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Summary: A simply beautiful story to explain death and transition.
Review: I was given this book to read by the Chaplain in our Hospice organization. Since I lead a bereavement group, I found this book to be very helpful to me especially for the living, but also to help grieving survivors. In such a beautiful way the story helps survivors experience death from both sides. And it is an easy read...in fact, it is a book that can't be put down. I will add this to our recommended booklist.
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Summary: Deeply Touching
Review: I was hooked by the time I finished the introduction. The story of Charlie St. Cloud is embracing, emotional, enchanting and so well written that I didn't want the story to end. Charlie makes a promise to his little brother that he has trouble keeping but by the time you finish the book, you realize that no matter what else happened, Charlie kept that promise - to his little brother Sam and to his own destiny - and he met some interesting characters along the way with his special gift. You will love this story if you're a romantic or if you just love a good book. Charlie touches the lives of many people in his adventures along the road of his death and then his life. Ben Sherwood will touch the soul of each reader with this book and they won't realize until later just how deeply. He has a rare gift of giving his all in his stories.
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Summary: Two words: Cemetery and romance. Mutually exclusive? No.
Review: If you could imagine a deceptively simple story line which explores some of the most complex issues of the human experience, i.e., "what comes next?", and combines it with a wonderful, fabulous romance, then you have some idea of what is in store for you when you read The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.
I have just finished this amazing book. It is set in my adopted hometown, Marblehead, Massachusetts. The author is Ben Sherwood, who also wrote The Man Who Ate the 747. Ben spent considerable time in Marblehead researching the town for his new book. He has captured, with sensitive and sometimes hilarious accuracy, the flavor of the town and the people of our beloved Marblehead. The names of the townspeople alone are worth the read. This is truly one of the most unique books I have ever read. The romance between Charlie and Tess is improbably wonderful. The relationship between Charlie and his younger (dead) brother is endearing and very thought provoking. A lifelong skeptic, myself, I may have to delve into some of the resources cited in Mr. Sherwood's source notes. I recommend you buy it, read it and enjoy a wonderful trip. I find myself missing Charlie, Tess, Sam and all the unforgettable Marblehead characters. I hope Ben Sherwood is hard at work on his next book!
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Summary: Best Read In Two years
Review: It's been two years since I've sat down to read a book and would not put it down until I finished it. The only suggestion I would make is to keep oxygen beside you when reading Ben's newest book. The Death & Life Of Charlie St. Cloud takes place in the historical seashore resort where I live, but it's the characters who live so incredibly. Most of the time, I held my breath while reading. Ben's character Tess, is an avid sailor and after being a sailor for 15 years, I have to say, his writing of her adventures left me needing oxygen. After finishing his book I missed the characters and can only hope that the book is made into a movie, so that I can see them again. Go buy several copies of this book, so you and your friends can see this wonderful world created by Ben and sail into the wonder of these characters.
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Summary: wonderfully moving.
Review: Reviewed by Small Spiral Notebook The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is a truly luminous work. The novel revolves around the different realms of life, what's beyond here in the present as we know it, and what might exist on the spirit level that only a few can touch. Charlie and Sam St. Cloud share a mother, a beagle named Oscar and a love for the Red Sox. One day Charlie acquires tickets for a game-the Sox against the Yankees. They sneak off by way of a neighbor's "borrowed" car, enjoy the game and then rush to make it home before their mother gets off work. Attention diverted momentarily, Charlie can't respond fast enough to avoid the truck coming at them. Both boys are dead, but a determined fireman brings Charlie back to life. Sam does not share the same fate, but in that moment when neither was quite alive or death, the brothers promised to remain with one another. It is a promise the two of them keep for thirteen years. The townspeople and his mother believe that his grief are driving Charlie crazy, but he knows he can see and talk and hug his brother. Medicine, therapists. Finally Charlie decides that it's best not to mention Sam's presence to anyone. For thirteen years, the brothers have met and played catch. Talked. In order for them to keep their promise, each has had to give up something. Sam remains a child and Charlie has never known love. Not until Tess. Now Charlie has to decide if he can-and how to-move on. The book's structure and writing effortlessly takes one across time and plane. Dotted with humor ("Tess couldn't stop the reflex. 'Do you always pick up women in the cemetery?'/'Only if they're breathing.'"), this book will break your heart and then lift it. It is a story about the wondrous possibilities of love; its power across realms and it's a story about life and the miraculous joy of it all.
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Summary: Good for the soul...
Review: Sherwood has a way of capturing human emotion in everyday settings in a way that avoids cliche, that really strikes true to the reader's heart. Both of his books use an unusual circumstance to shake up the character's lives, but the emotional swing isn't so drastic as to lose touch with reality. "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" is a story of loss, but more importantly it's a story of life. We often hold on to the things we've lost because we gain a certain comfort from them, a knowledge that we've preserved through time that is easier to handle than that of reality. Charlie's transformation seems to be large in scale from the beginning - you expect that a great wave of change will pass over him, and his twilight games of catch with his brother will end in gut-wrenching, saccharine artificiality. The way Sherwood crafts Charlie's evolution doesn't make you think that the whole point of the book was to watch a guy become something he's not. It's a very real change, something we can all relate to, a change that is based in our own humanity, our ability to remember while also moving on. That it takes Charlie a long time to do that is more truthful than the overblown revolution of a person's life that is often described in a book of this kind.
If you have lost someone you love, then you will enjoy this book. Beyond that, you will find redemption in the feelings that you have retained, and solace in the knowledge that lasting love, while sometimes overbearing and controlling, is still a beautiful human trait.
If you haven't lost anyone incredibly close to you, you'll still feel the emotion of the story, because Sherwood doesn't fall into the trap of ultimately making Charlie a reflection of himself, or of you. Charlie St. Cloud is a person, unique unto himself, with his own worries, fears, passions, and version of love. You won't get bored trying to insert yourself in Charlie's shoes, because you can't. Charlie is thrown into a situation hardly anyone can relate to. The reason this works without trying to shove 1000 pages of plot into 280 pages of book is that Sherwood expertly gives Charlie enough emotion to pull you in, and not so much as to overwhelm.
If you're a romantic, you'll still love the book, especially if you're a romantic with a firm grasp on reality. Among his talents, Sherwood has the ability to write about physical love, be it a kiss or more, in such a refreshing way that you don't feel burdened by it. He describes a kiss between Charlie and Tess the way you felt when you first kissed someone you had serious feelings for. It hits home in that aspect, but still remains unique to the book.
It should be abundantly clear that I loved "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," so there's no need for more flowing compliments. The best I can offer is that you'll be captivated by the emotion, gently surprised by the plot turns, and will feel whole at the end. This book is good for the soul, be it a healing soul, a hurting soul, or simply a regular human soul, the one that carries bits of baggage in the dark recesses. The people and story in "Charlie St. Cloud" deserve your attention, and you deserve to enjoy them.
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Summary: Alchemy
Review: The book was a delight to read. As in The Man Who Ate the 747, Sherwood's characters are beautifully drawn - quirky, humorous, human, but depicted with such compassion and empathy that you know the author can't have a cynical bone in his body. His sense of place/setting is also remarkable. Not a native, he has managed to capture the nuances and feel of a picture-postcard-pretty New England town which has a number of layers of complexity under its glossy surface. But the story itself is the real treat, a heartwarming journey into magical realism that turns the lead of tragedy into gold. Please read it immediately
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Summary: Andrea 's review
Review: The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is an uplifting book that teaches us how to let go and move on in life after the death of a loved one. Ben Sherwood's writing is so convincing that it seems as if God has let him in on the secret of what really happens after someone dies. What I enjoyed most about this novel, as well as The Man Who Ate the 747, is that Ben writes with kindess and respect for the human condition. In a world which often seems dysfunctional and profane, Ben Sherwood's books have a positive message about life. His characters treat one another with love, decency and respect. I look forward to his next novel. Andrea M.
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Summary: Love transcends all
Review: The opening pages of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud brought tears to my eyes. From that point on, I had difficulty putting the book down. I went from an ache in my heart for Charlie and Sam one moment, to laughing at Sam's spiritual hi-jinks the next, to a crescendo of welling hope for the storm ravaged love of Charlie and Tess. There is truly something for everyone in this book.
Ben Sherwood gives us a glimpse into the afterlife that seems both plausible and wonderous. A'la Crossing Over with John Edward, Ben reminds us to appreciate the gift of love and how those bonds never cease to be. Love does in fact, shine on.......in the moon and the stars and the sun, and certainly within the pages of The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud !
I too, can't wait for the next tale Ben Sherwood chooses to weave.
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Summary: The Heart As A Canvas...
Review: There is so much that can be said for a master of the written word who can, with a few sentences, make your eyes brim with tears over the loss of a young boy...and then, no matter how hard you fight it, makes you smile because of the joy you feel peering into the relationship between brothers Charlie and Sam. Ben Sherwood is more than a writer. He is an artist that uses his incredible mind to paint unforgettable literary moments onto the canvas that is our heart. We ache for his characters. We cheer them. We long to know them...and in the end, when the story is over, we miss them. But it isn't truly the end, because long after the last page is turned and the book is put down, fleeting memories of the characters, the town, the love of two brothers creep back into everyday situations. Who, after reading this wonderful book, will ever again think that there is such a thing as a "simple game of catch"? Ben Sherwood makes us laugh, makes us cry, makes us think. But most of all, he makes us feel, and there truly is no better gift than that. Ben, as always, Thank You. XX
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