The Ghost in Love

by Jonathan Carroll

Book Overview

“I envy anyone who has yet to enjoy the sexy, eerie, and addictive novels of Jonathan Carroll. They are delicious treats—with devilish tricks inside them.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Neil Gaiman has written: “Jonathan Carroll has the magic. He’ll lend you his eyes, and you’ll never see the world in quite the same way ever again.” Welcome to the luminous and marvelously inventive world of The Ghost in Love. A man falls in the snow, hits his...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374161860
• ISBN13: 9780374161866
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

How could I have missed this guy!

What a delight to find a new author. What's even better is finding out he's been writing for years and there are all of these undiscovered countries to explore. I dislike too much information in reviews and on book jackets. (And besides, you can find out as much as, or more than you want, from other reviews.) So let me just say that if you enjoy traveling with the likes of Kurt Vonnegut(Breakfast of Champions) Tom Robbins(on his mellow days, something like Jitterbug Perfume) or even Richard Bach (Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) you may LOVE Jonathan Carroll. I think at the very least you will enjoy traveling with him in the world of THE GHOST IN LOVE.

A lively twist on the old existential crisis

What happens when your time to die comes...and you don't die? Jonathan Carroll takes this question and runs with it in a terrific tale of modern fantasy where the real magic isn't in some imaginary kingdom, but in the human soul. Ben Gould should have died when he slipped in the snow and hit his head on a stone curb. A ghost, Ling, was sent from the Afterlife to guide him on his journey and help mop up his affairs, but when Ben didn't die, Ling was ordered by Stanley (aka The Angel of Death) to stay with him invisibly while whatever problems are taken care of. Ling remains an unseen presence in Ben's life, communing with his dog, Pilot, and yearning for Ben's recent ex-girlfriend, German. But strange things are happening. Ben discovers he has a strange connection to another woman, Danielle, so much so that he sometimes finds himself literally in her mind, seeing what she sees. A strange derelict is following Ben and German around. Pilot is sneaking out to confer with other dogs in what seems to be a strange conspiracy. And Ben deals with his grief over losing German, and German deals with her anger and unresolved feelings. THE GHOST IN LOVE is richly textured and multilayered. There's a lot going on, sometimes seeming nonsensical at first, but suddenly the reader will snap their fingers and give a mental "Aha!" as it suddenly comes clear. Ben's lack of connection to German in the beginning is mirrored by Ling and Pilot's inability to truly connect with him. But once connections are made, the truth eventually becomes clear: Ben didn't die at his scheduled time because mankind is taking back its fate from the Divine Powers, who are forced instead to become spectators. And what follows is a beautifully written look at how human beings only come into their true power when taking over their fate and confronting death, and the necessity of making peace with your internal conflicts. Of course, this is Jonathan Carroll; the internal is made external, often in striking and surreal and funny ways. In many ways THE GHOST IN LOVE is a depiction of an existential crisis or therapeutic journey, but with the patented Carroll strangeness. He's a unique voice in literature; not exactly fantasy, not exactly drama, not exactly humor, but something that combines and surpasses all of those distinctions. It's quite a trip, and one not to be missed.

A remarkable novel that is much more than just a ghost story

"The Ghost in Love" is an impossible book to pigeonhole. It is delightfully creative and entertaining while also being thought-provoking in how it tackles some fairly heavy topics: What is destiny, and can humans escape their destinies? What creates happiness? And, ultimately, what determines a person's identity? When I read a book I own and see a passage I think is particularly thought-provoking, I'll place a tiny dog-ear on the page. I knew this book was special when I finished it and saw dozens of tiny dog-ears sprinkled across the pages. Take, for example, this conversation between two characters. When one character assures another that she likes being alive, the second (one of the bad guys in the book) responds, "Why? Life's chaotic, full of pain and suffering. It's unreliable and as disorderly as you can get. Nothing in life lasts, nothing's permanent, and there's not one thing that you can trust 100%. Admit it: if a person had all those lousy qualities, you'd never want to be around them." What makes this novel so remarkable is that all of these insights are embedded in prose that is well-written, easy to read, and entertaining, with a wry sense of humor and right-on-target reflections on humanity. Your only job as a reader is to suspend disbelief, fasten your seat belt, and go along for a rollicking romp through the nature of death, reality, and the meaning of life. But if you can wrap your head around concepts like the Angel of Death appearing in the form of a plate of bacon and eggs; dogs that talk; people that can understand talking dogs; fictional animals that look like earless dogs that possess enormous powers; oh, and of course, ghosts; you'll be glad you did so... because this is a novel that will have you thinking long after the final page has been turned.

Library Journal review

Carroll (Glass Soup) has a gift for finding a fantastic core hidden inside everyday life that is down-the-rabbit-hole imaginative yet feels like fundamental truth. This story of a man, his girlfriend, and their dog finds the author in top form. Ben Gould hits his head on the sidewalk in an accident that should have killed him. Somehow he survives, but he's changed in ways that he cannot understand. So starts a magical tale in which Ben talks to his dog, Pilot; the ghost sent to monitor Ben falls in love with his girlfriend; and a mysterious knife-wielding man threatens them all. The novel is full of great characters who experience resonant moments: at a picnic of her former selves, a woman discovers how quickly we change; Ben's girlfriend finds power in a memory of food, love, and home; Ben and his loved ones face an angry mob of his insecurities and failings. Love, memory, and balancing the needs of our many selves are themes in this occasionally scary, often luminous work of unconventional fantasy. Strongly recommended for all fiction collections.

A Bizarre Tale Filled with Time Travel, Reincarnation, & All Sorts of Other Delicious Ideas

"The Ghost in Love" is a bizarre page-turner that breaks all the rules of death and ghosts as we know them. According to Jonathan Carroll, God decided to create ghosts only because people believed in them anyway and they seemed like a good idea. Their purpose would be to tie up loose ends after a person died. Strangely, the ghost wouldn't have to look like the person they belonged to since they operated on a plane of existence where they could only been seen by other ghosts and by animals. Ling is Ben's ghost. Except ... Ben didn't die when he was fated to die and he starts to be able to have conversations with his own ghost. In fact, all around the world, people are refusing to die when the Angel of Death comes to collect them. These people find that cheating death gives them ghostly powers as well as other powers like being able to see through someone else's eyes and time travel into one's own past. I did enjoy how this novel had me thinking about the best parts in my life. If I had the ability to relive the best moments of my life, which ones would I choose? It's nice to read a novel every now and then that transports you not only into the story but also into your own nostalgic memories. I'm not sure why the title of this novel is "The Ghost in Love" since that seems to be such a small part of the story. Ling (Ben's ghost) does fall in love with Ben's girlfriend and does woo her by cooking her a magnificent ghost breakfast that she can't see. But this strange love triangle seems like such an insignificant part of the story as a whole. Mis-titled or not, this is one of my favorite reads of the year. If you're going to choose one bizarre fantasy novel to read this year, choose "The Ghost in Love". And then set aside an entire day to read it because you're not going to want to put it down until you're finished with it.