A brilliant, thoughtful novel about life and death. ( )

What would you do if you wake up and you're dead?

You go about your normal day, until you start being confronted with more and more strange indications that you are in fact no longer living.

This story is a mindf*** I think it almost became a philosophical ride, but it dipped more into the supernatural to me, and I just don't know how to explain it.

If you like quiet stories that have just a few elements of "what was that?" this may be the book for you. ( )

Vincent Ettrich has just discovered that he's been resurrected. The worst part? He has no idea how he died. And now his mistress is telling him that she's carrying his child. Thus, White Apples begins. Throw in the fate of Order versus Chaos and you have this Jonathan Carroll novel.

This follows up on The Wooden Sea, though not in a directly obvious way. The themes that it carries are similar - chaos versus order, the way that the past changes who we are without us being able to change the past. The book, as most of Carroll's tend to, comes together beautifully in a startling climax at the end.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Glass Soup and seeing what happens next. ( )

This was my first Jonathan Carroll novel, but I can confidently say that it won't be my last.

Vincent Ettrich is a serial womaniser, advertising executive and also recently dead. Except now he's not. He's been brought back by the love of his life for the sake of their unborn son. A son he knew nothing about. But he can't remember being dead, or why or how he's been brought back. And there are forces at work who want to keep him from ever raising that child.

The scope of imagination on display here is mind boggling. Carroll juggles ideas about the afterlife, the meaning of life, what we are here for and how our actions affect others, while keeping what is at heart a love story moving along at a nice pace.

This is part thriller, part existential treatise, part philosophical tract....and if that sound off-putting, it shouldn't. This is a wonderful book, full of life love and above all ideas. It will make you think, which is no bad thing.

I shall now go and work my way through Mr. Carroll's back catalogue. My only regret is that I didn't discover this author earlier!

Very highly recommended. ( )

This isn't really science fiction. Nor is it fantasy - it sits some place between the two. As for the book itself - it was interesting to read - especially the authors explanation for God.

The story itself is okay - its well written, but at times, the two main characters were too whiny - too needy. Also, the evil, Chaos, really didn't make a whole lot of sense in action.

Either way, I'm glad I read it, but its not a book I would read again. ( )