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Summary: A helpful fantasy, intended to expand one's imagination
Review: 2-1/2 years ago I read a pre-publication profile of this novel, photocopied it (the review), ordered the book and set it aside to read someday. After intending to get to it several times, I finally read it last weekend while staying in a hotel in connection with another activity. I found the story credible, and deeply moving. The author is straight-forward: We don't really know what happens to the soul when someone dies, but our imaginations might just reveal the truth. I lost someone important in my life two years ago, and still think about what it means. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a novel that deals creatively with this issue, suggesting new insights. You either buy it or you don't. I did.
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Summary: CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
Review: A great follow-up to Sherwood's 747 novel and a wonderfully quick moving read. I read it straight through on the first night I bought it.Sherwood introduces characters that you want to be around, you want to talk with them, laugh with them, and have a beer with them. Just like in "The Man Who Ate the 747" there is a great group here. The great thing about his characters are that they are ordinary people. If you want to meet people like Sherwood creates, it is simple, find a small town, any town, find the person that smiles at you and start a conversation. Can't wait for the next book, Ben.
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Summary: a wonderful "Life"
Review: Ben Sherwood has come up with another quirky, fascinating love story that hooks you early and keeps pulling you through. I loved it, but it did keep me up way too late.
A childhood tragedy has cast the die for the rest of Charlie St. Cloud's humble life, yet he accepts it with the charm, intelligence and grace that will make readers love him. When beautiful, feisty, independent Tess Carrol rocks his world, everything is turned upside down. She is dealing with her own tragedies she can't understand and only Charlie can help her through. The twists and turns that complicate this love story keep you guessing until the end.
His wonderful characters, Charlie, Tess and Sam inhabit the space between death and life and constantly show us that real love doesn't change no matter which side a body happens to be on. Like few authors before him, Ben explores the spiritual and supernatural worlds in a way that will work for believers and non-believers alike.
Set in the real-life, really charming town of Marblehead, MA. Ben and Charlie remind us that love conquers all, one way or another.
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Summary: 5 Cheers for Charlie
Review: Ben Sherwood's follow-up to "The Man Who Ate the 747" is simply stunning. Anyone who has ever loved, or lost love, or who has pondered their place in the universe will be mesmerized, transformed and ultimately moved by Ben's "The Death & Life of Charlie St. Cloud". In quintessential Sherwood-ian fashion, Ben creates a landscape of whimsical, fantastical, colorful and unforgettable characters who inhabit the small town of Marblehead, Mass only to have a profound impact on each others lives. As unique as these characters are, they are firmly rooted in reality, and each reader will be able to relate to their dreams, their conflicts and their journeys. Ben Sherwood's prose is fluid, humorous, engaging and beautiful. If you've ever wondered if a lost loved one is looking over your shoulder, or if you've ever believed in something so powerful than what we can comprehend, that death is not the end of life, then you must read "Charlie St. Cloud." This novel will stay with you long after you've finished it. You might never look at the stars in the nighttime sky the same way again. Charlie is watching. -Brian, New York City.
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Summary: Ick
Review: Deeply derivative, with vomit-inducing sentimentallity. There's nothing wrong with being sentimental, but this is cliched and mawkish. I am disturbed by the rave reviews from other readers.
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Summary: One of the best books I've ever read!
Review: From start to finish, you can't put this book down. Ben Sherwood takes you on a great adventure, passing through life, death and beyond. You will experience a plethora of emotions on your journey that will leave you with a safe and secure feeling that carries on beyond the finish of the book. This book is about miracles, memories, dreams, adventures, second chances and hope for the future. If you want to feel good in the hear and now, read this book.
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Summary: Best Book of the Year!
Review: Have you ever read a book, put it down, and reread it 2 days later? I have. Once. This was the book. It's plot is fun and fast paced. The characters are rich and interesting, and it is a fun and uplifting read. Ben has a great gift, and I expect you will be hearing great things about Ben and this book! You will love the plot and the ending!
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Summary: Risky, Charming, Heart-stopping, and Ultimately Triumphant
Review: Having once been in the circus, I love watching writers take daring risks. "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" is a high-wire act of the most exciting kind: bold, mesmerizing, lump-in-the-throat exciting, a tad scary, and ultimately very American. Ben Sherwood sucks you in immediately with a charming tale where nothing is quite what it seems, tragedy is waiting just around the corner, and love triumphs when you least expect it. Who would begin a book with pain? Well, lots of people! Like "Lovely Bones" and "Five People You Meet In Heaven," great writers seem to have the ability to make us go through an unspeakable calamity in order to find a transcendent path to hope. There are lots of surprises here: baseball games you can't quite believe; sailing races that hold your breath, lots of quirky details about cemeteries (Edgar Allan Poe!), and great food. My wife fell in love with Charlie; I liked Tess. It only took each of us a day to read it; we haven't stopped talking about it since.
Rating:
Summary: Risky, Charming, Heart-stopping, and Ultimately Triumphant
Review: Having once been in the circus, I love watching writers take daring risks. "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" is a high-wire act of the most exciting kind: bold, mesmerizing, lump-in-the-throat exciting, a tad scary, and ultimately very American. Ben Sherwood sucks you in immediately with a charming tale where nothing is quite what it seems, tragedy is waiting just around the corner, and love triumphs when you least expect it. Who would begin a book with pain? Well, lots of people! Like "Lovely Bones" and "Five People You Meet In Heaven," great writers seem to have the ability to make us go through an unspeakable calamity in order to find a transcendent path to hope. There are lots of surprises here: baseball games you can't quite believe; sailing races that hold your breath, lots of quirky details about cemeteries (Edgar Allan Poe!), and great food. My wife fell in love with Charlie; I liked Tess. It only took each of us a day to read it; we haven't stopped talking about it since.
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Summary: Sentimental tear jerker
Review: Having read Sherwood's "The Man Who Ate the 747," I was looking forward to reading this novel. However, it was a bit too sentimental for my tastes and was not as good as the author's previous book. Charlie St. Cloud has a near death experience after getting involved in a car collision that kills his younger brother Sam. After this experience, he can see the deceased while their earthbound spirits have yet to pass into the next plane of the afterlife. The years pass, and Charlie meets with Sam's spirit every evening at sundown, honoring a promise to stick by his brother forever. They spend their time together playing ball and hanging out in the cemetary where Charlie works. Then Tess enters Charlie's life after she narrowly escapes a watery end at sea when her sailing ship founders during a storm. Charlie is now torn between loyalty to Sam and his love for Tess. The story is populated with a series of interesting and endearing characters, but the relationship between Charlie and Sam is idealized to the point of incredulity. There are some well written passages that make the reader feel the sea spray in their face and see the beauty of sunset over a harbor town. The description of the afterlife is a comforting one, and the concept of love transcending the boundaries of life and death is inspirational. This is a ghost story and an emotional love story, but taken together it is too unbelievable to fully work for me. It is suspenseful, but the author's manipulation of the story line to keep the reader guessing is transparently deliberate. The plot reminds me of a cross between the movies "Field of Dreams," "Ghost," and "Sixth Sense," but not as well executed. If you enjoy heartrending love stories and books like "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" you will probably enjoy this book. Have your tissues ready when you read it, since it is a real tear jerker. Eileen Rieback
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