What do you think?
Rate this book
The Loud Table
The Loud Table by Jonathan Carroll is an sf-fantasy about four elderly men who regularly hang out. One of the men is worried that he’s getting Alzheimer’s, but the truth might be even more discomforting.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 2, 2016
About the author
Jonathan Carroll
128 books1,170 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 19, 2019
“There’s no cure for old age. No one recovers from it.”
in keeping with my new resolve to not review the tor shorts so good, in order to get my to-be-reviewed list down to a manageable number, i'm just going to drop a few thoughts about this jonathan carroll story, and leave it to you to read it on your own and make your own assessments. because, obviously, you should read it. 1) it's a new jonathan carroll story and 2) it's free! what on earth is keeping you from reading it right now? me? oh, okay, i'll be fast then.
it's very familiar ground for carroll (life, memory, aging, death, and what is in-between all of those things), and it's written in that signature jonathan carroll style (very immediate and chatty, in a "let me tell you a story" way, but also a bit twisty and unexpected and magical).
it's funny and a little sad, and it's chock-full of those great snappy lines that he's always flourishing like it's the easiest thing in the world: “When I was younger, I had a girlfriend. She was like a thousand-dollar perfume—unique, gorgeous, but then gone much too soon."
it's a great introduction to carroll if you've not yet had the pleasure. if you like this, you will probably like carroll, because this story is just what he does, always, in one variation or another - a little "what if" for you to chew over in your contemplative blue hours.
so hop to it, go become a jonathan carroll fan.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2016/11/02/the-lou...
*********************************************
OH MY GOD!! when i sat down this morning to read my weekly tor short, i found that FINALLY, jonathan carroll had a story there. SO EXCITED!!! MY LOOOOOVE!!
ALSO! tor has already made their 'best tor shorts of 2016' selections, which will be available as a free e-book come january, but you can see the table of contents here now:
http://www.tor.com/2016/11/03/announc...
and there are links to all the stories, so you can read 'em right now! LOVE TOR SHORTS! THANK YOU, TOR SHORTS!
come to my blog!
in keeping with my new resolve to not review the tor shorts so good, in order to get my to-be-reviewed list down to a manageable number, i'm just going to drop a few thoughts about this jonathan carroll story, and leave it to you to read it on your own and make your own assessments. because, obviously, you should read it. 1) it's a new jonathan carroll story and 2) it's free! what on earth is keeping you from reading it right now? me? oh, okay, i'll be fast then.
it's very familiar ground for carroll (life, memory, aging, death, and what is in-between all of those things), and it's written in that signature jonathan carroll style (very immediate and chatty, in a "let me tell you a story" way, but also a bit twisty and unexpected and magical).
it's funny and a little sad, and it's chock-full of those great snappy lines that he's always flourishing like it's the easiest thing in the world: “When I was younger, I had a girlfriend. She was like a thousand-dollar perfume—unique, gorgeous, but then gone much too soon."
it's a great introduction to carroll if you've not yet had the pleasure. if you like this, you will probably like carroll, because this story is just what he does, always, in one variation or another - a little "what if" for you to chew over in your contemplative blue hours.
so hop to it, go become a jonathan carroll fan.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2016/11/02/the-lou...
*********************************************
OH MY GOD!! when i sat down this morning to read my weekly tor short, i found that FINALLY, jonathan carroll had a story there. SO EXCITED!!! MY LOOOOOVE!!
ALSO! tor has already made their 'best tor shorts of 2016' selections, which will be available as a free e-book come january, but you can see the table of contents here now:
http://www.tor.com/2016/11/03/announc...
and there are links to all the stories, so you can read 'em right now! LOVE TOR SHORTS! THANK YOU, TOR SHORTS!
come to my blog!
November 7, 2016
This is one of the better Tor online short stories I've read lately! I thought Jonathan Carroll would pull me out of my funk, and he did. :)
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
A group of retired old men meets every day at a coffee shop to hang out most of the day and shoot the breeze.
They live for each other’s company, so they’re bewildered and alarmed when the coffee shop manager announces that the café is closing for two months for renovations. After considering and discarding several other options, they wind up at Tough Nut, a gay café. They end up having a good conversation with the two owners of Tough Nut about old age and what it’s really like.
“The Loud Table” is a bit disconnected, with the first half an introspective examination of aging and the second half veering off into SciFi Land. Surprisingly, I actually appreciated the first, non-fantastical half more than the second half; I thought the first half contained the stronger writing and the second half was a bit pat. But there are enough connections between the two parts, and Jonathan Carroll is a talented enough author, that it all worked for me. This story does make me consider reducing my time online, though!
Free online here at Tor.com.
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
A group of retired old men meets every day at a coffee shop to hang out most of the day and shoot the breeze.
They live for each other’s company, so they’re bewildered and alarmed when the coffee shop manager announces that the café is closing for two months for renovations. After considering and discarding several other options, they wind up at Tough Nut, a gay café. They end up having a good conversation with the two owners of Tough Nut about old age and what it’s really like.
You get more and more invisible as you get older. Haven’t you felt that? People don’t see you. Or if they do, you’re only something in their way, an obstacle, like a chair or a big rock. You’re just another object blocking the sidewalk. Haven’t you noticed how impatient people get around us when we don’t move fast enough?Afterwards one of the other men, Conrad, walks home with the narrator and confides in him that the doctors think he has Alzheimer’s. In fact, it’s not Alzheimer’s ― but the answer is much stranger than Conrad could have guessed.
“The Loud Table” is a bit disconnected, with the first half an introspective examination of aging and the second half veering off into SciFi Land. Surprisingly, I actually appreciated the first, non-fantastical half more than the second half; I thought the first half contained the stronger writing and the second half was a bit pat. But there are enough connections between the two parts, and Jonathan Carroll is a talented enough author, that it all worked for me. This story does make me consider reducing my time online, though!
Free online here at Tor.com.
February 21, 2021
Four elderly men are forced to find a new cafe to gossip in after their regular closes for renovations. Gossip leads to deep conversations, as one member worries he may be ill. However, not everything is as it seems.
I had no idea where this story was going in it's super short 27 pages, but it certainly wasn't where we ended up. I really liked the older protagonists in this. We should have more octogenarian characters that turn out to be spectacularly weird and wonderful. This had a lot of potential for development too, and I could see it as an expanded story about Chad - who strangely reminded me of Holly from Red Dwarf. The story just had that down to earth, loveable science fiction I really enjoy. Would recommend.
I had no idea where this story was going in it's super short 27 pages, but it certainly wasn't where we ended up. I really liked the older protagonists in this. We should have more octogenarian characters that turn out to be spectacularly weird and wonderful. This had a lot of potential for development too, and I could see it as an expanded story about Chad - who strangely reminded me of Holly from Red Dwarf. The story just had that down to earth, loveable science fiction I really enjoy. Would recommend.
February 12, 2024
”You keep trying to make a precise map of the human heart. But you can’t map a land that’s constantly changing. In import ways, it doesn’t even exist until this moment, and then it’s gone the next.”
I’ve become just a bit addicted to Jonathan Carroll’s work. His writing on relationships, living well, and confronting death and dying, usually delivered with a sharp twist (or several), is absolutely unique. In this short tale, he covers the friendship of old men, living with the terminal condition of old age, the importance and unreliability of memory, and, surprisingly, AI. The tale isn’t long enough for more than one of his signature twists, and it is closer to sci-fi than to his usual magical realism, but it is still classic Carroll. If you are already a Carroll devotee, you’ll recognize and enjoy it. If you are new to him, it’s a fine, short introduction.
I’ve become just a bit addicted to Jonathan Carroll’s work. His writing on relationships, living well, and confronting death and dying, usually delivered with a sharp twist (or several), is absolutely unique. In this short tale, he covers the friendship of old men, living with the terminal condition of old age, the importance and unreliability of memory, and, surprisingly, AI. The tale isn’t long enough for more than one of his signature twists, and it is closer to sci-fi than to his usual magical realism, but it is still classic Carroll. If you are already a Carroll devotee, you’ll recognize and enjoy it. If you are new to him, it’s a fine, short introduction.
July 3, 2017
Getting older is hard, especially for men.
Old women have a knack for keeping busy, but old men don’t. Maybe we used up all of our busy before we retired. Look around and you’ll see what I mean—old women are always going off to lunch together or bridge club or museums or whatever.
This Tor.com short story starts innocently enough, as a group of elderly men meet each morning to talk and to drink coffee and to feel secure in easy companionship. Then they discover their local cafe has to temporarily close for renovations and the "loud table" has to find a new place. And then the twist begins.
I didn't even think about the ending, so that was a nice surprise. I was completely involved with this tale and each character. These are the type of men I see at a local coffee shop. They sit outside, come rain or shine, and pontificate loudly for hours. Once, I walked by on an errand then returned a few hours later for grocery shopping, and there they still were; still sitting, still talking, still laughing. So I was able to bond with this story and what a nice bond it was. Hooray for good short stories.
Book Season = Spring (chasing memories)
Old women have a knack for keeping busy, but old men don’t. Maybe we used up all of our busy before we retired. Look around and you’ll see what I mean—old women are always going off to lunch together or bridge club or museums or whatever.
This Tor.com short story starts innocently enough, as a group of elderly men meet each morning to talk and to drink coffee and to feel secure in easy companionship. Then they discover their local cafe has to temporarily close for renovations and the "loud table" has to find a new place. And then the twist begins.
I didn't even think about the ending, so that was a nice surprise. I was completely involved with this tale and each character. These are the type of men I see at a local coffee shop. They sit outside, come rain or shine, and pontificate loudly for hours. Once, I walked by on an errand then returned a few hours later for grocery shopping, and there they still were; still sitting, still talking, still laughing. So I was able to bond with this story and what a nice bond it was. Hooray for good short stories.
Book Season = Spring (chasing memories)
December 11, 2020
Türkçe çevirisini okumak için: https://kayiprihtim.com/dosya/gurultu...
Jonathan Carroll Türkiye'de nedense hak ettiği ilgiyi görmeyen çok sevdiğim bir yazar. Dört tane de kitabı çevrildi Türkçeye, az sayılmaz yani. Bu öyküsü de romanlarında gördüğümüz yaratıcılığı, mizahı yansıtıyor. Özellikle iki farklı konsepti tek öyküde başarılı bir şekilde birleştirmesiyle ve okuru şaşırtabilmesiyle epey sevdiğim bir öykü oldu Gürültülü Masa.
Jonathan Carroll Türkiye'de nedense hak ettiği ilgiyi görmeyen çok sevdiğim bir yazar. Dört tane de kitabı çevrildi Türkçeye, az sayılmaz yani. Bu öyküsü de romanlarında gördüğümüz yaratıcılığı, mizahı yansıtıyor. Özellikle iki farklı konsepti tek öyküde başarılı bir şekilde birleştirmesiyle ve okuru şaşırtabilmesiyle epey sevdiğim bir öykü oldu Gürültülü Masa.
November 5, 2016
I want one single thing in my life to remain the same right up until the day I die. Then whenever I get the feeling life is slipping through my fingers like sand, I can turn to that one fixed thing and hold tight, knowing it will stay that way till I’m gone.
This story is so good. It's hard to find sci-fi of any kind that feels real enough for me to get hooked on, and it's harder still to find any kind of media featuring senior citizens well past retirement. Especially sci-fi or fantasy, which tend to be stacked with young, virile characters.
This story is about a group of retirees who are waiting out their lives and who have created a sort of grown-up version of The Breakfast Club.
One of the members, Conrad, fears he's getting Alzheimer's. He is not.
The twist is unexpected and although I would have liked a little more of Conrad's reaction explained, it's very satisfying all around. It's profound and funny, sad and hopeful. Tor shorts are the best.
I also need to pick up some of Jonathon Carroll's novels now.
Read it here: The Loud Table.
This story is so good. It's hard to find sci-fi of any kind that feels real enough for me to get hooked on, and it's harder still to find any kind of media featuring senior citizens well past retirement. Especially sci-fi or fantasy, which tend to be stacked with young, virile characters.
This story is about a group of retirees who are waiting out their lives and who have created a sort of grown-up version of The Breakfast Club.
One of the members, Conrad, fears he's getting Alzheimer's. He is not.
The twist is unexpected and although I would have liked a little more of Conrad's reaction explained, it's very satisfying all around. It's profound and funny, sad and hopeful. Tor shorts are the best.
I also need to pick up some of Jonathon Carroll's novels now.
Read it here: The Loud Table.
December 29, 2017
This very short story manages to show Carrolls talent well. In 22 pages he squeezes in an analysis of life, how its lived and death with a fun twist of sci-fi. The analysis is in the form of four elderly men sitting around a table who discuss everything daily and one worries he may be getting Alzheimers but the truth could be worse!.
I found Jonathan Carroll through Neil Gaiman's work and he is now one of my favourite magical realism authors. His writing delves deep in to your emotions and makes you evaluate things, an author who can take the mundane and make it beautiful or just state the obvious but makes you question the action.
A quick fun story which I enjoyed very much.
I found Jonathan Carroll through Neil Gaiman's work and he is now one of my favourite magical realism authors. His writing delves deep in to your emotions and makes you evaluate things, an author who can take the mundane and make it beautiful or just state the obvious but makes you question the action.
A quick fun story which I enjoyed very much.
December 29, 2017
I have a huge, irrational love for old people, so when I saw this was about the elderly I really wanted to read it! This started out nicely, is was slow and mundane, but in a good way.
Towards the middle, there were some comments on aging that really got to me. I hate the thought of getting old and I hate the thought that old people think they're useless (because I personally think they're great) so some of the things said really touched me.
Then the twist happened and it was totally left field. I liked the twist but it didn't fit into the story very well, in my opinion, considering this books starts off as though it's going to be about a group of old men trying to find a new coffee joint to enjoy... but I guess this is from a sci-fi themed website, so what did I expect?
Towards the middle, there were some comments on aging that really got to me. I hate the thought of getting old and I hate the thought that old people think they're useless (because I personally think they're great) so some of the things said really touched me.
Then the twist happened and it was totally left field. I liked the twist but it didn't fit into the story very well, in my opinion, considering this books starts off as though it's going to be about a group of old men trying to find a new coffee joint to enjoy... but I guess this is from a sci-fi themed website, so what did I expect?
November 3, 2016
This is an well written short story with a twist. You think you know what is going on, but you don't. It appears to be straight fiction, so to speak, but it isn't. It is a quick read, and quite fun. The voices sound genuine, and the search for a good cafe to hang out in is fun.
Read it all the way to the end, because otherwise you won't get it.
Yeah, that is the way it is with short stories. You give too much away, you spoil it.
You can read this story for free on the Tor site.
Read it all the way to the end, because otherwise you won't get it.
Yeah, that is the way it is with short stories. You give too much away, you spoil it.
You can read this story for free on the Tor site.
November 22, 2016
I loved the twist at the end, but the old people talking about the negatives of getting older depressed me. Very realistic. Short freebie at Tor. Worth the read. Three solid stars.
November 10, 2016
I feel rather meh about this.
Old men nattering at a table seemed realistic and I had no problems with the twist, but Margaret Atwood and Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm have previously tackled the "is it really Alzheimer's?" SFF short story with so much more nuance and plays on language.
Old men nattering at a table seemed realistic and I had no problems with the twist, but Margaret Atwood and Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm have previously tackled the "is it really Alzheimer's?" SFF short story with so much more nuance and plays on language.
November 3, 2016
This short SF story is free from Tor & available here. It's an interesting look at aging & memory & a little more...
December 27, 2022
Fun little read! Thanks, BookFairy!
https://www.tor.com/2016/11/02/the-lo...
https://www.tor.com/2016/11/02/the-lo...
November 11, 2025
A man fears he may be getting Alzheimer's Disease, but an old friend reveals something else entirely.
Carroll's short story has a very Golden Age SF feel and it works very well.
Carroll's short story has a very Golden Age SF feel and it works very well.
April 9, 2019
LOVED! Now someone please recommend me other short stories that are as good as this one.
Fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this one's for you.
Fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this one's for you.
December 24, 2022
What a cute and strange story! I suppose that's what I should expect from Jonathan Carroll though.
July 8, 2020
Short and comforting, with a satisfying sf twist at the end.
November 14, 2016
This started out quite interestingly, then shifted gears in a way that was extremely jarring for my taste and lost me. Maybe there is people that can keep invested in a story that started out one way and then became something else entirely (and I mean universes away), but this has always been problematic for me. I can suspend disbelief all day long, as long as enough hints are provided about which type of story I'm dealing with, but go from realistic to WTF in an instant and you'll leave me behind.
November 4, 2016
The Loud Table is about a group of old men who enjoy spending their days at a coffee shop. Until the narrative takes a drastic turn and is about aliens and the singularity instead. The story was amusing, but very disjointed and not particularly compelling in the end. The idea could have been explored better, even in a short story. Instead, the plot elements were tossed in without must development, and the Alzheimer's part in particular felt quite flippant.
January 13, 2017
Another free Tor short :)
Initially reading this brought my dad to mind - he's just retired, and the process of aging, with the effect that has on one's self-image and attitude to the rest of the world, was just beautifully described. It really did echo a lot that my dad has mentioned about the weirdness of becoming old.
About halfway through it stopped resonating quite so much... but no spoilers! And a very entertaining read.
Initially reading this brought my dad to mind - he's just retired, and the process of aging, with the effect that has on one's self-image and attitude to the rest of the world, was just beautifully described. It really did echo a lot that my dad has mentioned about the weirdness of becoming old.
About halfway through it stopped resonating quite so much... but no spoilers! And a very entertaining read.
November 2, 2016
Great story
Read
November 5, 2016une nouvelle sur la vieillesse, la mémoire , l'intelligence artificielle etc Rien de bien neuf mais c'est tellement bien condensé, bien écrit qu'on ne regrette pas le temps passé à la lire
December 27, 2016
More like 3.5/5 stars. This was such an interesting read with a strange twist in plot. If you want a surprise from a seemingly cute tale about a group of old men friends...this is your read.
April 7, 2018
"Old men don’t sleep much. Don’t sleep much, don’t eat much, piss much; we are walking clichés of what old men are supposed to be like—men that once upon a time we never ever thought we would become"
A twenty pages of fiction shouldn't be amusing like this.. at the first few pages you're drown into some elder people talks on a table, and by the last few pages there are aliens and AI. who controls the world of humans.
A twenty pages of fiction shouldn't be amusing like this.. at the first few pages you're drown into some elder people talks on a table, and by the last few pages there are aliens and AI. who controls the world of humans.
January 23, 2018
The conceit here is cute, I guess, but I found the reveal clunky. And the narrator's dripping misogyny grated. I like reading about strong bonds of friendship between men, but I assert it is possible to write that without dismissing every woman in their lives as a miserable shrew.
September 22, 2017
Interesting short read.
October 25, 2018
Not subtle enough and not as full of pathos as it could have been. Interesting premise though.
August 23, 2022
This author never dissapoints. ‘There is no cure for old age. No one recovers from it’ that really sums up this quirky short story about group of old men. A lovely read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews