The Land of Laughs
July 31st, 2004by Jonathan Carroll
ISBN: 0312873115
Novels that feature writers writing normally turn me off: I just don’t find the whole meta thing compelling. So I want to say this isn’t really a book about a guy writing a book, because that sounds wrong, and like I wouldn’t like it.
But it isn’t wrong, because Thomas Abbey, son of Famous Dead Movie Star and main character in this book, sets out to write a biography of eccentric children’s book author and personal hero, Marshall France. The title of this book is even the title of his favorite Marshall France book, The Land of Laughs. Abbey talks about writing, and about reading, and the setup could be all about so-called clever metafictional point-scoring, which would make me cringe. Instead, I think Carroll is being funny and smart when he has Thomas say:
Reading a book, for me at least, is like travelling in someone else’s world. If it’s a good book, then you feel comfortable and yet anxious to see what’s going to happen to you there, what’ll be around the next corner. But if it’s a lousy book, then it’s like going through Secaucus, New Jersey–it smells and you wish you weren’t there, but since you’ve started the trip, you roll up the windows and breathe through your mouth until you’re done.
Because this is a Carroll novel, things get suddenly strange. Creepy small town hiding a secret strange, talking dogs strange, reality-bending strange. Carroll is quite good at strange.
I read Carroll’s The Wooden Sea, and while I liked it, I was disappointed with the ending. The thing is, Carroll writes wonderful characters, makes you believe in the bizarre, and makes you want to see what will happen, only to fumble at the very end. I knew when I started reading this book not liking the end might happen, as another person who read it said that when he was done with it, he “was ready to go to Carroll’s house and whack him over the head with his own novel.” I wouldn’t go so far as to whack Carroll in the head, but I was less than thrilled with the end of the book.
I may wind up feeling like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, but I will eagerly read another Carroll book. The ride until the end is so full of promise, and I want to believe the magic will hold all the way to the end next time. Flawed, but still recommended.
