Culture from the darker side

Glass Soup was written by Jonathan Carroll an author I admire, as he can paint wonderful images in my mind with his words. Neil Gaiman seems to agree with me, judging by the quote on the cover:

Jonathan Carroll is a changer. He’s one of the special ones, one of the few…. He gives you his eyes to see with, and he gives you the world all fresh and honest and new.

Neil Gaiman

Glass Soup continues the story of Vincent Ettrich, his new wife Isabelle and his son to be born Anjo, who all thought that they had overcome the obstacles and are now in for a smooth cruise towards the birth of Anjo. Yet, Chaos has different plans and once again Isabelle, Anjo and Vincent are drawn into the fight, both in our world and in the land of the dead.

As with most of Carroll’s latest books it is set in Vienna, a city where he has been living for the last two decades, yet like with his other books the reality can easily be slightly “off”, not only in the world of the dead, but also in the world of the living, where things aren’t always what they seem to be.

Carroll’s strength is that, unlike King, he describes the world his characters are living in, but not to the point of bore. He has the ability to give us enough details to spark our own imagination and “fill in the blanks” a true “feast” for the mind.

Rating: 5/5 (if you haven’t read White Apples 4.5/5)