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The Woman Who Married a Cloud
Thirty-eight extraordinary stories from award-winning author Jonathan Carroll
For more than thirty years, Jonathan Carroll’s writing has defied genre conventions. Known for his novels—including The Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame,and many other compelling and often surreal stories—Carroll has also created an eloquent body of short fiction. The Woman Who Married a Cloud brings his stories together for the first time. In the title story, a matchmaking effort goes awry and leads one woman to a harrowing moment of self-discovery. In “The Heidelberg Cylinder,” Hell becomes so overcrowded that Satan sends some of his lost souls back to Earth. And in “Alone Alarm,” a man is kidnapped by multiple versions of himself. By turns haunting, melancholic, and enchanting, Carroll’s richly layered stories illuminate universal experiences, passions, and griefs. Described by NPR’s Alan Cheuse as “so richly imaginative, so intellectually daring,” The Woman Who Married a Cloud is essential reading for Carroll fans and short-story lovers alike.
This ebook contains an exclusive illustrated biography of the author including rare images from his personal collection.
For more than thirty years, Jonathan Carroll’s writing has defied genre conventions. Known for his novels—including The Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame,and many other compelling and often surreal stories—Carroll has also created an eloquent body of short fiction. The Woman Who Married a Cloud brings his stories together for the first time. In the title story, a matchmaking effort goes awry and leads one woman to a harrowing moment of self-discovery. In “The Heidelberg Cylinder,” Hell becomes so overcrowded that Satan sends some of his lost souls back to Earth. And in “Alone Alarm,” a man is kidnapped by multiple versions of himself. By turns haunting, melancholic, and enchanting, Carroll’s richly layered stories illuminate universal experiences, passions, and griefs. Described by NPR’s Alan Cheuse as “so richly imaginative, so intellectually daring,” The Woman Who Married a Cloud is essential reading for Carroll fans and short-story lovers alike.
This ebook contains an exclusive illustrated biography of the author including rare images from his personal collection.
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
97 people are currently reading
851 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Carroll
129 books1,165 followersJonathan Carroll (b. 1949) is an award-winning American author of modern fantasy and slipstream novels. His debut book, The Land of Laughs (1980), tells the story of a children’s author whose imagination has left the printed page and begun to influence reality. The book introduced several hallmarks of Carroll’s writing, including talking animals and worlds that straddle the thin line between reality and the surreal, a technique that has seen him compared to South American magical realists.
Outside the Dog Museum (1991) was named the best novel of the year by the British Fantasy Society, and has proven to be one of Carroll’s most popular works. Since then he has written the Crane’s View trilogy, Glass Soup (2005) and, most recently, The Ghost in Love (2008). His short stories have been collected in The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud (2012). He continues to live and write in Vienna.
Outside the Dog Museum (1991) was named the best novel of the year by the British Fantasy Society, and has proven to be one of Carroll’s most popular works. Since then he has written the Crane’s View trilogy, Glass Soup (2005) and, most recently, The Ghost in Love (2008). His short stories have been collected in The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud (2012). He continues to live and write in Vienna.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 22, 2019
i fiiiiiiinished! and it only took a couple years!
i am going to review this slowly, as i read it, the way greg is with his giant anthology. hold your applause until the end. or don't. this "review" might just be for me, as i savor a bunch of stories i have already read and celebrate jonathan carroll quietly with myself.
Mr. Fiddlehead
this is probably my favorite jonathan carroll story. it has all the elements that make him him: quirkily-named bull terriers (in this case, "elbow"), fountain pens, the blurring between imagination and reality, and deep dark betrayal. o, yes.
Uh-Oh City
this is one of his fairy-tale-feeling stories. i love the central idea of this one - of god as a consortium, but at times it feels a little cheeky to me. the turn is great, though, and i do love this story overall, but there is something unpolished and embryonic about it that makes me feel a little shy for him, somehow.
The Second Snow
sad. spooky. dogs.
The Fall Collection
this is a non-magical jonathan carroll story that still feels, somehow, as though there is magic there, something subterranean bubbling under the surface. it is very simple and very moving, and it has just enough of those jonathan carrolly flourishes to make you squint to see if anything extraordinary is happening. but,no.just a man facing his impending death, impeccably dressed.
Friend's Best Man
god, that ending! this is one of his knockouts. full of magic and loss and unlikely friendships and a dog, naturally, and oodles of ambiguous tension. i like this story very much. and vitamin d!!
The Sadness of Details
another great deity-speculation piece. i love the way jc manipulates mythologies and big questions into something that makes sense to mortals; a more practical interpretation of the ineffable.he does it frequently, and well. and naturally they contradict each other when viewed big picture, but the wealth of alternative realities he imagines always gets my blood flowing.
Waiting to Wave
this is jonathan carroll's sad little story about how magical thinking can break our already-broken hearts. i frequently have a sense of wanting to spend more time with carroll's characters, and this is one of those stories.
The Jane Fonda Room
well, what did you think hell was going to be like??
A Quarter Past You
the truth will not set you free. the truth is a horrible houseguest who brings upset and discord where there was once only joy. a really chilling story about fantasies becoming horrible reality.
My Zoondel
this is one of his closest-to-straight-horror stories. my favorite is when jonathan carroll tries to give explanations as to "why things are the way they are." and this is one of the best of those.
Learning to Leave
a funny anecdote leads to a sobering realization.
Panic Hand
a lot of good material in this story, but it still makes me uncomfortable (if you have read it, you know why), which unfortunately taints my appreciation for the more traditionally carrolly story that surrounds the ick.
A Bear in the Mouth
i am not crazy about this story, but it does feature venasque, and if you are going to be a carroll scholar, you should probably get used to seeing that name around. this story just didn't do anything for me; usually carroll takes universals, and makes them magical with his explanations. the situation he is focusing on here has the semblance of truth - of possibility; when you check your wallet you always have less or more money than you thought you did, but if you have ever been poor, you know exactly how much money you have at all times. you kind of have to.so it's a cute idea, but it doesn't have the same magic happening as when he offers hypotheses about more relatable phenomena.
Postgraduate
you know how you always fantasize about going back in time, knowing what you know now?? yeah, no, that would actually suck.
Tired Angel
this story is actually more brutal than a quarter past you, because there is no love in it. with quarter, at least there is love that goes bad because of a bad decision, this one is just pure poison. shudder.
The Dead Love You
this is one i would love to see turn into a full-length novel. the "twist" is so abrupt, which is great, but i would so love to get backstory. and i do not understand the ending to this story at all, but that's not uncommon in the carroll-verse.
Florian
short. sweet. sad. lovely.
The Life of my Crime
yay! this is the first story in this collection that i hadn't read before! this is another one of his fairy-tale type stories, where someone is punished in a real-world setting by magical means. this one feels like it would work very well as one of the anecdotes in outside the dog museum - it feels familiar, even though i know i have never read it.
A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings
an optimistic man faces his impending blindness with determination and a plan for preserving his memories only to be waylaid by jonathan carroll's preoccupation with the soul. this is not my favorite story. i don't understand why he bothered to set up the character with such great details and backstory only to undermine it with what amounts to a spiritual margin-doodle daydream.
A Flash in the Pants
houses, like dogs, start to look like their owners, for better or worse. your house loves you, misses you when you go, and is disappointed by your choices. you have made your house very sad.
Black Cocktail
review here, to save space
Crimes of the Face
oddly enough, this is another non-magical story about a dapper man, or rather about the son of a dapper man, but it is not the same dapper man from the fall collection.. got it?
Fish in a Barrel
ignorance is bliss, and sometimes a forgotten memory is simply the mind's best method of self-preservation. there is a danger in trying to remember, because while there is a place where it's all known, there is a price, and there will always be someone who takes delight in your pain. crane's view shout-out!
A Gravity Thief
Harvey had to say it again, just to taste the words on his tongue. "Fuck her." They tasted delicious. Like a hot dog with all the trimmings.
despite that closing passage, this one left me with a bad taste in my mouth. i'm not sure if i am meant to be pleased that a weak and petty man has found a way to hurt the people who have hurt him. because i'm not. what i get from this story is that a hateful and bitter person discovers a magical way to strike back at the pain of a heartache he was at least half responsible for and instead of owning up to his own culpability and shortcomings, he just puts more poison into the world. hooray?
The Great Walt of China
but this one - this is pure, wonderful jonathan carroll. it is a vincent ettrich story (yayyyyy!), and while i really need to revisit "his" novels to see how this story folds into his chronology, it's a perfect carroll piece even for people who have never read anything else in the ettrich-verse. carroll is so good at the "what-if" scenario, where life and fate are fluid and orchestrated by curious, ambivalent mystical forces that give us the opportunity to make huge, defining choices for ourselves - to make sacrifices whose ripple effects we do not comprehend at the time: what would you be willing to do? what would you be willing to give up? what will you come to regret? love this one.
The Stolen Church
jonathan carroll's version of how secrets can complicate a relationship. i love this story. it's funny and it's real - or, magic-real, anyway, and it's full of all the great details that his stories always have that makes you want to know more more more. it's pretty much perfect, down to that last pop of a line.
Alone Alarm
another really good one, and yet another riff on carroll's seemingly endless fascination with the self and encountering other selves and blah and blah, but i never get bored with his treatment of this theme which says something. i also love this title and the last sentence.
Asleep in Wolf's Clothing
a douchey man a finds himself in a fun and flattering situation gone mad. a fame fantasy about the dark side of success and the loss of what matters. a little too "noo yawk" for my taste, but it is used to comic effect.
The Language of Heaven
another vincent ettrich story!!! poor, poor vincent - the man who loves all women more than anything else in the world has the weirdest damned girl problems.
The Heidelberg Cylinder
review here, to save space
Elizabeth Thug
what happens when you try to be too clever in the already-overcomplicated dating game and find yourself outwitted. very funny.
Home on the Rain
the most alluring and powerful magic hides behind the things we see every day - the things we pass by so often, we stop even noticing them. until we do. and that ending - to me and my particular beliefs - brrrrr - chilling.
Vedran
this is a really lovely story about grief and the mourning process, the weight of memory, and the importance of objects. as always, carroll drops little nuggets of wisdom along the way, like a less-didactic The Celestine Prophecy:
"We don't pay enough attention to things. We know that, but we do it anyway. Only after it's over, or they're dead, or it's lost, or it's too late do we realize we've been speed reading life or people or whatever and missing the details."
it's a sad hollow little story, but with the possibility of hope in the unwritten after.
Water Can't Be Nervous
argh! this is that thing he does that frustrates me SO MUCH! at the beginning, it's an interesting story with good energy and then - LO! - it pans out and twists the scenario into something completely different (a la The Stolen Church) and it's fantastic and you are totally on board but then YOU GO TOO FAR, CARROLL!! and he tries to do one more twist that just causes the story to completely deflate and it turns into a sad flop.
East of Furious
this one seems to have listened to my rant, and there is only ONE major story-altering twist. and it's much better for it.
Nothing to Declare
the diaspora of lies, stealing other people's stories, and how it's not always such a bad thing. this is pretty much a perfect short story.
Let the Past Begin
another little fake-out by carroll where you think the story is going to go in a certain direction, follow a certain character, but then - wheeeee - look over here at misdirection hands!
The Woman Who Married a Cloud
women. even when they get to design the perfect man, they aren't satisfied…
holy moly!!! i finished this book and this review! hooooray! high five!
come to my blog!
i am going to review this slowly, as i read it, the way greg is with his giant anthology. hold your applause until the end. or don't. this "review" might just be for me, as i savor a bunch of stories i have already read and celebrate jonathan carroll quietly with myself.
Mr. Fiddlehead
this is probably my favorite jonathan carroll story. it has all the elements that make him him: quirkily-named bull terriers (in this case, "elbow"), fountain pens, the blurring between imagination and reality, and deep dark betrayal. o, yes.
Uh-Oh City
this is one of his fairy-tale-feeling stories. i love the central idea of this one - of god as a consortium, but at times it feels a little cheeky to me. the turn is great, though, and i do love this story overall, but there is something unpolished and embryonic about it that makes me feel a little shy for him, somehow.
The Second Snow
sad. spooky. dogs.
The Fall Collection
this is a non-magical jonathan carroll story that still feels, somehow, as though there is magic there, something subterranean bubbling under the surface. it is very simple and very moving, and it has just enough of those jonathan carrolly flourishes to make you squint to see if anything extraordinary is happening. but,no.just a man facing his impending death, impeccably dressed.
Friend's Best Man
god, that ending! this is one of his knockouts. full of magic and loss and unlikely friendships and a dog, naturally, and oodles of ambiguous tension. i like this story very much. and vitamin d!!
The Sadness of Details
another great deity-speculation piece. i love the way jc manipulates mythologies and big questions into something that makes sense to mortals; a more practical interpretation of the ineffable.he does it frequently, and well. and naturally they contradict each other when viewed big picture, but the wealth of alternative realities he imagines always gets my blood flowing.
Waiting to Wave
this is jonathan carroll's sad little story about how magical thinking can break our already-broken hearts. i frequently have a sense of wanting to spend more time with carroll's characters, and this is one of those stories.
The Jane Fonda Room
well, what did you think hell was going to be like??
A Quarter Past You
the truth will not set you free. the truth is a horrible houseguest who brings upset and discord where there was once only joy. a really chilling story about fantasies becoming horrible reality.
My Zoondel
this is one of his closest-to-straight-horror stories. my favorite is when jonathan carroll tries to give explanations as to "why things are the way they are." and this is one of the best of those.
Learning to Leave
a funny anecdote leads to a sobering realization.
Panic Hand
a lot of good material in this story, but it still makes me uncomfortable (if you have read it, you know why), which unfortunately taints my appreciation for the more traditionally carrolly story that surrounds the ick.
A Bear in the Mouth
i am not crazy about this story, but it does feature venasque, and if you are going to be a carroll scholar, you should probably get used to seeing that name around. this story just didn't do anything for me; usually carroll takes universals, and makes them magical with his explanations. the situation he is focusing on here has the semblance of truth - of possibility; when you check your wallet you always have less or more money than you thought you did, but if you have ever been poor, you know exactly how much money you have at all times. you kind of have to.so it's a cute idea, but it doesn't have the same magic happening as when he offers hypotheses about more relatable phenomena.
Postgraduate
you know how you always fantasize about going back in time, knowing what you know now?? yeah, no, that would actually suck.
Tired Angel
this story is actually more brutal than a quarter past you, because there is no love in it. with quarter, at least there is love that goes bad because of a bad decision, this one is just pure poison. shudder.
The Dead Love You
this is one i would love to see turn into a full-length novel. the "twist" is so abrupt, which is great, but i would so love to get backstory. and i do not understand the ending to this story at all, but that's not uncommon in the carroll-verse.
Florian
short. sweet. sad. lovely.
The Life of my Crime
yay! this is the first story in this collection that i hadn't read before! this is another one of his fairy-tale type stories, where someone is punished in a real-world setting by magical means. this one feels like it would work very well as one of the anecdotes in outside the dog museum - it feels familiar, even though i know i have never read it.
A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings
an optimistic man faces his impending blindness with determination and a plan for preserving his memories only to be waylaid by jonathan carroll's preoccupation with the soul. this is not my favorite story. i don't understand why he bothered to set up the character with such great details and backstory only to undermine it with what amounts to a spiritual margin-doodle daydream.
A Flash in the Pants
houses, like dogs, start to look like their owners, for better or worse. your house loves you, misses you when you go, and is disappointed by your choices. you have made your house very sad.
Black Cocktail
review here, to save space
Crimes of the Face
oddly enough, this is another non-magical story about a dapper man, or rather about the son of a dapper man, but it is not the same dapper man from the fall collection.. got it?
Fish in a Barrel
ignorance is bliss, and sometimes a forgotten memory is simply the mind's best method of self-preservation. there is a danger in trying to remember, because while there is a place where it's all known, there is a price, and there will always be someone who takes delight in your pain. crane's view shout-out!
A Gravity Thief
Harvey had to say it again, just to taste the words on his tongue. "Fuck her." They tasted delicious. Like a hot dog with all the trimmings.
despite that closing passage, this one left me with a bad taste in my mouth. i'm not sure if i am meant to be pleased that a weak and petty man has found a way to hurt the people who have hurt him. because i'm not. what i get from this story is that a hateful and bitter person discovers a magical way to strike back at the pain of a heartache he was at least half responsible for and instead of owning up to his own culpability and shortcomings, he just puts more poison into the world. hooray?
The Great Walt of China
but this one - this is pure, wonderful jonathan carroll. it is a vincent ettrich story (yayyyyy!), and while i really need to revisit "his" novels to see how this story folds into his chronology, it's a perfect carroll piece even for people who have never read anything else in the ettrich-verse. carroll is so good at the "what-if" scenario, where life and fate are fluid and orchestrated by curious, ambivalent mystical forces that give us the opportunity to make huge, defining choices for ourselves - to make sacrifices whose ripple effects we do not comprehend at the time: what would you be willing to do? what would you be willing to give up? what will you come to regret? love this one.
The Stolen Church
jonathan carroll's version of how secrets can complicate a relationship. i love this story. it's funny and it's real - or, magic-real, anyway, and it's full of all the great details that his stories always have that makes you want to know more more more. it's pretty much perfect, down to that last pop of a line.
Alone Alarm
another really good one, and yet another riff on carroll's seemingly endless fascination with the self and encountering other selves and blah and blah, but i never get bored with his treatment of this theme which says something. i also love this title and the last sentence.
Asleep in Wolf's Clothing
a douchey man a finds himself in a fun and flattering situation gone mad. a fame fantasy about the dark side of success and the loss of what matters. a little too "noo yawk" for my taste, but it is used to comic effect.
The Language of Heaven
another vincent ettrich story!!! poor, poor vincent - the man who loves all women more than anything else in the world has the weirdest damned girl problems.
The Heidelberg Cylinder
review here, to save space
Elizabeth Thug
what happens when you try to be too clever in the already-overcomplicated dating game and find yourself outwitted. very funny.
Home on the Rain
the most alluring and powerful magic hides behind the things we see every day - the things we pass by so often, we stop even noticing them. until we do. and that ending - to me and my particular beliefs - brrrrr - chilling.
Vedran
this is a really lovely story about grief and the mourning process, the weight of memory, and the importance of objects. as always, carroll drops little nuggets of wisdom along the way, like a less-didactic The Celestine Prophecy:
"We don't pay enough attention to things. We know that, but we do it anyway. Only after it's over, or they're dead, or it's lost, or it's too late do we realize we've been speed reading life or people or whatever and missing the details."
it's a sad hollow little story, but with the possibility of hope in the unwritten after.
Water Can't Be Nervous
argh! this is that thing he does that frustrates me SO MUCH! at the beginning, it's an interesting story with good energy and then - LO! - it pans out and twists the scenario into something completely different (a la The Stolen Church) and it's fantastic and you are totally on board but then YOU GO TOO FAR, CARROLL!! and he tries to do one more twist that just causes the story to completely deflate and it turns into a sad flop.
East of Furious
this one seems to have listened to my rant, and there is only ONE major story-altering twist. and it's much better for it.
Nothing to Declare
the diaspora of lies, stealing other people's stories, and how it's not always such a bad thing. this is pretty much a perfect short story.
Let the Past Begin
another little fake-out by carroll where you think the story is going to go in a certain direction, follow a certain character, but then - wheeeee - look over here at misdirection hands!
The Woman Who Married a Cloud
women. even when they get to design the perfect man, they aren't satisfied…
holy moly!!! i finished this book and this review! hooooray! high five!
come to my blog!
June 23, 2018
Jonathan Carroll writes very quirky and surreal but thought-provoking stories. So far I've only read a few of these stories (the ones that also happen to be free online), but I'd love to read them all. <---- ETA: I just bit on this Kindle sale, so sooner or later I'll read and review the full collection. I have to say this cover is seriously distracting, though: I keep thinking it looks like Barack Obama dressed up like an angel and striking a pose. o.O It doesn't really look that much like Obama on close examination, but it gets me on first glance, every time.
Reviews for the ones I've read so far, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
"The Stolen Church," free online at Conjunctions: Tina and Stanley, married for five years, are in the lobby of a nondescript apartment building, waiting for an elevator to take them up to visit his parents. The only problem is, Stanley’s parents are dead. Tina can’t understand what Stanley is thinking, whether he’s serious or not. She’s about to walk out when a man in full clown costume and make up shows up with two yapping pugs and introduces himself as Stanley’s father Alfons.
It’s a surreal story, one that takes a turn toward the commonplace that lulls the reader into thinking the factual key to the story has been revealed, and then suddenly takes another turn to become surreal again, in a completely different but conceptually compelling way. It's interesting how the couple, who are named in the initial dreamlike section, aren't named again in the second half, and it's not clear whether Tina and Stanley are really their names or not. It also makes the story more universal in the end.
Jonathan Carroll loads his fiction with brilliant writing and offbeat fantastical elements. In “The Stolen Church,” despite the disparity between the two halves of the story, they work together to disclose uncomfortable truths about relationships and the secrets we keep from each other. 4 strong stars.
"Water Can't be Nervous," free online at Subterranean Press: A man tells his girlfriend about his unauthorized excursion into another apartment in their building, which is under renovation. Their dialogue reveals the tension in their relationship, the various things they say and do that irritate each other. The story abruptly ends when the man pulls two hand puppets off his hands and sets them down on the table. His girlfriend gave him the puppets as a breakup gift, and now he uses them to reenact old scenes and discussions between himself and his ex-girlfriend, analyzing where things went wrong.
Reviews for the ones I've read so far, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
"The Stolen Church," free online at Conjunctions: Tina and Stanley, married for five years, are in the lobby of a nondescript apartment building, waiting for an elevator to take them up to visit his parents. The only problem is, Stanley’s parents are dead. Tina can’t understand what Stanley is thinking, whether he’s serious or not. She’s about to walk out when a man in full clown costume and make up shows up with two yapping pugs and introduces himself as Stanley’s father Alfons.
It’s a surreal story, one that takes a turn toward the commonplace that lulls the reader into thinking the factual key to the story has been revealed, and then suddenly takes another turn to become surreal again, in a completely different but conceptually compelling way. It's interesting how the couple, who are named in the initial dreamlike section, aren't named again in the second half, and it's not clear whether Tina and Stanley are really their names or not. It also makes the story more universal in the end.
Jonathan Carroll loads his fiction with brilliant writing and offbeat fantastical elements. In “The Stolen Church,” despite the disparity between the two halves of the story, they work together to disclose uncomfortable truths about relationships and the secrets we keep from each other. 4 strong stars.
"Water Can't be Nervous," free online at Subterranean Press: A man tells his girlfriend about his unauthorized excursion into another apartment in their building, which is under renovation. Their dialogue reveals the tension in their relationship, the various things they say and do that irritate each other. The story abruptly ends when the man pulls two hand puppets off his hands and sets them down on the table. His girlfriend gave him the puppets as a breakup gift, and now he uses them to reenact old scenes and discussions between himself and his ex-girlfriend, analyzing where things went wrong.
“How long have you felt this way?” the female puppet brought her short arms together again and again as if clapping to get his full attention.While reading this, for the longest time I wondered whether this was actually a speculative story. But Carroll’s writing is so strong, and his observations on relationships so insightful, that I really didn’t mind whether it was or not. When the fantasy element finally appeared in the final paragraphs, an otherwise excellent story went off the rails. It simply didn’t mesh well with the rest of this tale. Despite my love for fantasy, in this case I think that if Carroll had left out three paragraphs that contain the fantastical reveal, it would have greatly improved the story. But the rest is good enough that this story still well worth reading. 3 stars.
The little man on his left hand turned away from her just like he had done that night when she asked that question. “I don’t know; for a while.”
“For a while? And you didn’t tell me?”
In situations like this there is almost always at least one moment of absolute annihilating clarity: A moment when you see things, people, or a situation so clearly that afterward there can be no doubt of the truth. But as significant as the epiphany can be, even more important is what we choose to do with the knowledge once we have it. Acceptance is logical but denial is so much easier and more comfortable.
January 25, 2024
Jonathan Carroll is a mystery to me. Ever since first discovering him, I have been drawn to his writing — I’ve read eleven of his books and will surely read more. But do I enjoy his work? Sometimes. Sometimes it is absolutely amazing. And sometimes it is frustrating. At times it has made me angry. But his writing always compels me. I have the reader’s equivalent of a complicated relationship with his work.
His writing fascinates me, sometimes almost mesmerizes me. His magical realism works wicked tricks, creating a tension often full of anxiety and pending doom, occasionally creating similar reactions as dark horror, though his work can’t accurately be described by that genre. His insight into human nature and foibles is unique. Unambiguous happy ending are even rarer in his work than they are in life. And speaking of endings, his are more often than not problematic — he will come to the end of a skillfully told book or story, and the ending often seems half baked, an afterthought that he doesn’t seem to feel is important. He is definitely a writer that you read for the journey, not the destination, and maybe that’s the point.
Yet he continues to compel me. His work is unique — I cannot think of any writer that I could accurately compare him to. This is my second reading of this collection of tales. If you have yet to discover this fascinating writer, The Woman Who Married A Cloud is a perfect gateway to his magically strange and often disconcerting world.
Mr. Fiddlehead: an oddly disturbing tale of friendship, marriage, an imaginary friend made manifest, and a unthinkable betrayal.
4 ⭐️
Uh-Oh City: this long story about an ordinary English professor and his extraordinary cleaning lady encapsulates all the things that draw me to Carroll’s writing, as well as the way it often frustrates me. There’s the startling magic realism that comes out of nowhere, blowing away all foundations and leaving you off balance, and feeling vaguely threatened. It is both disturbing and addictive. But then there are the plot details that just get dropped — important seeming points that are left behind and never again referenced. And of course, there is the ever frustrating abrupt ending that seems way undercooked for the complexity of the tale.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Second Snow: dogs, disappearance, and death — short and sour tale of loss and betrayal. A mystery, but no actual magical realism in this one.
3 ⭐️
The Fall Collection: A banal, dying man finds dignity and meaning in haberdashery.
4 ⭐️
Friend’s Best Man : Another Carroll story with a dog at center stage. The magical realism creeps up on you in this one, almost gently. Then the sweet/sad mood created by the adorable dying child and the protagonist’s new relationship is whiplashed by the startling ending.
4 ⭐️
The Sadness of Details: ”Even God doesn’t know or remember anymore. It is as if he had a kind of progressive amnesia. To put it simply, he forgets things…there are fewer and fewer periods of clarity. His mind loses its footing more and more…His condition is becoming worse, and something must be done quickly.” A recurring theme in Carroll’s stories is that Universe is out of whack because of a kind of mysterious degeneration of the Deity, somehow effected by human agency. In this disturbing tale, an average housewife is recruited to use her neglected talent to mitigate this God crisis, and her world will never be the same.
4 ⭐️
Waiting to Wave: A grim, depressing tale of a man obsessed with the lover he has lost, and the sad superstitions he clings to, hoping to set his life right again. Of course there’s a dog, but it doesn’t help.
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Jane Fonda Room: Died and went to hell. Predictable.
2 ⭐️
A Quarter Past You: A long term, happy couple play out a naughty fantasy to add spice. It all goes to hell.
3 ⭐️
My Zoondel: I’m not certain, but my guess is that Carroll has never written a book without a dog. This is another of his dog centric tales. It might have been a straightforward man and dog story, except werewolves, and existential evil lurking in the human heart. This had potential, but the ending was a bit too heavy handed for my tastes.
3 ⭐️
Learning to Leave: Another short relationship tale revealing yet another path to dark mental corners of a seemingly happy coupling.
3 ⭐️
Panic Hand: Trigger Warning ⚠️ If the novel Lolita bothers you, don’t read this one.
This dangerously taboo tale is Carroll at his best. A mundane train trip morphs into a pleasingly interesting situation, drawing you in, then the magical realism knocks everything off kilter, leaving you uncomfortable and troubled. But Carroll raised the stakes on this formula by flirting with incredibly taboo subject matter, pushing those uncomfortable feeling to extremes. And just as you are feeling that the actions of his protagonist may have partially redeemed the story, he hits you with that ending (a goddamn rare brilliant ending for Carroll) that leaves your jaw on the floor, and makes it all worse.
4 1/2 ⭐️
A Bear in the Mouth: Rich man, poor man, magic and money — money may talk, but this story just didn’t speak to me.
1 ⭐️
Postgraduate: Another story on a common trope — that anxiety filled dream that you’re back in high school. Carroll adds a couple twisted that make it more horrific.
3 ⭐️
Tired Angel: An absolutely chilling tale of a sadistic, psychopathic stalker. Carroll puts you inside his head by using first person narration. He finds so many ways to disturb us.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Dead Love You: And here is another signature Carroll story — a mundane occurrence quickly turns disturbing, then frighteningly so. Unexplainable magical realism stuff cranks up the volume on the creepy. Then a major plot twist flips everything on its head, changing everything but the creepy and disturbing, and finishes with an incredibly frustrating ending that is either half backed or ingeniously ambiguous to force you to imagine things far worse and more chilling than he could possibly write.
4 ⭐️
Florian: ”He closed his eyes, and knew there was no hope. There was only small magic in the world, never enough to go around, not nearly enough to write a dying child back to life.” A writer, his wife, their beautiful child, and a very sad story with typical Carroll twists. ”A line came to the man as he watched his son play: ‘They had the most beautiful child in the world’”
3 ⭐️
The Life of My Crime: Jonathan Carroll ‘s stories have a definite sense of morality. Like everything else about them, it functions in extremely odd ways, but is rarely absent. Though sometimes in his stories very evil people seem to get away with what they do, the body of his work suggests that is just because of where the story ended, and that eventually judgement will come. In this story Carroll’s magical universe punishes the offending charming bastard in unique and bizarre ways.
3 1/2 ⭐️
A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings: This story is what I read Jonathan Carroll for. A man is going blind — has only three months until his sight is irrevocably gone. He wants to capture ten, perfect photographs to imprint on his mind before this happens. That’s the set up. It reads as a straight story until it’s climatic end, and in that portion it captures Carroll’s compelling vision of being alive and human in this world. Then the magical realism of the climax kicks in and perfectly paints Carroll’s unique understanding of spirituality. It’s stories like this one that keep me coming back to Carroll again and again, no matter how much he sometimes frustrates me.
5 ⭐️
A Flash in the Pants: In Carroll’s worlds, anything can have a soul — even a house. In this bittersweet tale, a gray man living a gray life alone in a nondescript house is visited by previous residents of his house, and the house dramatically demonstrates that it remembers happier days when it was vibrant and alive, full of a hopeful family and love, days when it was a home. ”No wonder it wept now. No wonder the man and the beautiful woman were silent. He because he knew he was part of why the place wept; she because she knew her life would never, ever be as good again as it had been here.”
4 ⭐️
Black Cocktail: A compelling protagonist who host a call in radio show for freaky people, a fascinating hook involving a menacing teenager who hasn’t aged in decades, and the key to finding true purpose, is spoiled by undisciplined writing, including multiple abrupt twists that subvert, rather than enhance the tale, and another half baked ending that is rushed and unsatisfying.
3 ⭐️
Crimes of the Face: A man’s memories of his stylish, impeccably dressed father, and the unusual discovery he makes after inheriting his dad’s wardrobe.
4 ⭐️
Fish in a Barrel: Memory is a fragile thing. We re-edit our memories every time we call them up to take off those uncomfortable edges. Forgetting can be a blessing. Now imagine a government office run by disinterested bureaucrats that has a file on every memory you’ve ever had since birth, unfiltered and unedited, and can play it all back for you. A terrifying concept.
3 1/2 ⭐️
A Gravity Thief: A nondescript, nothing special guy loses his hot wife and is heartbroken and angry. He goes to the gym to work out that anger, and discovers a magical revenged. Short, slight, and kinda a waste of good magic realism. Not impressed.
1 ⭐️
The Great Walt of China:
”His full attention was mine now. He liked this — women and wagers, the cost of connecting.”
”How many truly great memories do we have — I’m talking about the ones carved in stone, the ones that define us and help make us who we are?”
Vincent Ettrich is a charming philanderer, the protagonist of two Carroll novels. In this story he bargains high stakes for the chance to meet a new woman who has taken his fancy. This is peak Carroll here!
4 1/2 ⭐️
The Stolen Church: Carroll gets relationships and their complications. A dream visit with deceased in-laws and a bedsheet covered in secrets make a happy couple confront what they’ve hidden from each other.
4 1/2 ⭐️
Alone Alarm: ”I slept my way to the middle.” A sad man is revealed to himself in grand, Jonathan Carroll style. Disturbing and just a little bit funny.
3 ⭐️
Asleep in Wolf’s Clothing: A NYC meathead experiences an inexplicable fame nightmare.
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Language of Heaven: ”What do you do when you need the language of Heaven, but all you have are your hands and eyes?” Another Vincent Ettrich story, of a time inverted relationship that’s over before it began.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Heidelberg Cylinder: ”The Devil wore a chef’s hat.” This is one of Carroll’s strange morality tales — a battle between God and the Devil, with God sitting on the sidelines and allowing humans to fight the Devil.
This is perhaps Carroll’s funniest tale, chock full of absurdity and ridiculousness, mixing his usual unsettling scenes with humor. But he maintains a medieval sense of morality that demands pain and loss, so you shouldn’t ever expect a feel good ending from him.
3 ⭐️
Elizabeth Thug: the meaning and mystery of an enigmatic tattoo.
3 ⭐️
Home on the Rain: A couple, a secret, an obsession, scaffolding and pigeons. This one is beautiful, sad, mysterious, and powerful — the ineffable within the mundane. This one is perfect.
5 ⭐️
Vedran: A short tale of loss, grief, aging, and remembrance. Carroll captures these nuggets of wise sadness so well.
4 ⭐️
Water Can’t Be Nervous: ”Water can’t be nervous — it’s your heart that’s shaking.” How can you end a story with such a perfect, great line and still flub the ending? Another failed relationship story that took an interesting twist early on, and a frustrating one at the very end.
3 ⭐️
East of Furious: Carroll is great at telling stories within stories. Most of this tale is just that — one character telling another a long and fantastical story about an encounter with alchemy. The disturbing reveal comes at the end.
4 ⭐️
Nothing to Declare: A small story with a big punch — lots to think about. What impact lies and stories have — not malicious ones, but told to enhance the ego of the teller as they entertain the listener. ”Smallishious”
4⭐️
Let the Past Begin: ”The woman likes dessert, foreign politics, the truth, working in perilous situations, and wonder — not necessarily in that order.” More striking characters, stories within stories, and seriously odd relationship angles.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Woman Who Married a Cloud: So, an intergalactic dating service — a different take on “men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
3 1/2 ⭐️
His writing fascinates me, sometimes almost mesmerizes me. His magical realism works wicked tricks, creating a tension often full of anxiety and pending doom, occasionally creating similar reactions as dark horror, though his work can’t accurately be described by that genre. His insight into human nature and foibles is unique. Unambiguous happy ending are even rarer in his work than they are in life. And speaking of endings, his are more often than not problematic — he will come to the end of a skillfully told book or story, and the ending often seems half baked, an afterthought that he doesn’t seem to feel is important. He is definitely a writer that you read for the journey, not the destination, and maybe that’s the point.
Yet he continues to compel me. His work is unique — I cannot think of any writer that I could accurately compare him to. This is my second reading of this collection of tales. If you have yet to discover this fascinating writer, The Woman Who Married A Cloud is a perfect gateway to his magically strange and often disconcerting world.
Mr. Fiddlehead: an oddly disturbing tale of friendship, marriage, an imaginary friend made manifest, and a unthinkable betrayal.
4 ⭐️
Uh-Oh City: this long story about an ordinary English professor and his extraordinary cleaning lady encapsulates all the things that draw me to Carroll’s writing, as well as the way it often frustrates me. There’s the startling magic realism that comes out of nowhere, blowing away all foundations and leaving you off balance, and feeling vaguely threatened. It is both disturbing and addictive. But then there are the plot details that just get dropped — important seeming points that are left behind and never again referenced. And of course, there is the ever frustrating abrupt ending that seems way undercooked for the complexity of the tale.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Second Snow: dogs, disappearance, and death — short and sour tale of loss and betrayal. A mystery, but no actual magical realism in this one.
3 ⭐️
The Fall Collection: A banal, dying man finds dignity and meaning in haberdashery.
4 ⭐️
Friend’s Best Man : Another Carroll story with a dog at center stage. The magical realism creeps up on you in this one, almost gently. Then the sweet/sad mood created by the adorable dying child and the protagonist’s new relationship is whiplashed by the startling ending.
4 ⭐️
The Sadness of Details: ”Even God doesn’t know or remember anymore. It is as if he had a kind of progressive amnesia. To put it simply, he forgets things…there are fewer and fewer periods of clarity. His mind loses its footing more and more…His condition is becoming worse, and something must be done quickly.” A recurring theme in Carroll’s stories is that Universe is out of whack because of a kind of mysterious degeneration of the Deity, somehow effected by human agency. In this disturbing tale, an average housewife is recruited to use her neglected talent to mitigate this God crisis, and her world will never be the same.
4 ⭐️
Waiting to Wave: A grim, depressing tale of a man obsessed with the lover he has lost, and the sad superstitions he clings to, hoping to set his life right again. Of course there’s a dog, but it doesn’t help.
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Jane Fonda Room: Died and went to hell. Predictable.
2 ⭐️
A Quarter Past You: A long term, happy couple play out a naughty fantasy to add spice. It all goes to hell.
3 ⭐️
My Zoondel: I’m not certain, but my guess is that Carroll has never written a book without a dog. This is another of his dog centric tales. It might have been a straightforward man and dog story, except werewolves, and existential evil lurking in the human heart. This had potential, but the ending was a bit too heavy handed for my tastes.
3 ⭐️
Learning to Leave: Another short relationship tale revealing yet another path to dark mental corners of a seemingly happy coupling.
3 ⭐️
Panic Hand: Trigger Warning ⚠️ If the novel Lolita bothers you, don’t read this one.
This dangerously taboo tale is Carroll at his best. A mundane train trip morphs into a pleasingly interesting situation, drawing you in, then the magical realism knocks everything off kilter, leaving you uncomfortable and troubled. But Carroll raised the stakes on this formula by flirting with incredibly taboo subject matter, pushing those uncomfortable feeling to extremes. And just as you are feeling that the actions of his protagonist may have partially redeemed the story, he hits you with that ending (a goddamn rare brilliant ending for Carroll) that leaves your jaw on the floor, and makes it all worse.
4 1/2 ⭐️
A Bear in the Mouth: Rich man, poor man, magic and money — money may talk, but this story just didn’t speak to me.
1 ⭐️
Postgraduate: Another story on a common trope — that anxiety filled dream that you’re back in high school. Carroll adds a couple twisted that make it more horrific.
3 ⭐️
Tired Angel: An absolutely chilling tale of a sadistic, psychopathic stalker. Carroll puts you inside his head by using first person narration. He finds so many ways to disturb us.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Dead Love You: And here is another signature Carroll story — a mundane occurrence quickly turns disturbing, then frighteningly so. Unexplainable magical realism stuff cranks up the volume on the creepy. Then a major plot twist flips everything on its head, changing everything but the creepy and disturbing, and finishes with an incredibly frustrating ending that is either half backed or ingeniously ambiguous to force you to imagine things far worse and more chilling than he could possibly write.
4 ⭐️
Florian: ”He closed his eyes, and knew there was no hope. There was only small magic in the world, never enough to go around, not nearly enough to write a dying child back to life.” A writer, his wife, their beautiful child, and a very sad story with typical Carroll twists. ”A line came to the man as he watched his son play: ‘They had the most beautiful child in the world’”
3 ⭐️
The Life of My Crime: Jonathan Carroll ‘s stories have a definite sense of morality. Like everything else about them, it functions in extremely odd ways, but is rarely absent. Though sometimes in his stories very evil people seem to get away with what they do, the body of his work suggests that is just because of where the story ended, and that eventually judgement will come. In this story Carroll’s magical universe punishes the offending charming bastard in unique and bizarre ways.
3 1/2 ⭐️
A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings: This story is what I read Jonathan Carroll for. A man is going blind — has only three months until his sight is irrevocably gone. He wants to capture ten, perfect photographs to imprint on his mind before this happens. That’s the set up. It reads as a straight story until it’s climatic end, and in that portion it captures Carroll’s compelling vision of being alive and human in this world. Then the magical realism of the climax kicks in and perfectly paints Carroll’s unique understanding of spirituality. It’s stories like this one that keep me coming back to Carroll again and again, no matter how much he sometimes frustrates me.
5 ⭐️
A Flash in the Pants: In Carroll’s worlds, anything can have a soul — even a house. In this bittersweet tale, a gray man living a gray life alone in a nondescript house is visited by previous residents of his house, and the house dramatically demonstrates that it remembers happier days when it was vibrant and alive, full of a hopeful family and love, days when it was a home. ”No wonder it wept now. No wonder the man and the beautiful woman were silent. He because he knew he was part of why the place wept; she because she knew her life would never, ever be as good again as it had been here.”
4 ⭐️
Black Cocktail: A compelling protagonist who host a call in radio show for freaky people, a fascinating hook involving a menacing teenager who hasn’t aged in decades, and the key to finding true purpose, is spoiled by undisciplined writing, including multiple abrupt twists that subvert, rather than enhance the tale, and another half baked ending that is rushed and unsatisfying.
3 ⭐️
Crimes of the Face: A man’s memories of his stylish, impeccably dressed father, and the unusual discovery he makes after inheriting his dad’s wardrobe.
4 ⭐️
Fish in a Barrel: Memory is a fragile thing. We re-edit our memories every time we call them up to take off those uncomfortable edges. Forgetting can be a blessing. Now imagine a government office run by disinterested bureaucrats that has a file on every memory you’ve ever had since birth, unfiltered and unedited, and can play it all back for you. A terrifying concept.
3 1/2 ⭐️
A Gravity Thief: A nondescript, nothing special guy loses his hot wife and is heartbroken and angry. He goes to the gym to work out that anger, and discovers a magical revenged. Short, slight, and kinda a waste of good magic realism. Not impressed.
1 ⭐️
The Great Walt of China:
”His full attention was mine now. He liked this — women and wagers, the cost of connecting.”
”How many truly great memories do we have — I’m talking about the ones carved in stone, the ones that define us and help make us who we are?”
Vincent Ettrich is a charming philanderer, the protagonist of two Carroll novels. In this story he bargains high stakes for the chance to meet a new woman who has taken his fancy. This is peak Carroll here!
4 1/2 ⭐️
The Stolen Church: Carroll gets relationships and their complications. A dream visit with deceased in-laws and a bedsheet covered in secrets make a happy couple confront what they’ve hidden from each other.
4 1/2 ⭐️
Alone Alarm: ”I slept my way to the middle.” A sad man is revealed to himself in grand, Jonathan Carroll style. Disturbing and just a little bit funny.
3 ⭐️
Asleep in Wolf’s Clothing: A NYC meathead experiences an inexplicable fame nightmare.
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Language of Heaven: ”What do you do when you need the language of Heaven, but all you have are your hands and eyes?” Another Vincent Ettrich story, of a time inverted relationship that’s over before it began.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Heidelberg Cylinder: ”The Devil wore a chef’s hat.” This is one of Carroll’s strange morality tales — a battle between God and the Devil, with God sitting on the sidelines and allowing humans to fight the Devil.
This is perhaps Carroll’s funniest tale, chock full of absurdity and ridiculousness, mixing his usual unsettling scenes with humor. But he maintains a medieval sense of morality that demands pain and loss, so you shouldn’t ever expect a feel good ending from him.
3 ⭐️
Elizabeth Thug: the meaning and mystery of an enigmatic tattoo.
3 ⭐️
Home on the Rain: A couple, a secret, an obsession, scaffolding and pigeons. This one is beautiful, sad, mysterious, and powerful — the ineffable within the mundane. This one is perfect.
5 ⭐️
Vedran: A short tale of loss, grief, aging, and remembrance. Carroll captures these nuggets of wise sadness so well.
4 ⭐️
Water Can’t Be Nervous: ”Water can’t be nervous — it’s your heart that’s shaking.” How can you end a story with such a perfect, great line and still flub the ending? Another failed relationship story that took an interesting twist early on, and a frustrating one at the very end.
3 ⭐️
East of Furious: Carroll is great at telling stories within stories. Most of this tale is just that — one character telling another a long and fantastical story about an encounter with alchemy. The disturbing reveal comes at the end.
4 ⭐️
Nothing to Declare: A small story with a big punch — lots to think about. What impact lies and stories have — not malicious ones, but told to enhance the ego of the teller as they entertain the listener. ”Smallishious”
4⭐️
Let the Past Begin: ”The woman likes dessert, foreign politics, the truth, working in perilous situations, and wonder — not necessarily in that order.” More striking characters, stories within stories, and seriously odd relationship angles.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Woman Who Married a Cloud: So, an intergalactic dating service — a different take on “men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
3 1/2 ⭐️
July 18, 2023
Me quedan todavía nueve cuentos para terminar (de 37) pero se me está haciendo terriblemente cuesta arriba, empiezo a sentir los primeros síntomas de bloqueo de lector y hasta le estoy cogiendo manía y tampoco es eso. En resumidas cuentas, que estoy hasta el nabo así que lo dejo ya.
A ver, Jonathan Carroll es un escritor de innegables virtudes; maneja una prosa sencilla y acogedora que enseguida te hace sentir cómodo e interesado en lo que te está contando, muy preocupado por envolverte con detalles que crean la ilusión de cotidianeidad, incluso de intimidad con sus personajes, su punto fuerte. Aunque a lo mejor no es necesario mostrar tanto de los personajes como hace Carroll en algunas ocasiones y tratarlos como si fuesen icebergs, manteniendo oculto al lector el sustrato de sus acciones.
Por otro lado, cuando Carroll introduce el elemento fantástico en su ficción lo hace de forma muy peculiar y atractiva. No se trata de espectaculares irrupciones de lo fantástico en la "realidad" de sus historias, sino que lo extraño e inquietante aparece en forma de acontecimientos pequeños y casi mundanos y siempre cuando la narración está ya muy avanzada, como en aquella memorable escena de "El país de las risas" cuando, superada la mitad del libro, el protagonista oye como sus perros conversan en otra habitación.
El problema es que Carroll emplea esa estructura habitual de sus novelas; "persona que te cuenta su vida, movida fantástica, reflexión vital de dicha persona asumiendo su nueva situación" en casi todos estos relatos y resulta enormemente repetitivo. Tira también bastante de la sorpresa irónica o humorística a lo Twilight Zone, a veces de forma tramposa escamoteando información al lector sin justificación alguna; "ay, me tiré cincuenta páginas contándote mi vida pero acabo de caer en que alguien se suicidó por mi culpa" o "la mujer con la que me he liao tiene una hija adolescente, se me pasó decírtelo, qué sorpresón al final ¿eh?" A este cansinismo contribuye que muchas veces cae en la sobreescritura y, sobre todo, que el subtexto de sus relatos, o es muy escaso y el cuento queda un poco como ejercicio de presentar ideas locas sin mucho más que mascar, tal y como ocurre en el mejor cuento de este estilo, "Friend Best Man" (la idea de predicciones que aciertan en parte mola mucho pero es que la historia no tiene mucha más chicha), o no son especialmente interesantes rozando la ficción de autoayuda, con lo que, a medida que los vas leyendo los cuentos acaban acumulándose en la mente como hojas secas en un rincón. Salvaría dos cuentos que exploran la idea de su mejor novela, "El país de las risas", en la que, de forma muy ingeniosa e irónica, se contempla la creación literaria, y sobre todo la creación de personajes, desde una perspectiva luciferina, de magia negra de terribles consecuencias; el relato erótico "A Quarter Past You" y "The Panic Hand" un cuento bastante turbio sobre la figura de la Lolita, al que únicamente se le puede reprochar la tramposilla sorpresa final.
A ver, Jonathan Carroll es un escritor de innegables virtudes; maneja una prosa sencilla y acogedora que enseguida te hace sentir cómodo e interesado en lo que te está contando, muy preocupado por envolverte con detalles que crean la ilusión de cotidianeidad, incluso de intimidad con sus personajes, su punto fuerte. Aunque a lo mejor no es necesario mostrar tanto de los personajes como hace Carroll en algunas ocasiones y tratarlos como si fuesen icebergs, manteniendo oculto al lector el sustrato de sus acciones.
Por otro lado, cuando Carroll introduce el elemento fantástico en su ficción lo hace de forma muy peculiar y atractiva. No se trata de espectaculares irrupciones de lo fantástico en la "realidad" de sus historias, sino que lo extraño e inquietante aparece en forma de acontecimientos pequeños y casi mundanos y siempre cuando la narración está ya muy avanzada, como en aquella memorable escena de "El país de las risas" cuando, superada la mitad del libro, el protagonista oye como sus perros conversan en otra habitación.
El problema es que Carroll emplea esa estructura habitual de sus novelas; "persona que te cuenta su vida, movida fantástica, reflexión vital de dicha persona asumiendo su nueva situación" en casi todos estos relatos y resulta enormemente repetitivo. Tira también bastante de la sorpresa irónica o humorística a lo Twilight Zone, a veces de forma tramposa escamoteando información al lector sin justificación alguna; "ay, me tiré cincuenta páginas contándote mi vida pero acabo de caer en que alguien se suicidó por mi culpa" o "la mujer con la que me he liao tiene una hija adolescente, se me pasó decírtelo, qué sorpresón al final ¿eh?" A este cansinismo contribuye que muchas veces cae en la sobreescritura y, sobre todo, que el subtexto de sus relatos, o es muy escaso y el cuento queda un poco como ejercicio de presentar ideas locas sin mucho más que mascar, tal y como ocurre en el mejor cuento de este estilo, "Friend Best Man" (la idea de predicciones que aciertan en parte mola mucho pero es que la historia no tiene mucha más chicha), o no son especialmente interesantes rozando la ficción de autoayuda, con lo que, a medida que los vas leyendo los cuentos acaban acumulándose en la mente como hojas secas en un rincón. Salvaría dos cuentos que exploran la idea de su mejor novela, "El país de las risas", en la que, de forma muy ingeniosa e irónica, se contempla la creación literaria, y sobre todo la creación de personajes, desde una perspectiva luciferina, de magia negra de terribles consecuencias; el relato erótico "A Quarter Past You" y "The Panic Hand" un cuento bastante turbio sobre la figura de la Lolita, al que únicamente se le puede reprochar la tramposilla sorpresa final.
February 14, 2013
Ahhh... this is more like it. For those already familiar with Jonathan Carroll's novels—unforgettable works like The Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Outside the Dog Museum, White Apples or Glass Soup, to name just a few (and aren't those titles even by themselves evocative indications of what might be inside?)—these short stories are concentrated doses of that same powerfully intimate vision.
And for those who are not yet acquainted... well, you should be, but if you aren't, The Woman Who Married a Cloud is a comprehensive and, frankly, dazzling way to become so. It's a massive collection, true, but don't let that daunt you. Each story is over quickly—perhaps too quickly. The thing that takes the longest is the recuperation period after you've read one.
At least, that's the way it was for me.
Each of these stories, it should be noted, is sf—speculative fiction, of one sort or another. "Slipstream" is not an inaccurate term; these stories simply could not be told as well, would not have the same impact, within the bounds of mimetic fiction. Some start out surreal, while others take awhile to veer, but eventually there's always an element of the fantastic. Anything could happen... although there's always, also, a sense that there are rules to what's going on, however obscure those rules may be to the reader or to the participants in the tale.
The pattern is established by the very first story: "Mr. Fiddlehead," which begins mundanely enough, with two elegant women in New York sharing a birthday lunch, and eventually ends with a sharp frisson, a delicious shiver of disbelief at the direction the story's taken. And the next, "Uh-Oh City," in which a housekeeper, cancer, and the true nature of God tangle together in a college professor's wrenching journey of self-discovery. Or take "A Flash in the Pants"—which is a very misleading title for what turns out to be a poignant, Bradburyan (is that a word?) tale of remembrance.
And one brief story near the end, "Nothing to Declare," appears as justification for the whole enterprise... not just that one story, not just the book, not even merely Carroll's oeuvre, but fiction itself as an endeavor. Or endeavour... I'm not sure why exactly a book from an American publishing house, written by an American author (however European in outlook and experience) unaccountably uses British spellings throughout—colour, aluminium, tyres... but that's about the only nit I could pick with the book.
Carroll's stories are always illuminating, and often deeply joyful. The man knows how to portray happiness realistically... the rare ability to take pleasure in the small details of an ordinary life. Cafés, puppies, well-stocked bookshelves, flowers in gardens and rainswept streets... Also, though, these tales are redolent with sadness and foreboding, imminent death and serious illness, failed romances and missed connections. Sometimes they're nightmares, these dreams... deep connections, monstrous juxtapositions, the blare of the car's horn just before you're knocked under the wheels of the calliope from the circus going by... But always, always, these pages are populated by men and women who feel real—who say true things in the middle of existences turned outrageously false, like the narrator of "The Sadness of Detail" when she says (on p.128),
Okay, one more that stuck with me: "Home on the Rain," with its protagonist named Alan, who alphabetizes his books and records, and its—yes—surprising dénouement. I never expected that I—that he—would end up that way...
And for those who are not yet acquainted... well, you should be, but if you aren't, The Woman Who Married a Cloud is a comprehensive and, frankly, dazzling way to become so. It's a massive collection, true, but don't let that daunt you. Each story is over quickly—perhaps too quickly. The thing that takes the longest is the recuperation period after you've read one.
At least, that's the way it was for me.
Each of these stories, it should be noted, is sf—speculative fiction, of one sort or another. "Slipstream" is not an inaccurate term; these stories simply could not be told as well, would not have the same impact, within the bounds of mimetic fiction. Some start out surreal, while others take awhile to veer, but eventually there's always an element of the fantastic. Anything could happen... although there's always, also, a sense that there are rules to what's going on, however obscure those rules may be to the reader or to the participants in the tale.
The pattern is established by the very first story: "Mr. Fiddlehead," which begins mundanely enough, with two elegant women in New York sharing a birthday lunch, and eventually ends with a sharp frisson, a delicious shiver of disbelief at the direction the story's taken. And the next, "Uh-Oh City," in which a housekeeper, cancer, and the true nature of God tangle together in a college professor's wrenching journey of self-discovery. Or take "A Flash in the Pants"—which is a very misleading title for what turns out to be a poignant, Bradburyan (is that a word?) tale of remembrance.
And one brief story near the end, "Nothing to Declare," appears as justification for the whole enterprise... not just that one story, not just the book, not even merely Carroll's oeuvre, but fiction itself as an endeavor. Or endeavour... I'm not sure why exactly a book from an American publishing house, written by an American author (however European in outlook and experience) unaccountably uses British spellings throughout—colour, aluminium, tyres... but that's about the only nit I could pick with the book.
Carroll's stories are always illuminating, and often deeply joyful. The man knows how to portray happiness realistically... the rare ability to take pleasure in the small details of an ordinary life. Cafés, puppies, well-stocked bookshelves, flowers in gardens and rainswept streets... Also, though, these tales are redolent with sadness and foreboding, imminent death and serious illness, failed romances and missed connections. Sometimes they're nightmares, these dreams... deep connections, monstrous juxtapositions, the blare of the car's horn just before you're knocked under the wheels of the calliope from the circus going by... But always, always, these pages are populated by men and women who feel real—who say true things in the middle of existences turned outrageously false, like the narrator of "The Sadness of Detail" when she says (on p.128),
I saw success as stress and demands I'd never be able to fulfill, thus disappointing people who thought I was better than I really was.I'm not going to list all 38 stories here, but trust me, there's something at least that observant in all of them.
Okay, one more that stuck with me: "Home on the Rain," with its protagonist named Alan, who alphabetizes his books and records, and its—yes—surprising dénouement. I never expected that I—that he—would end up that way...
February 15, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2.5 stars
A large and dense collection of Jonathan Carroll's short stories.
If you've ever complained about rising book prices, this book (like (Jack McDevitt's Cryptic) is a value for money response. At over 400 pages of short stories, this is a lot of Jonathan Carroll. If you're a fan of Carroll's unembellished prose and slightly off kilter happenings, there's a lot here for you. If you're only an occasional visitor to Carroll's realities, this may not be the place to start.
Most of the stories in this collection are Carroll doing what he normally does - establishing a sympathetic character, and having something unusual happen to them that they accept, but that has strange consequences. Unfortunately, that's sometimes all that happens - as if Carroll is saying "Wouldn't it be weird if this happened?" Too often, my response was "Yes it would. But so what?"
To be fair, Carroll here pursues very much the same path he does in his novels. For true fans, this collection is a treasure trove of new and interesting ideas, and some new takes on old ones. There are a few selections lifted from (or seeds for) novels, and some familiar characters (Finky Linky turns up). I've learned that I'm not such a fan. I find Carroll's dialogue often stiff, and his stories often not subtle, but unsatisfying. That was true for many of these stories; not many resonated or left a lasting mark. Some are just fragments, though not noted as such.
Some stories of note:
The Sadness of Detail - a woman is disturbed by a stranger's fascination with her drawings. I give credit to Carroll for interesting ideas, including the one in this story.
A Flash in the Pants - a lonely man is visited by the former occupants of his house.
Fish in a Barrel - two obscure bureaucrats run the office of memories. As with many Carroll stories, an interesting story that I wish had been polished more.
The Stolen Church - a married couple visit his parents. A couple of interesting ideas strangely mashed together (and probably more effective apart).
The Heidelberg Cylinder - two proselytizers disrupt a furniture delivery. Another story that works well, if you manage to ignore the gewgaws stuck on in random locations
Home on the Rain - a lawyer becomes fascinated with the secret life of scaffolds. A long, interesting buildup that leads to ...?
Elizabeth Thug - a woman with a mysterious tattoo. One of Carroll's best stories, and I wish there were far more in this vein.
The strength of Carroll's stories is in their ideas. He suggests new and intriguing ways to look at the world. Unfortunately, his execution is often not up to the job. The stories give the impression of being early drafts, over-decorated and overly blunt, as if he's taken his concept notes and added some frills around them. If only they were polished and allowed a little subtlety, they'd be great. Instead, Carroll's simple prose comes across as more clunky than elegant. It's a shame, because the bones of these stories are good, if only they'd had the right presentation.
October 18, 2012
This is a very hefty collection of Jonathan Carroll's short stories that assembles decades of his work. While it is a wonderful collection, I would suggest not reading it all at once as his voice, unusual as it is, can feel repetitive if one reads too many stories in one sitting.
That being said, Jonathan Carroll is a fantastic story teller and a master at his craft which consists of taking you from the real world as we know it to another dimension in reality, outlandish and totally plausible as it is. This requires an incredible amount of subtlety of imagination and an equally incredible amount of writing discipline.
As I got myself immersed into Carroll's world, I started to anticipate with excitement the moment when I would feel myself "slipping" from one dimension to the next... an unusual reading sensation to be sure!
That being said, Jonathan Carroll is a fantastic story teller and a master at his craft which consists of taking you from the real world as we know it to another dimension in reality, outlandish and totally plausible as it is. This requires an incredible amount of subtlety of imagination and an equally incredible amount of writing discipline.
As I got myself immersed into Carroll's world, I started to anticipate with excitement the moment when I would feel myself "slipping" from one dimension to the next... an unusual reading sensation to be sure!
August 21, 2018
The dates show this has been in my currently-reading list since 2014. I bought it for my ereader just before I realized I hate reading collections and anthologies in electronic form. I want to be able to jump around, to read by length or title or original publication. Carroll's stories are rich, and I can only ever read one or two at a time. The result is that I've been reading this piece by piece, in airports and airplanes mostly, over the course of four years. If you like Carroll's distinctive brand of strange, you'll like these stories. The four year read was a user-end issue.
paused
November 29, 2022Mr. Fiddlehead - OMG this is why I read short stories. Carroll doesn't waste any damn time, just gets right down to the mystery and the mayhem and the knife in the back. (Sure, the story just stops like it hits a brick wall, but I'm trying to get used to that!) Loved every second of this.
Uh-Oh City - First of all, this is a novella, and I think I would have enjoyed its sprawl a bit more if I hadn't been on the clock for the Advent calendar, as it were. It is a big story, twisting its way through the very concept of God. That said? I really did enjoy the ride.
2021 Advent Calendar
Welcome to the short story Advent calendar! I will be reading a story a night (theoretically) and reviewing as I go, though I may give myself amnesty to finish the review the next day. Traditionally, these would be stories available online, but because I did no planning for this whatsoever until Karen inspired me to jump in on 12/1/21, I will be reading out of collections and anthologies I already own. Goodness knows I have enough of them. I expect though that I will jump around a bit, so I will include the full list on each. (Also, if you haven't seen a short story Advent calendar before, check out karen's calendar; she has been 10,000x better than I have about keeping the tradition and has all kinds of story goodness you can look at.
Story List
12/1: "Laughter at the Academy" in Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire.
12/2: "Lost" in Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire.
12/3: "The Consultant in by The Bread We Eat in Dreams Catherynne Valente.
12/4: "White Lines on a Green Field in by The Bread We Eat in Dreams Catherynne Valente.
12/5: "Mr. Fiddlehead" in The Woman Who Married a Cloud by Jonathan Carroll.
12/6: "Uh-Oh City" in The Woman Who Married a Cloud by Jonathan Carroll.
12/7: "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" in How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
12/8: "The City Born Great" in How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
Uh-Oh City - First of all, this is a novella, and I think I would have enjoyed its sprawl a bit more if I hadn't been on the clock for the Advent calendar, as it were. It is a big story, twisting its way through the very concept of God. That said? I really did enjoy the ride.
2021 Advent Calendar
Welcome to the short story Advent calendar! I will be reading a story a night (theoretically) and reviewing as I go, though I may give myself amnesty to finish the review the next day. Traditionally, these would be stories available online, but because I did no planning for this whatsoever until Karen inspired me to jump in on 12/1/21, I will be reading out of collections and anthologies I already own. Goodness knows I have enough of them. I expect though that I will jump around a bit, so I will include the full list on each. (Also, if you haven't seen a short story Advent calendar before, check out karen's calendar; she has been 10,000x better than I have about keeping the tradition and has all kinds of story goodness you can look at.
Story List
12/1: "Laughter at the Academy" in Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire.
12/2: "Lost" in Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire.
12/3: "The Consultant in by The Bread We Eat in Dreams Catherynne Valente.
12/4: "White Lines on a Green Field in by The Bread We Eat in Dreams Catherynne Valente.
12/5: "Mr. Fiddlehead" in The Woman Who Married a Cloud by Jonathan Carroll.
12/6: "Uh-Oh City" in The Woman Who Married a Cloud by Jonathan Carroll.
12/7: "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" in How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
12/8: "The City Born Great" in How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
April 13, 2013
Oh Jonathan Carroll. I just love his work so much. These stories were amazing. Each one. Every one. So good. So SAD. Seriously, I'd say 80% of these stories will rip your heart out. It's ok. It'll grow back.
February 9, 2014
Wonderful collection of stories that are driven both by character and by a sense of the fantastic. Some are just quirky and serendipitous, others are outright supernatural -- but all are fascinating little gems.
July 23, 2022
When I was a young weirdo living in small town Ohio, I escaped into a world of edgy, thrilling surrealism via the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series of story collections, checked out of the public library.
This book really took me back to that feeling---the stories here are fantastical, sometimes teetering on the edge of horror (and in one particular story "Tired Angel" plunging all the way in) with wry and sometimes laugh out loud humor, thought provoking philosophical themes, and extremely well written.
Until the ending, which Carroll just simply can't be bothered with about 75% of the time.
It's apparently a well known quirk and something of an in joke among his readers. And it is infuriating, because when he DOES manage to close a story in a meaningful way, it's beautiful. He is fully capable of it, just doesn't feel obligated. So four stars.
Listening to a short story collection is frustrating because it's difficult to go back and reference the titles of favorites, but the big stand outs for me are Black Cocktail and The Heidelberg Cylinder. Both novellas with a fascinating metaphysical/cosmological bent.
Looking forward to reading more by this fascinating and frustrating author.
This book really took me back to that feeling---the stories here are fantastical, sometimes teetering on the edge of horror (and in one particular story "Tired Angel" plunging all the way in) with wry and sometimes laugh out loud humor, thought provoking philosophical themes, and extremely well written.
Until the ending, which Carroll just simply can't be bothered with about 75% of the time.
It's apparently a well known quirk and something of an in joke among his readers. And it is infuriating, because when he DOES manage to close a story in a meaningful way, it's beautiful. He is fully capable of it, just doesn't feel obligated. So four stars.
Listening to a short story collection is frustrating because it's difficult to go back and reference the titles of favorites, but the big stand outs for me are Black Cocktail and The Heidelberg Cylinder. Both novellas with a fascinating metaphysical/cosmological bent.
Looking forward to reading more by this fascinating and frustrating author.
Want to read
December 1, 2019(God what a terrible cover)
May 7, 2012
Magia jest wśród nas. Nie każdy może ją dostrzec, wystarczy jednak osoba o odpowiedniej percepcji, by zauważyć, a następnie zaakceptować to, co dla innych pozostaje w sferze mitów i baśni. Z połączenia tego, co codzienne, z tym, co wykracza poza ramy szkiełka i oka, rodzi się realizm magiczny. Jonathan Carroll od wielu lat konsekwentnie wykorzystuje tę konwencję, jego bohaterowie przyjmują to, co nadprzyrodzone, z nadnaturalnym spokojem, a obydwie rzeczywistości płynnie przenikają się, do tego stopnia, że niemożliwe staje się wyznaczenie wyraźnej granicy między nimi. Ktoś mógłby nazwać to wtórnością, powtarzalnością – bardziej właściwym określeniem w tym przypadku będzie jednak „znak rozpoznawczy”.
Zbiór „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” przejawia wszystkie te cechy charakterystyczne, za które czytelnicy na całym świecie pokochali pisarza. Bohaterami kolejnych opowiadań są zwyczajni ludzie, tacy jak my; kobiety i mężczyźni w różnym wieku, o różnym statusie materialnym. Ich życie wypełniają troski i radości, a także codzienna walka z własnymi słabostkami – czy to drobnymi kłamstewkami, czy też przemilczanymi wspomnieniami, a może głęboko skrywanymi marzeniami skazanymi na zapomnienie. U Carrolla postaci nie zbawiają świata, nie wikłają się w politykę i nie decydują o być albo nie być milionów. Stają przed problemami uniwersalnymi, które dotknęły lub dotkną przeważającą część odbiorców prozy Amerykanina – śmiercią bliskich, brakiem miłości, utraconym zaufaniem, wyrzutami sumienia.
Pisanie o codziennych problemach nie jest tak prostą sprawą, jak mogłoby się wydawać. Łatwo popaść w banał, łatwo o trywializowanie lub zbędny patos. Mówić o tym, o czym wszyscy od dawna wiedzą w sposób świeży – to zadanie karkołomne. Skoro zaś na poziomie treści trzeba pogodzić się z powtarzalnością, pozostaje eksperymentowanie formą. W tym momencie do świata Carrollowskich bohaterów wkracza nadnaturalność. Przybywa pod różnymi postaciami: raz jest zaklęciem, które wystarczy wypowiedzieć, by ktoś potrafił zapomnieć, kiedy indziej – przybyszem z odległej planety, poszukującym na Ziemi miłości. Albo nauczycielem lewitacji, alchemiczką bądź szamańską klątwą.
Trudno ocenić, kiedy faktycznie niewytłumaczalne zjawiska przenikają do naszego świata, a kiedy tkwią jedynie w głowach bohaterów. Nie to jest jednak najważniejsze, bowiem gdy Carroll pisze o miłości kobiety i kosmity, pisze o miłości ogólnie, a elementy fantastyczne służą co najwyżej do podkreślenia pewnych zjawisk i przemyśleń oraz uatrakcyjnienia opowieści. Co znamienne, opowiadania ze zbioru „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” nie przynoszą taniego moralizatorstwa ani gotowych rozwiązań – nakreślają problem, ale często pozostawiają postaci tuż przed podjęciem ostatecznego wyboru, a czytelnikom nie jest dane go poznać. Odbiorcy mogą tylko domyślać się, jak potoczyły się dalej poszczególne historie i dopowiadać sobie własne zakończenia.
Krótkim formom brakuje jednak tego, co obecne było w powieściach Carrolla – powolnego zagłębiania się w świat przedstawiony wraz z bohaterami, stopniowego odkrywania kolejnych dziwnych zjawisk, które stają się częścią dnia codziennego. Na 180 stronach zmieściło się dwanaście opowiadań, oznacza to więc, że autor szybko przechodził do sedna i rezygnował z budowania napięcia krok po kroku. Protagoniści zmieniają się jak w kalejdoskopie, a choć są to postaci różnorodne, to z każdą nich przyjdzie czytelnikowi pożegnać się zbyt szybko, by pozostała w sercu na dłużej. Zabrało także elementu, który na wiele lat zapisałby się w pamięci po zakończeniu lektury – takiego jak niezapomniany zwrot akcji z „Krainy Chichów” czy niesamowity finał onirycznych „Kości księżyca”.
Dla fanów Jonathana Carrolla „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” jest jednakże pozycją obowiązkową, nie brakło w niej także drobnych smaczków, które docenią wszyscy uśmiechający się na dźwięk słowa „bulterier”. Jeśli zaś ktoś nie zetknął się wcześniej z twórczością amerykańskiego pisarza, a od dłuższych form preferuje opowiadania – ma idealną okazję ku temu, by braki nadrobić, przy okazji zaś odkryć, do czego może prowadzić fascynacja rusztowaniami lub niewinne kłamstwo, jakim po nieprzespanej nocy uraczyło się przypadkową kobietę.
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Zarówno tę recenzję, jak i wiele innych tekstów znajdziecie na moim blogu: http://oceansoul.waw.pl/ Serdecznie zapraszam!
Zbiór „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” przejawia wszystkie te cechy charakterystyczne, za które czytelnicy na całym świecie pokochali pisarza. Bohaterami kolejnych opowiadań są zwyczajni ludzie, tacy jak my; kobiety i mężczyźni w różnym wieku, o różnym statusie materialnym. Ich życie wypełniają troski i radości, a także codzienna walka z własnymi słabostkami – czy to drobnymi kłamstewkami, czy też przemilczanymi wspomnieniami, a może głęboko skrywanymi marzeniami skazanymi na zapomnienie. U Carrolla postaci nie zbawiają świata, nie wikłają się w politykę i nie decydują o być albo nie być milionów. Stają przed problemami uniwersalnymi, które dotknęły lub dotkną przeważającą część odbiorców prozy Amerykanina – śmiercią bliskich, brakiem miłości, utraconym zaufaniem, wyrzutami sumienia.
Pisanie o codziennych problemach nie jest tak prostą sprawą, jak mogłoby się wydawać. Łatwo popaść w banał, łatwo o trywializowanie lub zbędny patos. Mówić o tym, o czym wszyscy od dawna wiedzą w sposób świeży – to zadanie karkołomne. Skoro zaś na poziomie treści trzeba pogodzić się z powtarzalnością, pozostaje eksperymentowanie formą. W tym momencie do świata Carrollowskich bohaterów wkracza nadnaturalność. Przybywa pod różnymi postaciami: raz jest zaklęciem, które wystarczy wypowiedzieć, by ktoś potrafił zapomnieć, kiedy indziej – przybyszem z odległej planety, poszukującym na Ziemi miłości. Albo nauczycielem lewitacji, alchemiczką bądź szamańską klątwą.
Trudno ocenić, kiedy faktycznie niewytłumaczalne zjawiska przenikają do naszego świata, a kiedy tkwią jedynie w głowach bohaterów. Nie to jest jednak najważniejsze, bowiem gdy Carroll pisze o miłości kobiety i kosmity, pisze o miłości ogólnie, a elementy fantastyczne służą co najwyżej do podkreślenia pewnych zjawisk i przemyśleń oraz uatrakcyjnienia opowieści. Co znamienne, opowiadania ze zbioru „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” nie przynoszą taniego moralizatorstwa ani gotowych rozwiązań – nakreślają problem, ale często pozostawiają postaci tuż przed podjęciem ostatecznego wyboru, a czytelnikom nie jest dane go poznać. Odbiorcy mogą tylko domyślać się, jak potoczyły się dalej poszczególne historie i dopowiadać sobie własne zakończenia.
Krótkim formom brakuje jednak tego, co obecne było w powieściach Carrolla – powolnego zagłębiania się w świat przedstawiony wraz z bohaterami, stopniowego odkrywania kolejnych dziwnych zjawisk, które stają się częścią dnia codziennego. Na 180 stronach zmieściło się dwanaście opowiadań, oznacza to więc, że autor szybko przechodził do sedna i rezygnował z budowania napięcia krok po kroku. Protagoniści zmieniają się jak w kalejdoskopie, a choć są to postaci różnorodne, to z każdą nich przyjdzie czytelnikowi pożegnać się zbyt szybko, by pozostała w sercu na dłużej. Zabrało także elementu, który na wiele lat zapisałby się w pamięci po zakończeniu lektury – takiego jak niezapomniany zwrot akcji z „Krainy Chichów” czy niesamowity finał onirycznych „Kości księżyca”.
Dla fanów Jonathana Carrolla „Kobieta, która wyszła za chmurę” jest jednakże pozycją obowiązkową, nie brakło w niej także drobnych smaczków, które docenią wszyscy uśmiechający się na dźwięk słowa „bulterier”. Jeśli zaś ktoś nie zetknął się wcześniej z twórczością amerykańskiego pisarza, a od dłuższych form preferuje opowiadania – ma idealną okazję ku temu, by braki nadrobić, przy okazji zaś odkryć, do czego może prowadzić fascynacja rusztowaniami lub niewinne kłamstwo, jakim po nieprzespanej nocy uraczyło się przypadkową kobietę.
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Zarówno tę recenzję, jak i wiele innych tekstów znajdziecie na moim blogu: http://oceansoul.waw.pl/ Serdecznie zapraszam!
May 22, 2021
Jonathan Carroll has been one of my favorites for quite awhile, with his unique brand of magical realism. However, I'd only read the novels--so this collection of 37 short pieces is new to me. Here's a review by Stefan Raets that helped my perspective:
https://www.tor.com/2012/08/03/the-sa...
"Jonathan Carroll is best known for his novels, but has also produced an impressive body of short fiction over the years. There’s a certain pattern to the way Carroll sets up the lives of the (mostly) regular people who inhabit his novels and then gently whacks them out of their expected paths by introducing something magical and transcendent. As Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction for Carroll’s website: “He’ll lend you his eyes; and you will never see the world in quite the same way ever again.” In terms of themes and style, Carroll’s short stories are similar to his novels. The main difference is obviously a function of the difference in length: while it usually takes his novels a while to build up, the short stories go from common to cosmic surprisingly quickly. Expect a great many short stories that introduce a thoughtful, interesting protagonist whose life at some point suddenly intersects with (to use this word again) the transcendent: he or she discovers something about the true nature of the human soul, or love, or reality, or God."
Here are a few of the stories I liked, although I have to admit that some of the other stories were uncomfortable. But then Jonathan Carroll is not an author to be sought for comfort. Instead he will stir the reader's mind into pathways they might never have discovered--even if they don't want to go.
"Mr. Fiddlehead"--Carroll's usual blend of elegance and chills down the spine. Mr. Fiddlehead is a grown leprechaun who was the made-up childhood friend of Lenna Rhodes, Juliet's good friend. On Juliet's 40th birthday, Lenna gives her a lovely pair of gold earrings which she says she made herself--but then Juliet sees a pair in a store owned by Michael, Lenna's husband. She goes in and finds out the jewelry--and Carroll's signature fountain pen--are made by "Dixie". Michael is furious, takes Juliet back to his house, and confronts Lenna, who introduces Mr. Fiddlesticks--who really IS her, since she made him up (and "Dixie" is a nickname Lenna gave herself as a child.). The catch is that Juliet falls in love with the leprechaun, who says he can only stay when Lenna is unhappy. The sinister last comment by Juliet is "When she's sad she needs you. We have to decide what would make her sad a long time. Maybe something to do with Michael. Or their children." Frisson down the spine.
"Uh-Oh-City"--Scott is a college English professor; he and his wife find a new cleaning woman, Beenie, who is a marvel. He discovers she is dying about the same time she has found an old manuscript by one of his former students, Annette. He had reviewed the book for her, but it wasn't very good. A week later she killed herself, and he still feels guilty and kept the manuscript. BUT he remembers giving that exact box to the police when the girl died! Talks to Beenie about it, and she says he shouldn't feel guilty--he'd told the truth. She says, "You're not dying, but this thing you've got with the girl is no different than my situation. We could both use up whole days feeling guilty 'bout what we didn't do in life." So he mails the manuscript to the girl's parents. But Beenie tells him he shouldn't have; "things like that, you either throw away or you keep 'em. Never pass 'em on. They're YOUR memories, not theirs." Then his wife comes in with two letters from a former student he'd almost had an affair with, but didn't. And he'd burned the letters! So how is Beenie finding these things that don't exist? He goes to her house looking for her--and it's a mess! But the dead Annette is in there--wants to talk to him! She hates him--then Beenie says she's 1/36 of God based on Jewish mysticism. When one of the 36 dies, another has to take that one's place. She's chosen Scott, and proves herself to him when she lets him see Melville and Hawthorne and Montaigne. He has to pass the test of making up Annette--but she's left a stuffed animal that terrified him as a child in his car. And when Beenie makes it disappear, blood spurts all over. Then Annette shows up to clean the house instead of Beenie. She brings him a notebook that lets him see through the eyes of his daughter, who is being a slut. and his mentally impaired son, who hates him. Scott is overwhelmed and Annette is about to kill him with his dark memories, when Beenie sends her away. Turns out it's ANNETTE who is supposed to take Beenie's place as 1/36 of God, but she can't since she's a suicide. Scott is left realizing that even God can disintegrate.
"Friends Best Man"--The title is rather cheesy, but the story is about a man who saves his dog (named "Friend") from the railroad tracks, but loses a leg in the process. Meets "Jazz", a seven year old girl in the hospital dying of cancer. She says "Friend" talks to her and will take care of the narrator. His neighbor Kathleen takes care of the dog while he's in hospital, and they move in together. Jazz warms him that she's seeing another man--and she is. One night, Friend goes nuts about a TV program showing the clubbing of baby seals--and Jazz calls to warn the narrator to head for an island in Greece, Formori. The animals are going to kill everyone except those who have been kind to them, but Kathleen can't go because she scolded Friend. Story ends with him alone, watching flocks of birds headed to Formori.
"The Sadness of Detail"--My favorite so far. Short, but eerie. Woman seeks to rest in a cafe before going home--an old man shows her pictures of her future. Son has lost an eye, so can't be a pilot. She's divorced. But old man tells her to bring him a picture she drew years ago and the future will change. She searches all over for it, can't find it, so draws it from memory. When she meets the old man the next day, HE has the original--so they both lied. He tells her the copy is good enough that her son is saved. Then tells her to draw other things, and the divorce will happen because he will bring her first love back from the dead. Turns out the old man works for God, and some of her pictures remind God of who He is, since he's losing his memory!!!
"My Zoondel"--Two friends, she decides to buy a dog--Austrian breed Zoondel. Seller says they have yellow tongues because bred to hunt werewolves. At 6 months old, if near a werewolf, eyes turn yellow like the tongue. Only identifies. Then seller tells story of Hitler's last ditch attempt to send "werewolf" troops out--they killed all the Zoondels in Austria. Sarah gets one, but has to go to Hong Kong for work and leaves dog with Frank. The dog's eyes turn yellow when others touch him, and Frank realizes that's when the "werewolves" become aware of what they are and do horrible things.
"A Bear in the Mouth"--William Linde never had money, but he watched those who did and tried to act the part. Then won #20 million in lottery. Went to a magician--asked to be sent back to his youth but WITH the money. Magician says no, he'd be the same person. Gives him a jacket to try on which grows hair, showing that Linde still has good in him. So Linde studies money, realizes it has its own language, and asks magician to turn him into money so he can talk directly to it. Gets changed to a one dollar bill. Money is sentient--uses humans and lets them think they're in charge. So Linde lets money do what it wants.
https://www.tor.com/2012/08/03/the-sa...
"Jonathan Carroll is best known for his novels, but has also produced an impressive body of short fiction over the years. There’s a certain pattern to the way Carroll sets up the lives of the (mostly) regular people who inhabit his novels and then gently whacks them out of their expected paths by introducing something magical and transcendent. As Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction for Carroll’s website: “He’ll lend you his eyes; and you will never see the world in quite the same way ever again.” In terms of themes and style, Carroll’s short stories are similar to his novels. The main difference is obviously a function of the difference in length: while it usually takes his novels a while to build up, the short stories go from common to cosmic surprisingly quickly. Expect a great many short stories that introduce a thoughtful, interesting protagonist whose life at some point suddenly intersects with (to use this word again) the transcendent: he or she discovers something about the true nature of the human soul, or love, or reality, or God."
Here are a few of the stories I liked, although I have to admit that some of the other stories were uncomfortable. But then Jonathan Carroll is not an author to be sought for comfort. Instead he will stir the reader's mind into pathways they might never have discovered--even if they don't want to go.
"Mr. Fiddlehead"--Carroll's usual blend of elegance and chills down the spine. Mr. Fiddlehead is a grown leprechaun who was the made-up childhood friend of Lenna Rhodes, Juliet's good friend. On Juliet's 40th birthday, Lenna gives her a lovely pair of gold earrings which she says she made herself--but then Juliet sees a pair in a store owned by Michael, Lenna's husband. She goes in and finds out the jewelry--and Carroll's signature fountain pen--are made by "Dixie". Michael is furious, takes Juliet back to his house, and confronts Lenna, who introduces Mr. Fiddlesticks--who really IS her, since she made him up (and "Dixie" is a nickname Lenna gave herself as a child.). The catch is that Juliet falls in love with the leprechaun, who says he can only stay when Lenna is unhappy. The sinister last comment by Juliet is "When she's sad she needs you. We have to decide what would make her sad a long time. Maybe something to do with Michael. Or their children." Frisson down the spine.
"Uh-Oh-City"--Scott is a college English professor; he and his wife find a new cleaning woman, Beenie, who is a marvel. He discovers she is dying about the same time she has found an old manuscript by one of his former students, Annette. He had reviewed the book for her, but it wasn't very good. A week later she killed herself, and he still feels guilty and kept the manuscript. BUT he remembers giving that exact box to the police when the girl died! Talks to Beenie about it, and she says he shouldn't feel guilty--he'd told the truth. She says, "You're not dying, but this thing you've got with the girl is no different than my situation. We could both use up whole days feeling guilty 'bout what we didn't do in life." So he mails the manuscript to the girl's parents. But Beenie tells him he shouldn't have; "things like that, you either throw away or you keep 'em. Never pass 'em on. They're YOUR memories, not theirs." Then his wife comes in with two letters from a former student he'd almost had an affair with, but didn't. And he'd burned the letters! So how is Beenie finding these things that don't exist? He goes to her house looking for her--and it's a mess! But the dead Annette is in there--wants to talk to him! She hates him--then Beenie says she's 1/36 of God based on Jewish mysticism. When one of the 36 dies, another has to take that one's place. She's chosen Scott, and proves herself to him when she lets him see Melville and Hawthorne and Montaigne. He has to pass the test of making up Annette--but she's left a stuffed animal that terrified him as a child in his car. And when Beenie makes it disappear, blood spurts all over. Then Annette shows up to clean the house instead of Beenie. She brings him a notebook that lets him see through the eyes of his daughter, who is being a slut. and his mentally impaired son, who hates him. Scott is overwhelmed and Annette is about to kill him with his dark memories, when Beenie sends her away. Turns out it's ANNETTE who is supposed to take Beenie's place as 1/36 of God, but she can't since she's a suicide. Scott is left realizing that even God can disintegrate.
"Friends Best Man"--The title is rather cheesy, but the story is about a man who saves his dog (named "Friend") from the railroad tracks, but loses a leg in the process. Meets "Jazz", a seven year old girl in the hospital dying of cancer. She says "Friend" talks to her and will take care of the narrator. His neighbor Kathleen takes care of the dog while he's in hospital, and they move in together. Jazz warms him that she's seeing another man--and she is. One night, Friend goes nuts about a TV program showing the clubbing of baby seals--and Jazz calls to warn the narrator to head for an island in Greece, Formori. The animals are going to kill everyone except those who have been kind to them, but Kathleen can't go because she scolded Friend. Story ends with him alone, watching flocks of birds headed to Formori.
"The Sadness of Detail"--My favorite so far. Short, but eerie. Woman seeks to rest in a cafe before going home--an old man shows her pictures of her future. Son has lost an eye, so can't be a pilot. She's divorced. But old man tells her to bring him a picture she drew years ago and the future will change. She searches all over for it, can't find it, so draws it from memory. When she meets the old man the next day, HE has the original--so they both lied. He tells her the copy is good enough that her son is saved. Then tells her to draw other things, and the divorce will happen because he will bring her first love back from the dead. Turns out the old man works for God, and some of her pictures remind God of who He is, since he's losing his memory!!!
"My Zoondel"--Two friends, she decides to buy a dog--Austrian breed Zoondel. Seller says they have yellow tongues because bred to hunt werewolves. At 6 months old, if near a werewolf, eyes turn yellow like the tongue. Only identifies. Then seller tells story of Hitler's last ditch attempt to send "werewolf" troops out--they killed all the Zoondels in Austria. Sarah gets one, but has to go to Hong Kong for work and leaves dog with Frank. The dog's eyes turn yellow when others touch him, and Frank realizes that's when the "werewolves" become aware of what they are and do horrible things.
"A Bear in the Mouth"--William Linde never had money, but he watched those who did and tried to act the part. Then won #20 million in lottery. Went to a magician--asked to be sent back to his youth but WITH the money. Magician says no, he'd be the same person. Gives him a jacket to try on which grows hair, showing that Linde still has good in him. So Linde studies money, realizes it has its own language, and asks magician to turn him into money so he can talk directly to it. Gets changed to a one dollar bill. Money is sentient--uses humans and lets them think they're in charge. So Linde lets money do what it wants.
August 21, 2012
I read my first Jonathan Carroll novel shortly after discovering Graham Joyce. I’d read everything Joyce had written up to that point and was desperate for more. The top recommendation I kept hearing at that time was Jonathan Carroll, probably because there’s a certain similarity between the two writers: they both write fiction set in our contemporary reality with relatively small added fantasy elements. You can call this magical realism, but Joyce disagrees with this classification—he prefers the wonderful term “Old Peculiar” to describe his fiction—and I’m not sure if Jonathan Carroll is completely happy with it either. Still, it does seem to fit the bill somewhat and provides a good point of reference for people who are unfamiliar with them.
While there may be touching points with magical realism in both authors’ works, there are also considerable differences between them in terms of style and tone, so it’s a bit of an oversimplification to constantly call out their names in the same breath. Still, I think that many people who enjoy one of these excellent authors’ works will also enjoy the other one.
All of this serves to say that, if you’ve just read Graham Joyce’s wonderful new novel Some Kind of Fairy Tale (read my review here) and, like me, you’re now somewhat grouchy about having to wait a year or more for his next one, here’s the perfect opportunity to discover Jonathan Carroll’s works: the new, huge, career-spanning short story collection The Woman Who Married a Cloud, out on July 31st from Subterranean Press.
Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!
While there may be touching points with magical realism in both authors’ works, there are also considerable differences between them in terms of style and tone, so it’s a bit of an oversimplification to constantly call out their names in the same breath. Still, I think that many people who enjoy one of these excellent authors’ works will also enjoy the other one.
All of this serves to say that, if you’ve just read Graham Joyce’s wonderful new novel Some Kind of Fairy Tale (read my review here) and, like me, you’re now somewhat grouchy about having to wait a year or more for his next one, here’s the perfect opportunity to discover Jonathan Carroll’s works: the new, huge, career-spanning short story collection The Woman Who Married a Cloud, out on July 31st from Subterranean Press.
Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!
February 4, 2015
I stumbled upon Jonathan Carroll thanks to Patton Oswalt's new one, "Silver Screen Fiend," and dived in with "Land of Laughs," his first novel. I liked it quite a bit, so I decided to try his short fiction, which I found to be more of a mixed bag-- but when he's good, he's very very good. There are a number of stories in this collection that I'm sure I'll return to again.
He does sort of this strange magical-realist / intrusion of fantasy / dreamlike logic thing, similar to Barry Yourgrau, but going more in-depth; where most of Yourgrau's stories are a page or two or three, many of Carroll's reach into the double-digits and beyond, and therefore can be more resonant and rewarding.
This book is long and huge, and spans Carroll's career, but you dive right in with "Mr. Fiddlehead," which starts as an odd little fable about a woman whose imaginary childhood friend has suddenly manifested, and then takes a few left turns; it's a good introduction to the tone and quality of the pieces throughout. When they're good, they're these perfectly-crafted little gems of oddness and beauty, leaving one questioning and thinking long after the story is done.
He does sort of this strange magical-realist / intrusion of fantasy / dreamlike logic thing, similar to Barry Yourgrau, but going more in-depth; where most of Yourgrau's stories are a page or two or three, many of Carroll's reach into the double-digits and beyond, and therefore can be more resonant and rewarding.
This book is long and huge, and spans Carroll's career, but you dive right in with "Mr. Fiddlehead," which starts as an odd little fable about a woman whose imaginary childhood friend has suddenly manifested, and then takes a few left turns; it's a good introduction to the tone and quality of the pieces throughout. When they're good, they're these perfectly-crafted little gems of oddness and beauty, leaving one questioning and thinking long after the story is done.
January 4, 2014
This HUGE book took me forever to read, partly because I originally had a physical copy and its sheer bulk made it impossible to tote around with me. Another reason this was a slow read for me is that I'm not a huge fan of short stories - it often seems as though just as I get immersed in a story's world and characters the piece ends and I feel irritated. Other times, I just don't get the point of a story (I call these stories-that-make-me-say-"huh" ). However, I'm happy to say that most of Jonathan Carroll's short stores to not make me say "huh", and that they're worth reading even when I would have preferred them to be longer. I've always felt that one of Carroll's greatest talents is for naming (characters, places, novels, etc.) and that really shines in this collection. The only downside is that some of the stories didn't live up to their intriguing titles.
September 10, 2012
I have been reading Jonathan Carroll since 1992, when my friend Andrew brought me a copy of "Sleeping in Flame" that he'd found at Half-Price Books.
I have every book, every collection, every limited edition he's ever written. His books are the only thing I collect.
So, obviously, I had to buy this one, too, when it came out. And while I'm glad I have it to complete the collection, it is not my favorite thing he's written.
I'm not a short story fan in general, and was disappointed that I'd read most of the ones in this book elsewhere. I guess that's what "collected stories" means, but still. I wanted more.
I have every book, every collection, every limited edition he's ever written. His books are the only thing I collect.
So, obviously, I had to buy this one, too, when it came out. And while I'm glad I have it to complete the collection, it is not my favorite thing he's written.
I'm not a short story fan in general, and was disappointed that I'd read most of the ones in this book elsewhere. I guess that's what "collected stories" means, but still. I wanted more.
May 31, 2013
Despite having read some of these stories at their original publication over the past few years, I loved this collection. Mr. Carroll's stories always delight and amaze me, taking me into that lovely borderland between the actual and the possible, raising goosebumps, opening my "third eye" onto previously unseen and unimagined vistas of the imagination. The only thing better than a collection of short stories by Jonathan Carroll is a new novel by Jonathan Carroll. Now that I've forged through The Woman Who Married a Cloud, I can wait a bit more patiently for the next novel from my favorite author.
October 4, 2013
I have always been very fond of this author. Man can turn a phrase & plays with a lot of fun ideas. While saying that, I should mention I always felt dissatisfied by the endings of his novels. It always felt like he wanted more of his own characters but needed to "wrap up" each book. Many if his characters show up elsewhere and I've often had the sensation of glad familiarity like a friend you see every 2-4 years but fall back in rhythm with right away. This book of collected short works is a whopper and I hope this format lends itself to more rapid fire satisfaction.
May 8, 2016
Очень приличный уровень, без явных провалов, только один рассказ показался сильно затянутым.
Живешь себе, потом является некто и убедительно доказывает, что он Бог, а тебе предстоит существенно изменить приоритеты.
Делаешь татуировку с загадочным текстом, куда это приведет?
Где подвох, если выбираешь в аду комнату, в которой смотрят кино?
Тема магии, чудес и всякого запредельного вторична.
Не в триггере дело, а в том, как герои на них реагируют.
На редкость качественное чтиво.
Живешь себе, потом является некто и убедительно доказывает, что он Бог, а тебе предстоит существенно изменить приоритеты.
Делаешь татуировку с загадочным текстом, куда это приведет?
Где подвох, если выбираешь в аду комнату, в которой смотрят кино?
Тема магии, чудес и всякого запредельного вторична.
Не в триггере дело, а в том, как герои на них реагируют.
На редкость качественное чтиво.
December 6, 2016
This is a wonderful but wildly uneven collection. Some of the stories--especially "Elizabeth Thug"-- are just so good--about as good as a short story can be. And then some of them (like the one about the relocation of Hell) needed major editing or maybe should have just not been included. If this collection had been just slightly more carefully culled, it would have been pretty close to a perfect read. As it is, it's a very good one.
October 3, 2012
What can I say, it's Jonathan Carroll so of course it was great. I have to say of all the stories the first one stayed with me. I found it to be creepy (mostly the ending) even though it wasn't some terrifying nightmare, not at all... it's just the slight edge of evil that slinks in and all for love's sake- Again, short story and still I thought 'creepy'.
May 8, 2015
Finally! I wish I had taken better notes but overall this was a breath taking collection of short stories. Carrol isn't for everyone. He's classified as magical realism or surrealist fiction. AND my favorite author. If I had to choose, my favorite stories were
Mr. Fiddlehead
The Fall Collection
Jane Fonda Room
The Panic Hand
The stolen Church
The Language of Heaven
Elizabeth Thug
East of Furious
Mr. Fiddlehead
The Fall Collection
Jane Fonda Room
The Panic Hand
The stolen Church
The Language of Heaven
Elizabeth Thug
East of Furious
June 15, 2014
Fantastical whimsy
These short stories take your mind on unexpected and obtuse journeys that give you the sense you're either high, or touching new disparate parts of your brain. The cosmic influence of a world described beyond our reality is palpable. I very much enjoyed the sometimes silly, complex and thought provoking tales this book offered my mind and soul.
These short stories take your mind on unexpected and obtuse journeys that give you the sense you're either high, or touching new disparate parts of your brain. The cosmic influence of a world described beyond our reality is palpable. I very much enjoyed the sometimes silly, complex and thought provoking tales this book offered my mind and soul.
January 11, 2013
I think that Jonathan Carroll is one of my favorite authors. He's certainly one of a very small number whose writing I recognize immediately, the same way I recognize melodies by Monk, or a solo by Miles. I'm very deliberately stretching the reading of this book out as long as i can.
December 3, 2014
A great selection of stories by Jonathan Carroll. There is everything in here from fantasy to horror. Love, death, heaven, hell, gods, devils, perception of self & others are all covered in these stories. To say more would spoil it, so I will just leave it at that.
October 3, 2014
I've become a Jonathan Carroll fan belatedly through my students in Poland. Carroll is extremely popular there.
These short stores have a wonderful surreal bent to them. I look forward to the next Carroll novel.
These short stores have a wonderful surreal bent to them. I look forward to the next Carroll novel.
October 29, 2015
Enjoyable read, thought provoking
Like going to an amusement park filled with many different rides. Escape and make believe, lots of fun. Fantasy but mixed with real life that you can relate to.
Like going to an amusement park filled with many different rides. Escape and make believe, lots of fun. Fantasy but mixed with real life that you can relate to.
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