Bones of the Moon (Answered Prayers, 1)

I bought this mainly because I knew that Neil Gaiman of "Sandman" fame had cited Jonathan Carroll as an inspiration. This particular book makes it quite clear the degree to which Mr. Gaiman is indebted to Mr. Carroll.Major plot points and themes from the "A Game of You" arc of "Sandman" were lifted from "Bones of the Moon". Both feature an adult's return to the dreamworld of their childhood, where they are guided by animal companions on a quest to save the land. And in both, some of these companions will die, and others will turn out to be...not quite what they seem. Oh, yeah, both protagonists have flamboyantly gay best friends, but that's pretty common these days in books, TV, and movies. It's a weird kind of marginalization, in which authors can feel they've shown solidarity with the homosexual community, while not actually elevating any gay or lesbian character to a lead role. But I digress.In any case, the "real world" settings of this book are largely a European's idea of life in urban America. There are scenes in Italy, where all of the Europeans are cool and interesting and unique. But once in NY, the only characters to drift into play are ethnic street scum and a famous movie director, who talks as if he is not quite of this earth, or perhaps as if he's French and takes himself and his art far too seriously.The entire book is--perhaps deliberately--permeated with a dream-like look and feel. People talk in odd ways, as if they've had days to think of their lines yet cannot understand their emotional essence. Characters accept improbable revelations all too readily, as if hungering for a connection with something magical. Yet the dreamworld of Rondua is presented in a rather pedestrian fashion, and seems to be a place that's a lot like our world, except with sillier names. This may be by design, as if Carroll is letting the reader fill in the dream reality by his or her self. He's largely content to simply mention things such as the Wooden Mice or the Perfumed Hammer and let the reader decide what these are.Be that as it may, the book will likely be of interest to any hardcore "Sandman" fans to show how Gaiman has transformed the material for his own purposes.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author, and my least favorite. It's the story of Cullen, a young woman living in NYC who eventually falls in love and marries, and then begins to dream about a magical land where she enters into a quest with her aborted son and their animal companions.What I have loved about Carroll in his other books is his effortless narration, which makes the appearance of magical elements quite interesting; in this book however, his style is clunky and off-putting (perhaps purposefully, but still not appreciated), making the dream world as well as the "real" world places full of awkward dialogue and groping action. There's a reason we don't want to hear oher people's dreams in lengthy detail, and this protagonist's dreams are no exception. I agree completely with the reviewer who said that Cullen's dream world is just a boring place with silly names. I plodded through to the end, hoping that a writer as talented as Carroll would somehow pull it out of the trash heap toward the end, but no such luck.IMHO, if you really like this author and want to read everything he's written, go ahead; but if you are new to this author, don't let this be your first of his novels. There are others, much better than this.

As a woman who's dealt with the issues and feelings discussed in this book, it is amazing to me that this masterpiece was written by someone who couldn't have possibly experienced it himself. The character of Pepsi made me cry for my own regrets. Cullen's dreams tackled an issue that many never ever discuss, and should. I recommend this book to anyone who grieves their own shame or regret. Anyone who has ever been told something was ok, but had a nagging feeling that it wasn't....this book is healing.

For rabid Carroll fans, this is another beautiful example of why being his fan is cultlike. Bones is a gorgeous fairytale. Possibly more geared towards women but a wonderful example of why Carroll is so amazing.

This is one of my favorite books. That's why I bought it for a friend. It was also used as the basis for a sandman story.

Jonathan Carroll is one of my all time favorite writers and I have tracked down (in libraries) over the years all of his books. This is still one of my very favorites. It makes you wish you could spend a day inside Carroll's mind to see how he comes up with his fantasy world. The writing is so fresh and so dreamlike -- I dare anyone not to fall in love with this book. Seek out all of his books and you will not be sorry.

It was a very strange book.

I wish zero stars was an option. This is by far the WORST book I have ever read. It has absolutely no plot, and the ending is horrific. DO NOT READ

I can't quite figure out why I didn't enjoy this one as much as other stuff I've read by Carroll. It has the same warm, sympathetic characters, the same level of invention and imagination, but the story never really pulled me in. It felt a little aimless and meandering, and the protagonist never really seemed to do anything other than survive traumatic events because..what? She's a nice person and we want her to? It wasn't really clear to me how the "real" world and her dream world were able to interact, and, in spite of a suitable bloody and dramatic climax, it felt like it just kind of fizzled out. Still, much of it was vivid and powerful.

“Bones of the Moon” was first published in 1987 and is the first novel in the “Answered Prayers” series by Jonathan Carroll. The “Answered Prayers” series consists of six novels, that feature reoccurring characters and allusions to other novels, but can/should be read as standalone novels. To read “Bones of the Moon” you don't need to know or read the other five novels, even though it increases the fun.“Bones of the Moon” is about Cullen James, a young woman from New York, who falls in love, moves to Europe and starts to dream of a magical country called Rondua. In her Rondua dreams she travels with the boy Pepsi and giant, talking animals. Her mission in Rondua is to find the powerful relics called Bones of the Moon. Whoever wins/finds all of the Bones of the Moon rules over Rondua and can bring peace to the land.More and more her dreams are starting to spill over into the real world, until Cullen James understands, why the boy Pepsi needs her help and why only she is able to protect him so he can protect her and all of Rondua.“Bones of the Moon” is the Jonathan Carroll novel I have re-read the most. It is full of likeable, quirky characters you want to be friends with. You follow Cullen James on her journey through magical landscapes, that feel original and weird. Sometimes I wish, Jonathan Carroll would have returned to Rondua to tell us more about this country. The prose is elegant, down-to-earth and often sparks of poetry and wise aphorisms make you pause and think and smile. The last line of the novel is one of the most beautiful and sad things Jonathan Carroll has ever written and the whole novel feels like the melancholic memory of an old friendship.What I love about Carroll's novels is their perfect length. They rarely reach 300 pages and can be read very fast and comfortable. Some might say they should be longer, but personally I love slim, precise books with big themes, that can be re-read many times during a long weekend or winter evenings. The ending as in most of his novels is very sudden and surprising, which might take some getting used to.“Bones of the Moon”, just as the second “Answered Prayers” novel “Sleeping in Flame”, is the perfect starting point for people, who want to find out, what Jonathan Carroll novels are like.The “Answered Prayers”-series consists of the following standalone novels:1. Bones of the Moon2. Sleeping in Flame3. A Child across the Sky4. Outside the Dog Museum5. After Silence6. From the Teeth of Angels