Call number
Genres
Publication
New York: Avon, 1990, c1987. 217 p. ; 20 cm.
Pages
217
Description
Cullen James is a young woman whose life dictates her dreams-and whose dreams control her life. In her first dream, she found the perfect man-and the same thing promptly happened in life. Now, she has begun to dream dreams set in Rondua, a fantasy world of high adventure, full of tests of her courage and strength. Slowly and quietly, her dream world is spilling over into her New York City reality and beginning to threaten everything she loves in life. Her friends are gathered to help her-but even her newfound courage may not be enough.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1987
Physical description
217 p.; 7.9 inches
ISBN
0380706881 / 9780380706884
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User reviews
LibraryThing member hairballsrus
For a Carroll novel, the message is pretty straight forward: abortion is bad, you'll pay for it in the end, you'll sacrifice something for your decision.
I'm not going to dip my toe into the pond of opinions on this subject. I'm not trying to rile anyone; I'm just commenting on the book. That's the
There isn't nearly enough explained about the world; Carroll introduces all these interesting ideas and places, but it's all background. You never get to see the Wooden Mice or know where the Hot Shoes came from etc. For that matter, why on earth did he name the kid Pepsi??
Still, Carroll books are always an interesting ride because he writes like no one else.
I'm not going to dip my toe into the pond of opinions on this subject. I'm not trying to rile anyone; I'm just commenting on the book. That's the
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background of the story: Cullen dreams each night about the fantasy land where her aborted son still lives. It's up to the reader to decide if the world is real, or if she's just essentially carrying on therapy for herself in her head. I'm pretty sure where Carroll stands on this and it isn't the side he usually takes. There isn't nearly enough explained about the world; Carroll introduces all these interesting ideas and places, but it's all background. You never get to see the Wooden Mice or know where the Hot Shoes came from etc. For that matter, why on earth did he name the kid Pepsi??
Still, Carroll books are always an interesting ride because he writes like no one else.
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LibraryThing member kmaziarz
Young wife and mother Cullen James has the perfect life. Her husband Danny is charming, loving, and loyal. Her best friend Eliot, a gay film critic, is quirky, endearing, and devoted to them. And her infant daugher, Mae, is lovely and fulfilling. Of course, not everything is entirely perfect.
Meanwhile, Cullen has begun to have a surreal series of connected dreams in which she and a young boy named Pepsi…her son in this dreamworld…search the fantastical island of Rondua in company with three talking animals, trying to collect the five Bones of the Moon so that Pepsi can become Rondua’s ruler. Cullen is torn between enjoying her dreams and loving her dream-son, and being worried by their vibrancy and strangeness.
When the world of her dreams and the world of her waking begin to coincide in strange ways, Cullen must face the consequences of her past decisions in order to preserve the present life she’s built.
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Danny’s successful basketball career in Italy was ended by a severe knee injury and the family was forced to move back to Manhattan. Cullen loves her daughter, but cannot help but wonder what the child she aborted before she ever began a relationship with Danny would have been like. And Alvin Williams, a teenage boy in their building, had a psychotic break and killed his mother and sister with an axe—and now insists on writing disturbing letters to Cullen from his institution because he says that she was the only one who was ever nice to him.Meanwhile, Cullen has begun to have a surreal series of connected dreams in which she and a young boy named Pepsi…her son in this dreamworld…search the fantastical island of Rondua in company with three talking animals, trying to collect the five Bones of the Moon so that Pepsi can become Rondua’s ruler. Cullen is torn between enjoying her dreams and loving her dream-son, and being worried by their vibrancy and strangeness.
When the world of her dreams and the world of her waking begin to coincide in strange ways, Cullen must face the consequences of her past decisions in order to preserve the present life she’s built.
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LibraryThing member libraryofus
(Amy) I've been sitting here for several minutes trying to figure out what to say about this book. I love Jonathan Caroll's books, though sometimes I start one and realize I'm not in the mood for his disconnect between reality and . . . other.
That's what happened with this. I got Bones of the Moon
When approached in the right frame of mind, his juxtaposition of the mundane with the mysterious is captivating. The protagonist is a housewife with a baby, living a normal life in New York by day, but a far different life in a serial dream that grows more real as the book progresses. It sounds pretty cliched when summarized thusly, for which I apologize, as it didn't really feel that way when I was reading it. Maybe that's because the dreamscape is so utterly bizarre that it didn't occur to me that life-in-dream was not in itself an original concept in SF. Or maybe it's just because I read it in about four hours and so wasn't really being overly analytical.
Anyway. While this isn't the best Carroll book I've read (that's Land of Laughs, so far), it certainly doesn't feel like it was a waste of an afternoon. And next time I'm in the mood for his brand of Weird Shit, I have The Wooden Sea waiting on the shelves.
That's what happened with this. I got Bones of the Moon
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quite a while ago - a couple of years, probably - and started reading it six months or so ago, but put it aside after about twenty pages and promptly lost it. Last night after finishing all my books-in-progress I literally tripped over it. Apparently the appropriate mood had set in in the meantime, as I read the whole thing today.When approached in the right frame of mind, his juxtaposition of the mundane with the mysterious is captivating. The protagonist is a housewife with a baby, living a normal life in New York by day, but a far different life in a serial dream that grows more real as the book progresses. It sounds pretty cliched when summarized thusly, for which I apologize, as it didn't really feel that way when I was reading it. Maybe that's because the dreamscape is so utterly bizarre that it didn't occur to me that life-in-dream was not in itself an original concept in SF. Or maybe it's just because I read it in about four hours and so wasn't really being overly analytical.
Anyway. While this isn't the best Carroll book I've read (that's Land of Laughs, so far), it certainly doesn't feel like it was a waste of an afternoon. And next time I'm in the mood for his brand of Weird Shit, I have The Wooden Sea waiting on the shelves.
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LibraryThing member LastCall
Possibly Carrolls most overt fantasy. Of interest also to readers of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Really imiginative & well told.
LibraryThing member elizabethn
great book. Turned me on to the dark world of Jonathan Carroll.
LibraryThing member sheherazahde
Reminiscent of The Sandman "A Game of You" or "Marianne, The Magus, and the Manticore" by Sheri S. Tepper
LibraryThing member TadAD
This is not my favorite Carroll novel. It was overlaid with a dream-like feel...but not a sharp, magical dream tone, more of an out-of-focus, everything-in-slow-motion tone. There is some uneven pacing to the book...overly slow in the beginning, a bit rushed at the end.
Why, then, do I give it 3
I guess I'd sum this up as "feels like a draft of a very good novel."
Why, then, do I give it 3
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stars? Because Carroll is a very good writer and even his "off" efforts are still readable. His imagination is top-notch; the characters feel real; the story is moving.I guess I'd sum this up as "feels like a draft of a very good novel."
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LibraryThing member rubabbel
This was the first book I picked up by Carroll. A friend had read a review of Sleeping in Flame, and saw that this was the first in the so-called Answered Prayers series. From the moment I started reading it, I took every opportunity to read it, whether long stretches or spare minutes. It inhabited
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my mind when I wasn't reading it. And this is an odd thing to say about a book with some flaws, and yet even when reading the flaws I got the impression that Carroll had possibly left them in on purpose. There's the plot, the ending of which you can see from early on (but there's a sense that it's not the plot that you should be concentrating on), the central character and her overuse of exclamation marks, and sometimes the dream-sequences grated somewhat. Having said that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and left me wanting nothing more than devoting a weekend to reading his next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member JapaG
I tried to read Bones of the Moon because of the praise that I had read about it. I managed to get through 30 pages, and then had to finish. The beginning of the book was what I think a bad Harlequin novel would be like: a lonely woman's mainly internal monologue about her life and loves.
I did not
I did not
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like Carroll's The Wooden Sea that much, and probably will not be spending any more time on him. Show Less
LibraryThing member melydia
Cullen James (who is a woman, believe it or not) is happily married to Danny, is being romantically pursued by a famous movie director named Weber Gregston, has a fabulously (and stereotypically) gay best friend named Eliot, corresponds with her teenage axe-murdering former neighbor, and has serial
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dreams about a land called Rondua, in which her son (named Pepsi) is attempting to collect the five Bones of the Moon with the aid of giant animals Martio the camel, Felina the wolf, and Mr Tracy the dog. The dreamworld and the real world interweave in strange ways, from Cullen's bizarre magical powers to the appearances of Jack Chili and Sizzling Thumb. I was disappointed at the lack of description of Cullen's real life, such as her travels to Europe and her experiences living in New York City. There were a lot of "white room" experiences for me. On the other hand, I actually quite liked how little Rondua was described, leaving most of it up to the imagination of the reader. There is no explanation as to what exactly the bones of the moon actually are, nor any number of other strange things, like the Hot Shoes or Fire Sandwich - just like in real dreams. The bizarre names created all kinds of interesting mental pictures for me. I wish, however, that there had been a little bit more plot. Most of the dream sequences felt more like I was hearing them second-hand than experiencing them with the narrator, and the "twist" ending felt more like a cheap shot than anything truly shocking. But all in all I can't say that this is a bad book. Just a very strange one. A nice change from the ordinary. Show Less
LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
Quite a wonderful book with moments of beautiful writing. I read this because Neil Gaiman borrowed heavily from it in A Game of You - probably my favorite story arc from Sandman. Neil definitely owes a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Carroll for giving him the outlines of this story.
It is audacious
I loved the way Carroll refuses to treat the dreaming world differently from the "real" world - transitioning back and forth between both much as we all do in our own lives. It's a good story, too, although I found the ending a bit abrupt. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author - he's got a great imagination and there's not nearly enough of that in the world.
It is audacious
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for a man to write about abortion and its impact on a woman's life and later motherhood. It is too easy for such a man to come off as judgmental, but Carroll shows that imagination can take you many places. The narrator of this book, Cullen, lives in a world where the line between dreams and reality are blurry at best. She is warm and genuine and struggling to find who she is in the aftermath of her abortion, subsequent whirlwind marriage, and the birth of her first child.I loved the way Carroll refuses to treat the dreaming world differently from the "real" world - transitioning back and forth between both much as we all do in our own lives. It's a good story, too, although I found the ending a bit abrupt. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author - he's got a great imagination and there's not nearly enough of that in the world.
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LibraryThing member amberwitch
The book I read bore very little resemblance to the plot described in the blurb.
I found the timing of, and the novel seemed superficial - lots of interesting themes, but they suffered from not being explored properly, piled upon each other as they were.
The first part of the story tells the story of
The fantastic element of the story, while nothing like the description, are interesting. The themes, however, are facile and lacks depth.
The whole agonising over a long ago abortion was pretty annoying too - yet another male having an opinion on something that is none of his business. At least the protagonist realised that her concerns were hers, and should in no way be imposed on anyone else.
I found the timing of, and the novel seemed superficial - lots of interesting themes, but they suffered from not being explored properly, piled upon each other as they were.
The first part of the story tells the story of
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the romance between the main protagonist and her husband. The dialogue is awful, and the romance unbelievable - probably in part due to the fact that I didn't care for, or considered the characters believable.The fantastic element of the story, while nothing like the description, are interesting. The themes, however, are facile and lacks depth.
The whole agonising over a long ago abortion was pretty annoying too - yet another male having an opinion on something that is none of his business. At least the protagonist realised that her concerns were hers, and should in no way be imposed on anyone else.
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LibraryThing member unsquare
One of a handful of books that I found genuinely terrifying.