, along with some great characters and a few moments of pure emotion, really is what I was hoping to get from this book, and I did. It was an interesting and thought-provoking journey, though I wouldn't say I agreed with the ideas put forth.

The convoluted story had me guessing and turning pages. I liked the feel of this story -its world and its style- and with good plot and compelling characters, I can't complain. 

Carroll meshed so many ideas into his version of afterlife, life after death, and so on. There are ghosts, reincarnated beings, angels, all sorts of details pulled from all kinds of theology and ideas, plus several that Carroll made up himself. How he played with reality is probably what I enjoyed most with this story. We got to see a lot more about this world by being able to experience it through a variety of characters, including a ghost, the Angel of Death, and a dog, who all see different versions or facets of the same reality. It's fascinating.

The writing style captivated me, pumped with emotion, and gently guiding me through the tale. Carroll makes me feel for these characters; better, he lets me feel through them. I see what they see, think what they think, feel what they feel. Any secrets kept from the reader pertain to the plot, not the characters, and I liked that. The book jumps around from scene to scene, character to character, feeding us relevant bits of the story, instead of staying with a specific character or even chronology. I really love this type of narration. It feels adventurous, daring, untamed.

 

There were a few things I didn't like about this story: Several references to lesbianism, a few intimate and/or explicit details, and the underlying theme that -slight spoilers- man is outgrowing God. Or, more specifically, that mankind is evolving out of its need for God. I don't know if it was meant to be agnostic, atheistic, a moral or social commentary, or just a storytelling tool. That underlying theme made the story possible and interesting, so for the book it's thought-provoking, but I can't say I took any great meaning from this. For me, it was just an entertaining read.

There are no plot threads left untied. The overall story could be considered open-ended, but there was enough closure provided for a satisfactory ending.

Overall an entertaining and intriguing read, but I'd definitely consider The Ghost in Love a mature or PG-13 rating. Despite the bits I didn't like, the style, the writing, and the story were all so captivating that I'd still give Carroll's novels another try.

BOOK REVIEW: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

 

In The Brief History of the Dead, Brockmeier uses the idea that, after a person dies, they remain in a world and state similar to life as long as there is someone still among the living who remembers them. When all those who remember them have died, they move on to the next stage of death, which remains a mystery.

The first half of the book held my complete focus. I was absorbed. Brockmeier kept me in a state of suspense, teasing me through the mystery of what exactly was going on, but after the details came into focus, the story quickly lost momentum, because there is not enough plot to keep this book moving. The story derailed with long stretches of prose and pages of description that may or may not have held some second meaning. It left me with an overall sense of 'why?' 

The story itself -and where it doesn't lead- is probably what bothered me. This book has a great concept, and a good start, but it doesn't carry through with enough story or purpose. Everything in this book just is. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. There is no change and there is no potential for change, not for the world or for any of the characters.

The even-numbered chapters follow Laura Byrd, still among the living, trapped in the Antarctic. These scenes in the icy tundra were the hardest for me to get through. Since Laura is alone, there is very little dialogue, only page after page of prose and description. Admittedly, I am a dialogue person, but there is a good way to do large lengths of prose, and in my opinion this was not it. What was meant to be suspenseful or heart-pounding, was made slow and plodding by the tragically impersonal way it was related.

The odd-numbered chapters are devoted to the dead in memoriam, and these were much more interesting. It was the reason I liked this book so much in the beginning, the reason I so hoped to love it. But Brockmeier tried to focus on too many individual characters who had nothing to add to the overall story. Instead of evolving into some story-driving subplot, the dead only served as points for reflection on life. They don't even experience development or much personal revelation. Everyone had questions, but no one got answers, including me. Again, it filled me with the frustration of 'why, why, why?'
 
This book reaches at times into the high-brow end of literary fiction, a little too wordy and all-encompassing for my taste. With so many dead characters, and Laura Byrd contemplating her own demise, there is plenty of reflection on lives lived. In fact, the main focus of the book seemed to be remembering tiny, inconsequential details of one's life. It got stale fairly fast.

I feel like Brockmeier was trying to be deep and insightful, but sacrificed everything else in pursuit of it. Relating to the characters became difficult, and so did cheering them on because by the halfway point I realized it was in vain. There were great opportunities with this setup, but it wound up feeling disjointed, unfocused, and at the end, disappointing.

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier gets two stars and shuffled off to the Not To Read column.