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Summary: Carroll shifts our perceptions of everyday reality ...
Review: I first starting getting into Jonathan Carroll when I read "After Silence" and was delighted to have found such an original and engaging author. Needless to say this was followed by disappointment when I realised how much of his work was out of print and difficult to obtain, so I was delighted to read on Amazon.com that "The Land of Laughs" was to be reprinted. This story, like most of Carroll's work, starts out set firmly in the real world, but as it progresses the boundaries of experience are shifted, until it becomes mind-blowingly surreal. Somehow - and this is the true strength of Carroll's writing - I found myself accepting even the most outrageous ideas as if they were somehow natural and inevitable. I must say that I didn't like the ending - not that it wasn't the right ending, or even the inevitable one, but I just didn't want it to end up like that for the characters involved ... or for the book to end at all, for that matter ...
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Summary: Starts strong, ends in a rush
Review: I had anticipated reading "The Land of Laughs" for months, having had it strongly recommended to me. I finally acquired a copy through eBay and upon beginning the story, found myself utterly drawn in. The story's protagonist is named Thomas Abbey, who is an English teacher. Thomas grew up in the shadow of his now deceased father, a famous actor. As a result, Thomas has grown from a priveleged son into a self-pitying man. The mere mention of his father sends Thomas into childish fits and we are subjected to his tantrums often. Thomas is an intellectual obsessed with two things: rare wooden carved masks and anything that has to do with his late idol, children's book author, Marshall France. When the opportunity to travel to his hero's old town residence to craft the first authorized biography presents itself, Thomas and his ladyfriend, Saxony, jump at the chance. What follows in the book is the strange detailings of a bizarre town of suspicious characters and activities that draw Thomas in and threaten to cost him his life. The humorous characters and storyline flow effortlessly throughout the novel, giving the false appearance that this is not an author's first published work. Every scene is strongly projected and richly supported by the narrative, every character is strong and unique. The story can be neatly broken into three parts: The events leading up to beginning the biography, the arrival in town and beginning of the biography, and the events following the discovery of the town's dirty secret. I greatly enjoyed the book until the finale (what I would call part 3). Up until then, the story had strong direction and a purpose; I flew through its pages. Once the town's secret is finally uncovered, the book tends to lose its focus and eventually falls into the Land of Cliches. I was left hollow at the predictable and ludicrous ending, an ending that strangely reminded me of the lame ending to the Thomas Harris "Hannibal" novel. All in all, I encourage you to read this novel; it is a worthwhile book and I am anxious to explore other Jonathan Carroll books.
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Summary: New favorite author, perhaps?
Review: I just finished this, my first Carroll book, and I can see why he gets such good reviews. Though the concept of Land of Laughs is nothing new, Carroll does it so well that it's like nothing I've read before. One minute I'm enjoying the quirky characters, the next things start to get weird, and before I know it, I'm actually a little creeped out. And I don't know why, but the further along I got, the more I expected the ending to be terrible. I was wrong. It was bizarre and totally unexpected, but excellent. I'll obviously be reading more of Jonathan Carroll's novels.
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Summary: Man...
Review: I just love Jonathan Carroll. He is so COOL!
I just want to say this though. If you are new to Carroll's work STAY AWAY from "White Apples". This one is very good, but it is a little out there, even for Carroll. Don't read it until you're ready or you will be turned off by him and that would be sad. So don't start with it, it's a hard one.
Every Carroll book has an element of horror in it. Not in your face horror either, the suspense and horror are not cheesy. The horror is there, usually not until the last 1/3 of the book when you're pretty sure something is up but you have no idea where Carroll will take it. I can hardly explain it, it's subtle, creepy horror, like "briefly come home, leave, but later glad you didn't turn on the lights because the axe murderer was standing right there in the corner" kind of horror.
In "The Land of Laughs" Thomas and Saxony have travelled to the hometown of their favorite author Marshall France, now deceased, in the hopes of gaining the rights to write an authorized biography. While there Thomas begins to realize that some pretty darn strange things are happening in the town of Galen. Things aren't quite right, the people aren't quite right, and they have been strangely welcoming and awfully anxious for him to finish his book. This is one of my favorite Carroll books, the ending gave me chills.
Read this, you will not be disappointed. This is Carroll's first book actually, and I highly recommend it, "The Wooden Sea", "Kissing the Beehive", "The Marriage of sticks" and "Bones of the Moon". But yeah, start with this one :)
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Summary: Exciting
Review: I was amazed at how well this book was written. I've never read anything like it. It seemed to progress a little slowly at first, but, once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. It was incredibly refreshing to finally read something out of the ordinary. It was my first Jonathan Carroll book and I will definitely read another one. I also recommend Land of Laughs to anyone who is searching for a captivating read. It will give you a new outlook into literature and open your eyes to the possibilities.
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Summary: This is one of my all time favorite books.
Review: I'm so happy to see it is back in print. This novel blurs the edges of reality and creativity in an amazing way. I picked up Bones of the Moon and was hooked. I eventually found a used copy of the Land of Laughs and was a fan for life. If you havent' tried Jonathon Carroll, this is a great first book-but remember it is his first book. The other books aren't as fantastic, but are much more finally crafted. I reccommend Child Across the Sky as one of my favorite books.
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Summary: I'm looking forward to reading more Carroll
Review: I've been looking for some new books to read, and when I ran across rave reviews of Jonathan Carroll's novels, I hoped I'd found an author I would really enjoy. "Land of Laughs" is the first Carroll book I've read. It was an enjoyable read, and held my attention, but it was neither as clever nor creative as I'd expected after reading the other reviews. The dialogue seemed stilted to me, and the plot was a variation on a theme I've read many other times. Still, it's an impressive first novel, and I can tell he's an author who writes the sorts of books I particularly like to read. I'm looking forward to reading more of his stuff.
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Summary: *Insert Twilight Zone theme here...*
Review: It seems recently that I keep reading books that seem somewhat normal until suddenly they're not. Jonathan Carroll's THE LAND OF LAUGHS slides confidently into this realm when the dog starts talking. I mean really, the book is fantastic.
The writing is supurb, the characters intriguing, and if the plot isn't exactly original it is to be forgiven because who hasn't wanted on occasion to step into the magical world of a favorite author? LAND OF LAUGHS is my first foray into the bizarre world of Jonathan Carroll, but believe me it won't be my last - a really great read!
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Summary: Birth of a rare talent
Review: Johnathan Carroll's books, in the average bookstore, are found on the shelf between 'The Basketball Diaries' and 'Alice in Wonderland' which is exactly where they belong. As time has gone by, I've tracked down each of his books, out of hunger for more of his writing- I have yet to be disappointed in a book of his (save that they end too quickly!).
Land of Laughs is very hard to find- it was published in a small edition, and apparently the original publisher may have had some difficulty with the author over it- however, it is surprisingly well-worth the effort. Carroll's characters typically discover their dreams and are ecstatically happy- then about 3/4ths of the way, the bottom drops out of reality and they fall, screaming, into the blackness underlying the fairytale world in which they live.
_Land of Laughs_ is no exception, despite being a first novel. All the tricks of the trade that mark Carroll's work are to be found here- very nearly at full development, without the faintest hesitations. A bravura performance of a first novel- and well worth the difficulty of finding a copy.<.......END
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Summary: Hello --Vienna Calling
Review: Land of Laughs is easily one of the most intriguing books I have ever read. Fantasy, mystery, and Freudian desire blend together as a son's search for his father is solved within a plotline drawn from the staples of horror fiction. You will NOT forget Petals and Nails -- nor should you. To add to Mr. Carroll's mystery, he, once an American citizen and academic, has chosen to live in Vienna, apparently forever. Sigh. Would that this novel were rereleased-- and very soon. I've run out of second-hand copies to lend.
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