I had a witty, erudite, and convincing post about just how amazingly life-changing Jonathan Carroll’s fiction is, but the hamsters ate it, so we’ll settle for the succint breeze-through.
When I was young, books were more important to me than people. People tended to be small-minded, silly, disappointing, or all three. The characters in books were more interesting and inspiring than any actual people that I ever met, and it was more important to me that Lucy and Peter and Susan and Edmund got help from Aslan than it was that my classmates or family ever talked to me. As I grew older and (at least in theory) more mature, I changed what types of fiction I prefer and the characters (and their stories) became less integral to my life. Sure, it was still interesting to read about the Red Crosse Knight or Humbert Humbert, but they weren’t people I loved and hated (sometimes at the same time) anymore. Carroll’s fiction takes me back to the time when I cared about the characters like they were good friends. I hope for them, I love them for their achievements, I hate them for their faults, I stride through their worlds as my own. No other living modern author (proper respect must be paid to Mr. Faulkner) has been able to rekindle that in me.
Truly, that would pretty much be enough to make me love the guy. Fortunately for me, however, that’s not all his books deliver. He also writes like a god. His prose is as finely crafted as any I’ve ever read. In fact, I’d say it’s the closest thing I’ve ever read to poetry wrought into prose that wasn’t written by John Donne, but I don’t expect you to take my word for it. No, instead, read the quotation with which I opened this post, or even just check out some of the titles of his novels: Voice of our Shadow, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame, A Child across the Sky, The Marriage of Sticks, or my personal favorite, From the Teeth of Angels.
Anyway, the point of all this is that if you don’t know Jonathan Carroll, you should check him out. Not only do I recommend him, but he’s the guest of honor at the World Fantasy Convention this year (and his last novel, The Wooden Sea, is nominated for the World Fantasy Award), and Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Graham Joyce, and Terry Pratchett say you should. And if you are acquainted with this wonderful writer, post here and show solidarity!