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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.
onecrab's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoy the worlds Mr. Carroll creates. He has a vivid imagination, a witty writing style, and I have a hard time putting his books down. Great book to get lost with on the train or a weekend.
woodge's review against another edition
4.0
I dig the Carroll weirdness. My 2nd Carroll book. Won't be my last.
pussreboots's review against another edition
5.0
If Joseph C. Lincoln had set down to write The Man Who Folded Himself he would have come up with something like what I'm currently reading. Fran, a small town chief of police, has found himself in the middle of a time traveling mystery / conspiracy where the fate of Crane's View rests on his ability to sort things out. The first chapter didn't do much for me but by the second chapter the quirky plot began to surface. By the third chapter I was hooked all the way through the epilogue which seemed like a tidy albeit somewhat ambiguous (as many time travel books are) ending.
ksparks's review
5.0
There aren't that many authors who I love. I realized within in a few pages that Jonathan Carroll is one of them. I had just spent a few days starting different books, and setting them aside unsatisfied. And then this book came along as a perfect example of what I'm looking for in a book. An instantly real-seeming, believable and lovable narrator, writing that is so funny and unique and true you want to clip all of it's sentences to share with other people, time travel, a surreal and mysterious adventure, and a love story (but in a broad sense, as in love of life.) This is a writer with a lot of heart and wisdom. I can't wait to read his other books.