jaimc's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
jrmama42's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a hoot! Time travel, quirky characters, totally absurd plot - what a fun read. The author obviously had a blast creating and moving his characters around. It's not sci-fi (despite the time travel), just a very creative story that requires you to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the ride.
moxiedoll's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it from start to finish. I think I might have a found a new author to obsess over.
jyan's review against another edition
4.0
3.5. Carroll is an author fascinated with examining dying; not death, the final ending of it all, but the process of dying, of coming to terms with your past, with reconciling with the mistakes you've made, and it's always fascinating to see how he uses the fantastic as metaphors for these very human elements. His idea of coming to terms with your past by literally confronted your previous selves is fascinating, but I feel he adds a few too many elements to create a muddled whole. Still, it's rarely less than gripping, even if the characters don't feel as rounded as many of his previous creations.
marhill31's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve spent the last month of 2015 reading three novels by Jonathan Carroll. The Wooden Sea is the third of the Carroll novels I’ve read. You can look at the reviews of the other two Carroll novels: White Apples and Glass Soup here. I will admit after reading these novels that Jonathan Carroll has joined my must read author list. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these works and they have shown me how far the boundaries of fantasy fiction can extend.
The Wooden Sea is the story of small town police chief, Frannie McCabe of Crane’s View, New York. Chief McCabe has a three-legged dog that drops dead in front of him and the event takes him on a life-altering ride throughout the novel unveiling the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
I could not help but think of this passage of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. {1 Corinthians 13:1-8 The Message Bible}
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians in that passage of New Testament Scripture what the true meaning of love is in 1st century Greek Culture. It seems to me by happenstance that Carroll has woven the same theme in the Wooden Sea (as well as White Apples & Glass Soup). The Wooden Sea would never be mistaken for a Christian novel, but there is spiritual resonance along with touches of the surrealistic and fantastic interwoven together making it a surprising novel with emotion and depth.
The only issue I had with the novel was the ending. The abrupt ending of the novel left me wanting more time with Chief McCabe and his wife, Magda. However, this novel was my favorite of the Carroll novels and I will give it my highest recommendation as one of my best reads of 2015.
The Wooden Sea is the story of small town police chief, Frannie McCabe of Crane’s View, New York. Chief McCabe has a three-legged dog that drops dead in front of him and the event takes him on a life-altering ride throughout the novel unveiling the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
I could not help but think of this passage of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. {1 Corinthians 13:1-8 The Message Bible}
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians in that passage of New Testament Scripture what the true meaning of love is in 1st century Greek Culture. It seems to me by happenstance that Carroll has woven the same theme in the Wooden Sea (as well as White Apples & Glass Soup). The Wooden Sea would never be mistaken for a Christian novel, but there is spiritual resonance along with touches of the surrealistic and fantastic interwoven together making it a surprising novel with emotion and depth.
The only issue I had with the novel was the ending. The abrupt ending of the novel left me wanting more time with Chief McCabe and his wife, Magda. However, this novel was my favorite of the Carroll novels and I will give it my highest recommendation as one of my best reads of 2015.
strongman's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book! So unique and visual and fun. A great surprise find! "Sunlit surrealism."
thecommonswings's review against another edition
4.0
If any book demands a reread almost immediately, it’s this. I fully suspect this is actually a five star book that I haven’t really begun to fully comprehend. It’s the most formally challenging Carroll book to utilise the stranger aspects of his fiction, almost as if he decided to write a huge rambling epic of a book and then deliberately chip off an end of it and have that as the novel. There’s a real sense of this being the tip of a stranger and wilder and considerably more epic novel that Carroll is determined not to give us. All the elements are there, and unless Carroll provides us with a late period belated sequel they all feel like strands disappearing into the void. Which is somehow maddening but also immensely freeing
It’s also Carroll’s funniest book. Subverting the buddy movie formula by getting yourself stuck with various different iterations of yourself at different ages is a glorious idea (I have always intended to do something similar and am glad I won’t be treading on already trodden paths done here), and Carroll mines it for comedy and pathos and so much more. It’s a really strange book and feels somehow the most elusive book he’s written but also puts the White Apple/ Glass Soup books into context. It also seeds their hero as a schoolmate of Frannie as well which I particularly enjoyed. I do love it when an author subtly brings together his universe
It’s also Carroll’s funniest book. Subverting the buddy movie formula by getting yourself stuck with various different iterations of yourself at different ages is a glorious idea (I have always intended to do something similar and am glad I won’t be treading on already trodden paths done here), and Carroll mines it for comedy and pathos and so much more. It’s a really strange book and feels somehow the most elusive book he’s written but also puts the White Apple/ Glass Soup books into context. It also seeds their hero as a schoolmate of Frannie as well which I particularly enjoyed. I do love it when an author subtly brings together his universe
nferre's review against another edition
3.0
Not only have I never read Jonathan Carroll, I don't think I've ever read this genre - although I'm not quite sure I know which genre it is. Sci-fi? Fantasy? Metaphysical something or other?
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed Carroll's writing. I found his main character Frannie, at all ages, totally engaging and believable. I wish the relationship with his wife had been further developed, but loved the relationship with the stepdaughter as well.
I felt like I was a participant in someone's bizarre dream and read the book with that in mind. I tried not to figure anything out and just go along for the ride (partially because I just couldn't find the meaning behind the twists and turns in the plot). So I finished this last night and went on to have my own bizarre dreams!! :-)
I too felt unsatisfied with the ending.
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed Carroll's writing. I found his main character Frannie, at all ages, totally engaging and believable. I wish the relationship with his wife had been further developed, but loved the relationship with the stepdaughter as well.
I felt like I was a participant in someone's bizarre dream and read the book with that in mind. I tried not to figure anything out and just go along for the ride (partially because I just couldn't find the meaning behind the twists and turns in the plot). So I finished this last night and went on to have my own bizarre dreams!! :-)
I too felt unsatisfied with the ending.
mariko88's review against another edition
4.0
Ultimo libro della trilogia di Crane's View.
Finalmente un libro interamente dedicato a Frannie McCabe, che compariva con ruoli marginali nei due libri precedenti, e si rivela un personaggio forte e carismatico che aiutato dal suo io più giovane e ribelle cerca di ritrovare le redini della sue vita. Tra viaggio nel tempo, animali che resuscitano, piume, alieni e omicidi il lettore viene trascinato in un vortice fantastico da cui uscirà meravigliato e soddisfatto.
"Come si rema su un mare di legno?". Lo scopriremo insieme al protagonista.
27 dic 2009, 14:06:59
Finalmente un libro interamente dedicato a Frannie McCabe, che compariva con ruoli marginali nei due libri precedenti, e si rivela un personaggio forte e carismatico che aiutato dal suo io più giovane e ribelle cerca di ritrovare le redini della sue vita. Tra viaggio nel tempo, animali che resuscitano, piume, alieni e omicidi il lettore viene trascinato in un vortice fantastico da cui uscirà meravigliato e soddisfatto.
"Come si rema su un mare di legno?". Lo scopriremo insieme al protagonista.
27 dic 2009, 14:06:59
pelevolcana's review against another edition
5.0
The time travel plot in this book is really not what grabbed me about it. The main character is just very very like able. Since the book is in the first person, we read all his thoughts. He is a genuine, kind, and loving human being.