|
-
Hivemind social net
-
News
- Features
- Blogs
- Events
Calendar
- Editorials
- Monthly
Zine
- Offworld
Report
- Our Daily
RSS Feed
- Google Toolbar scifi
- Movie/TV
Reviews
> Recent movies
> Movies by year
> Movies by title
- Book
Reviews
> Recent books
> Books by year
> Books by title
- Home
- Worlds
- Biography
- Bibliography
- Appearances
- Reviews
- Blog
- Community
- Press
- Links
Become
an Advertiser
- Web
Site Directory
- Search
the Net
- StephenHunt.net
- WoodenRocket.com
- Check
your E-mail
- Non Sci-Fi
News
|
Outside The Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll
01/10/2005 . Source: Pauline Morgan 
pub: TOR/Forge. 395 page enlarged paperback. Price: $13.95 (US), $19.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-31185-2. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.tor.com and www.jonathancarroll.com
One of the things that some authors do is to introduce into a novel characters that have appeared in earlier books. There are many reasons why this is done. Sometimes the current novel is about a minor character that was hardly noticed the first time but who now have their story told properly. In this case, the walk-on parts played by earlier characters may be essential if timelines cross. Some authors are playing games. In these instances the cross-over either adds to the book or appears pretentious. Jonathan Carroll's reasons are far more subtle and plausible. Although containing strong fantasy elements, Carroll's settings are present day. As it is, a city he knows well and loves, most of his characters, at some point, visit Vienna. Considering the nature of the story, it is perhaps unsurprising that Harry Radcliffe, the narrator of 'Outside The Dog Museum', knows and visits Walker and Maris Easterman. Their story was told in 'Sleeping In Flame'. Other than Vienna, both books have a lot in common. 'Sleeping In Flame' used Grimms' fairy tale 'Rumplestiltskin' as a motif on which to hang the magical and mysterious happenings. 'Outside The Dog Museum' uses a different but equally mysterious legend as a theme. This time it is the Tower of Babel, but Carroll puts a totally unexpected spin on it. The other, major, common factor between the two books is Venasque. Neither Radcliffe or Easterman are quite sure what he is. The closest is shaman. It is not clear whether he creates the magic or attracts the kind of people who have magical roots. The pivotal point in both books is Venasque's death.
'In Outside The Dog Museum', Harry Radcliffe is a brilliant architect who has a mental breakdown. It is during this phase of his life that his then wife brings Venasque into his life. Venasque helps restore his mental balance by unorthodox means, including getting him to learn to play the clarinet. Later, after Venasque dies, Radcliffe inherits the shaman's dog, a bull terrier called Big Top. After this point, his life changes radically. His wife divorces him and he becomes involved with two women who he tries, unsuccessfully, to keep ignorant of each other. He is also contacted by the Sultan of Sara. The Sultan wants Radcliffe to design a museum for him. The problem is that it is to be a museum devoted to the dog. In Sara, dogs are despised creatures and the project is likely to be opposed but the Sultan is determined to pursue his dream and Radcliffe. A meeting between them in Los Angeles, where Radcliffe continues to refuse the commission despite a very good offer, is interrupted by an earthquake. The dog, Big Top, appears and leads them to safety. As a result, the Sultan is even more determined to have his museum. Radcliffe agrees to visit Saru, without committing himself to the project.
Saru is a small, Middle-Eastern country in the state of civil war. The Sultan's brother is the leader of the insurgents and is determined to oust his brother. Various events work on Radcliffe to decide to build to museum, especially as he discovers that the site is not actually to be in Saru but Europe.
There are no obvious outcomes to Carroll's novels and part of the pleasure of reading them is seeing the way he makes connections and weaves myth, magic and strange characters into a contemporary setting. He always manages to say something new about the familiar. This particular edition is a reprint of a 1992 volume and the writing still seems as fresh as it did then.
Pauline Morgan
|
|
