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13th out of 286 books
—
198 voters
The Wooden Sea (Crane's View #3)
From the moment a three-legged dog limps into the life of Police Chief Frannie McCabe and drops dead at his feet, McCabe finds himself in a new world of disturbing miracles. His small town of Crane's View, New York has long been a haven of harmony and comfort--but now he finds himself afflicted by the inexplicable, by omens that converge to throw his life into doubt. And w...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
February 9th 2002
by Tor Books
(first published 2001)
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It's rare these days that a book "has me from hello" (to paraphrase a cheesy line from a *urp* Tom Cruise movie), but this one did. Check out the first two paragraphs:
"Never buy yellow clothes or cheap leather. That's my credo and there are more. Know what I like to see? People killing themselves. Don't misunderstand; I'm not talking about the poor fucks who jump out windows or stick their sorry heads into plastic bags forever. No "Ultimate Fighting Championship" either, which is only a bunch o...more
"Never buy yellow clothes or cheap leather. That's my credo and there are more. Know what I like to see? People killing themselves. Don't misunderstand; I'm not talking about the poor fucks who jump out windows or stick their sorry heads into plastic bags forever. No "Ultimate Fighting Championship" either, which is only a bunch o...more
I slipped it under his collar. Like an Egyptian king going to the hereafter surrounded by his worldly possessions, Old Vertue now had a beautiful feather to carry along. It was getting late and I had other things to do. Quickly filling the grave, I tamped it down as best I could, hoping another animal wouldn't catch the scent and dig it up.
Frannie McCabe is chief of police in Crane's View, a small town in New York state. He is generally happy with his lot, having outgrown his wild rebellious tee...more
Frannie McCabe is chief of police in Crane's View, a small town in New York state. He is generally happy with his lot, having outgrown his wild rebellious tee...more
Feb 12, 2012
La Stamberga dei Lettori
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
tancredi
Il mare di legno, terzo e ultimo pannello della trilogia di Crane's View, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 2000, è davvero un libro spartiacque; o almeno, così apparirà ai lettori di Carroll.
Se da un lato questo ultimo episodio rappresenta il culmine dell'escalation surreale che ha invaso la tranquilla e anonima cittadina di Crane's View, dall'altro i lettori attenti di Carroll vi vedranno un salto qualitativo, insieme tematico e silistico, che prepara il terreno, per così dire, ai lavori futur...more
Se da un lato questo ultimo episodio rappresenta il culmine dell'escalation surreale che ha invaso la tranquilla e anonima cittadina di Crane's View, dall'altro i lettori attenti di Carroll vi vedranno un salto qualitativo, insieme tematico e silistico, che prepara il terreno, per così dire, ai lavori futur...more
Well dang. After being utterly and completely entranced with The Land of Laughs by Carroll I gave this one a spin, and it fell flat. It was interesting enough to keep reading, but this is one that I won't remember the details to in just a few short months. Nothing really caught my attention, nothing compelled me and dragged me along.
I think the thing that put me off was that there were no rules to the madness he presented here. The Land of Laughs might not have had many rules, but it also might...more
I think the thing that put me off was that there were no rules to the madness he presented here. The Land of Laughs might not have had many rules, but it also might...more
What is it about a book from someone you've loved?
For me it's a direct challenge to the reframing that we all do- 'It wasn't meant to be'- 'there wasn't enough honesty'- 'we both failed' - 'I never cleaned the bathroom'- to put a person behind us. There's the immediate purge- the .mp3s and .avi's go in the iconographic garbage.
Friends take sides: 'We never liked her entirely, anyways.' New haircuts are applied. Environments are changed. The myth becomes truth: It wasn't meant to be. Mistakes wer...more
For me it's a direct challenge to the reframing that we all do- 'It wasn't meant to be'- 'there wasn't enough honesty'- 'we both failed' - 'I never cleaned the bathroom'- to put a person behind us. There's the immediate purge- the .mp3s and .avi's go in the iconographic garbage.
Friends take sides: 'We never liked her entirely, anyways.' New haircuts are applied. Environments are changed. The myth becomes truth: It wasn't meant to be. Mistakes wer...more
This is one strange book, strange like a dream. In the literature of the fantastic strange happenings in a small town is a common theme, but in this one the strange is taken another step. The entire book is like one continuous dream. For example, there is an instance in which the protagonist gets out of bed and walks through his house in his underwear. He is interupted on his way back to bed by a visitor and he never gets back to bed. He also never gets a chance to get dressed. He also ends up o...more
I really love Jonathan Carroll's writing, the way he sets up some great characters, makes you believe in them, and then hits them with something so leftfield that it pulls the carpet from underneath them and makes them re-evaulate everything they previously thought to be true. However, having come across Carroll's work about five years ago and reading on average one ot two of his books a year in no particular order, I'm coming to the conclusion that he's a bit of a one trick pony. Each book is m...more
Not only have I never read Jonathan Carroll, I don't think I've ever read this genre - although I'm not quite sure I know which genre it is. Sci-fi? Fantasy? Metaphysical something or other?
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed Carroll's writing. I found his main character Frannie, at all ages, totally engaging and believable. I wish the relationship with his wife had been further developed, but loved the relationship with the stepdaughter as well.
I felt like I was a participant in someone's...more
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed Carroll's writing. I found his main character Frannie, at all ages, totally engaging and believable. I wish the relationship with his wife had been further developed, but loved the relationship with the stepdaughter as well.
I felt like I was a participant in someone's...more
A longtime lover of literature, I once asked a blind date if she was into books. "Books are alright," she said. "Although I prefer nonfiction. And I definitely don't have time for magical realism."
That phrase -- "I don't have time for magical realism." -- became sort of a running gag among my book loving friends and I. Maybe we're just mocking a world that brooks the supernatural less and less each day, or maybe we're just thumbing our noses at the idea that dream lives are only the domain of th...more
That phrase -- "I don't have time for magical realism." -- became sort of a running gag among my book loving friends and I. Maybe we're just mocking a world that brooks the supernatural less and less each day, or maybe we're just thumbing our noses at the idea that dream lives are only the domain of th...more
This book would be enjoyed by people who like the Thursday Next novels. It includes time travel and other supernatural plot twists that cause it to be pegged as a "science fiction" book, a category that always reminds me of Bradbury and Asimov. This is more just a strange book set in the present time but with very unusual, extraordinary events. The author is trying to figure out what a three-legged dog and a feather and a bone have to do with each other and what else is needed to finish the mach...more
Some quotes I bookmarked:
“Over a lifetime our definitions of things change radically, but because it’s so gradual we’re blind to them. As the years pass, our names for things no longer fit but we still keep using them.”
“We look as who we were, once upon a time, and see that person as stupid or amusing, but never essential. Like flipping through old snapshots of ourselves wearing funny hats or big lapels. How silly I was back then, how naive. And how wrong to think that! Because now when you are...more
“Over a lifetime our definitions of things change radically, but because it’s so gradual we’re blind to them. As the years pass, our names for things no longer fit but we still keep using them.”
“We look as who we were, once upon a time, and see that person as stupid or amusing, but never essential. Like flipping through old snapshots of ourselves wearing funny hats or big lapels. How silly I was back then, how naive. And how wrong to think that! Because now when you are...more
This book was kind of crazy, but a lot of fun to read. It was exciting and had some truly hilarious moments. The ending was a bit disappointing, but I am not sure that a more conclusive ending would have been any more satisfying, really. I think I enjoyed Sleeping in Flame more, but this book was a lot of fun to read. It was very different... Although there was some acknowledgment given to Back to the Future, which was nice. I really did enjoy this and I do wish that there was more to the story...more
Strange. Poignant. Haunting. The experience of reading a Jonathan Carroll story is hard to describe to someone who has never encountered his work, and I'm not going to try here. The Wooden Sea, like other Carroll works, starts of in the here-and-now, the land of the real and understandable, but it doesn't take long before the story flies into the dark woods at the fringes of town into the unfamiliar territory of dreams. It takes a writer like Carroll to navigate this territory, to take the reade...more
come si rema su un mare di legno? con un cucchiaio
non avevo mai letto nulla di jonathan carrol..so (solo ora) che questo è il 3° di una trilogia, non posseggo i primi due ma non ho avuto problemi a leggerlo, perciò non penso sia legati. é una storia surreale,ma per quanto il finale non mi abbia del tutto convinta,è scritta in modo magistrale,tanto che è riuscito a tenermi con il naso incollato alle pagine fino alla fine,l'ho divorato.leggerò qualche altra opera.
jonathan Carrol ha tutte le carte...more
non avevo mai letto nulla di jonathan carrol..so (solo ora) che questo è il 3° di una trilogia, non posseggo i primi due ma non ho avuto problemi a leggerlo, perciò non penso sia legati. é una storia surreale,ma per quanto il finale non mi abbia del tutto convinta,è scritta in modo magistrale,tanto che è riuscito a tenermi con il naso incollato alle pagine fino alla fine,l'ho divorato.leggerò qualche altra opera.
jonathan Carrol ha tutte le carte...more
I like my fantasy book to fit one another. What I mean is, you can have your fantasy world as crazy as you like but please stick to your rules. Because otherwise it would just fall apart and unbelieveable.
Carroll broke too many of his own rules in this book for me. His concept of different selves just plain sloppy and used mainly to make it easier for him but not for the benefit of the story. When I tried to see the big picture I didn't see how it all connects the way it should on time-travel th...more
Carroll broke too many of his own rules in this book for me. His concept of different selves just plain sloppy and used mainly to make it easier for him but not for the benefit of the story. When I tried to see the big picture I didn't see how it all connects the way it should on time-travel th...more
If Joseph C. Lincoln had set down to write The Man Who Folded Himself he would have come up with something like what I'm currently reading. Fran, a small town chief of police, has found himself in the middle of a time traveling mystery / conspiracy where the fate of Crane's View rests on his ability to sort things out. The first chapter didn't do much for me but by the second chapter the quirky plot began to surface. By the third chapter I was hooked all the way through the epilogue which seemed...more
Jan 26, 2013
Judy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of urban fantasy or magical realism
Recommended to Judy by:
SqueakyChu bookray
This book was difficult for me to put down. This description from the Rockey Mountain New review is about right: "Thought critics may try, there's no way to pigeonhole The Wood Sea
This was my first book by this author, and I'm going to go find the others and read them. It was a real treat. I kept thinking that his writing style reminded me more than a bit of brilliant author Spider Robinson's, which in my mind is no small compliment. Robinson and Carroll both have the unique ability to have a ch...more
This was my first book by this author, and I'm going to go find the others and read them. It was a real treat. I kept thinking that his writing style reminded me more than a bit of brilliant author Spider Robinson's, which in my mind is no small compliment. Robinson and Carroll both have the unique ability to have a ch...more
This is one of the rare books that causes you to pause and ask yourself "What am I reading?" Not once, not twice, but a minimum of at least three times. The Wooden Sea is not a book for everyone; not even a book for most people.
Carroll's writing is utterly shameless. He writes for himself entirely, and what comes out is a set of characters incredibly well-defined. His setting, his characters, the surrealistic nature of his plot and universe itself all come off as incredibly reasonable. He bumps...more
Carroll's writing is utterly shameless. He writes for himself entirely, and what comes out is a set of characters incredibly well-defined. His setting, his characters, the surrealistic nature of his plot and universe itself all come off as incredibly reasonable. He bumps...more
"He created it all - the universe, you, me...everything, and then rested. But before he did it, he arranged to be awakened by all of us, in concert. He gave us the knowledge and the resources, as well sufficient time to develop individually so that together we could build a device that would awaken God when it was time." Once again, Carroll delivers with this novel. Complete stars for humour, interesting concepts and views of things, story plot and good writing. I'll pick this novel up time and...more
Come si fa a navigare in un mare di legno? Continua a stupirmi quanto la fantasia pi� sfrenata, dalla fantascienza ai romanzi surreali di Carroll, possa dare cos� tanto all'animo umano. Mentre vieni trasportato in un'altra dimensione leggendo di mondi lontani, come nella fantascienza o di cani che resuscitano, viaggi nel tempo e mille altre stranezze come quelle raccontate da Carroll, mentre sei mille miglia lontano dalla vita quotidiana e dalle sue preoccupazioni, PAM!, ti ritrovi cose del gene...more
The story starts off with a one-eyed, three-legged dog expiring like an old wounded warrior, and then things get stranger and stranger. “The Wooden Sea” is a novel I picked up thanks to a recommendation in the “2003 Nebula Awards Showcase” as an example of the direction the fantasy genre was heading. And “fantasy” here means fantastical, not medieval.
I think if I had to give just one label to this book, it would be “surreal.” The book starts off odd, then gets strange, and then gets truly weird...more
I think if I had to give just one label to this book, it would be “surreal.” The book starts off odd, then gets strange, and then gets truly weird...more
"La vita non è altro che una serie di contraddizioni con cui è necessario imparare a fare i conti".
Il mare di legno, terzo e ultimo pannello della trilogia di Crane's View, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 2000, è davvero un libro spartiacque; o almeno, così apparirà ai lettori di Carroll.
Se da un lato questo ultimo episodio rappresenta il culmine dell'escalation surreale che ha invaso la tranquilla e anonima cittadina di Crane's View, dall'altro i lettori attenti di Carroll vi vedranno un salt...more
Il mare di legno, terzo e ultimo pannello della trilogia di Crane's View, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 2000, è davvero un libro spartiacque; o almeno, così apparirà ai lettori di Carroll.
Se da un lato questo ultimo episodio rappresenta il culmine dell'escalation surreale che ha invaso la tranquilla e anonima cittadina di Crane's View, dall'altro i lettori attenti di Carroll vi vedranno un salt...more
This was a very odd book and not a book I would normally pick up and read. I was captured by the humor and the idea of this very strange plot. It’s unique qualities kept my interest. The story is about McCabe. He is a cop in the town he grew up in. He is on his second marriage to a woman he really loves and a step father to Pauline. It was nice to see a good relationship between the step-parent and step-child for a change. One day a strange, crippled dog wanders into town and McCabe adopts him....more
A super fun book featuring the Police Chief of a small town trying to solve an ever expanding set of mysteries: the disappearance of one of the town's couples, a dog that died but won't stay buried, a magically reappearing feather, and the sudden onset of time travel to his future life ~ all with special guest appearances from his teenage delinquent self and his eager, high energy younger self. It's an engaging story with many of the magical touches that make Jonathan Carroll such a fun author t...more
note to self: don't finish anymore Jonathan Carroll books while at the public library, unless you want any number of patrons and librarians to see you sobbing like a blithering fool.
I put this book down and couldn't tell which part of me was more satisfied, my mind or my soul. It was just all kinds of wonderful, and the final pages before the epilogue might even work their way into some of the classes I teach on thinking about the stories we tell of our own lives.
I love this man and I love his...more
I put this book down and couldn't tell which part of me was more satisfied, my mind or my soul. It was just all kinds of wonderful, and the final pages before the epilogue might even work their way into some of the classes I teach on thinking about the stories we tell of our own lives.
I love this man and I love his...more
This was very similar in theme to The Ghost in Love and veered a little too far into middle-aged man-angst, but Carroll's willingness to follow wherever his inventive pen leads, while keeping his characters engaging and genuine, kept the whole thing afloat. At times the sudden shifts and revelations felt too haphazard, but in the end it had that old Carroll magic. Overall, not my favorite of his works, but a fine reminder of why I keep reading him.
This book didn't betray my expectations. It was more bizarre than the Marriage of Stick, which was the second book of the Crane's View trilogy. Every time there was a new development, the story turned to a different direction I had never thought it could go that often made me feel dizzy. When the story got close to its end, though, there was a message that was similar to the Marriage of Stick appeared. Then I thought, "yeah, everything is alright, no matter what." If you like a straightforward s...more
I have read better ones in the past by Jonathan Carroll. Maybe life has moved me off in a different direction. The plot never came together, the character never sunk completely in, and the action never captivated me. In the past I always liked the little life observations of the characters and side stories. The ones in this novel never really drew me in. I won't give up on Jonathan Carroll yet, since his early novels wooed me so well.
I hate it when I read a book that is disappointing up until the end, which turns out to be very good. Like all of the emotion that should have been experienced during the course of the story is reserved for the final ten pages. Does that mean I liked it or not? How do I judge it? Could it simply be the pain of separation from something you have invested much time and effort into? Like an ex-lover you will never see again; was it just attachment and familiarity from being with someone for so long...more
This book was introduced to me as a main stream author writing an award winning science fiction/fantasy novel. I hated it. Main stream authors who do not like SF should just leave it alone. The ending of the novel completely destroyed my suspension of disbelief. Just because it is science fiction does not make all laws of science invalid. It must still make sense. I would recommend skipping this one.
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Jonathan 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 reali...more
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“strach nie jest jak choroba zakaźna, nie przychodzi skądś, ale sam go tworzysz. głównie przez miłość. im bardziej coś kochasz, tym bardziej dręczy cię myśl, że mógłbyś to stracić. wtedy strach jest zawsze gdzieś tuż obok.”
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27 juil. 22:13
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