11.28.07
Welcome to the Collaboration Area of the Jonathan Carroll Web Site. This section is designed to be a bridge between Carroll and his readers. In the future, we plan to have exclusive collaborative stories that Carroll will begin and finish. For now, feel free to pose a question to Jonathan Carroll. Answers to selected questions will be posted and archived below. We request that you read through the interview section before asking something that has already been discussed.
It's been a long time since I answered your questions that have been sent in, so we bundled up as many as we could and here goes. Sorry to those of you who have waited. An answer to many requests is I'm happy to send autographs to any of those who want them. Just send your full name and mailing address to me: jscarroll@hotmail.com and I'll get one to you. That's a promise.
question: Hi Jonathan, I am writing to inquire about film rights to your short work, or, specifically, if you've written any scripts for film. I've heard you've ghost-written some film scripts... not sure if that is a rumor or not. I am a long-time reader, initially attracted to your work by our common last name and your enigmatic titles. I have a background in (bad work-for-hire) illustration and have been doing photography for several years. I recently started doing HDV and am looking for short pieces to attempt to adapt whileI'm teaching myself narrative video. I can say I am completely amatuer at this point, but I am also very passionate about what I create, and would treasure an opportunity to adapt a piece by you.
I am absolutely sincere in this. I am located in San Francisco, currently. I am planning to go to Istanbul within the year, and may stay overseas. I am planning a trip to Vienna as well, largely due to your descriptions of the city. I'm also very interested in the artist Ernst Fuchs, and I know his work is all over the city. Anyway, I wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed and truly related to your work over the years. You've been a true inspiration to me as a creative artist. Your work has made me look for, and indeed find, magic in my real life. That's some truly powerful fiction! I am particularly pleased to see some of your work starting to receive attention from mainstream American readers. Your work has been an inside secret for too long, I feel.
I also would like to suggest that you do a graphic novel. I have been wanting, expecting even, a comic collaboration between you and Dave McKean. I think your work would suit that medium perfectly. I'm sure others have suggested this... I feel I've been rambling for what was supposed to be a short email...
Thanks for your time, Christopher Carroll 1600 Santiago St. San Francisco, CA 94116
Any questions you have about turning my work short or long into film should/must go to my film agent, Brian Lipson at the Endeavor Agency in LA. His email address is blipson@endeavorla.com I'm always heartened and touched to hear that what I've been doing over the years has inspired people to push forward with their own creative efforts. I know the writers and other artists who have inspired me along the way hold a very special place in both my head and heart and I am oh so grateful to them for sharing their worlds and visions of those worlds withme.
question: Hello, thx for loads of great great work of yours, absolutely fantastic stuff,have just finished outside the dog museum, cried and laughed at the same time. When will u visit poland?I would like to meet You and get your autograph on my books :) thank you, bye Beata
Just got back from Poland, Beata, and had a lovely time as always. Send me your name and address and I'll send you that signature.
question: I have read your blog for over a year now and it has brightened many days and given me dark and/or dreamy thoughts for many more. Thank you. :) Mara
Writing the blog is usually (although not always of course) a pleasure for me. By and large the reader response to it has been both wonderful and humbling and always makes me smile, although there have been some people who've written in to say it's a big bore and why do I waste both my time and yours writing such dull stuff? My answer to that question is inevitably-- are you retarded? If you don't like something, why do you keep reading it? The blog is the only place where I write straight from the eyes, if you know what I mean. I see something (whether it be in real life or I read it) and immediately it goes into a blog. With my books and short stories the process is much slower and more careful. But the blog you see is pretty much the blog that comes out the first time I write it. Maybe that's why it is fun to do-- spontaneity can sometimes be the best fun of all.
Question: It won't be a question, but acknowledgements. I want to thank you Mr.Carroll for Your blog. It is one of the most wonderful time of the day, when I can read your blog and I have to say that I am addicted to reading it. It was several months ago, when my friend Joanna said, that you had a blog. She is keen on your books, she loves them and this is why I have never had a problem with gifts for her. In your blog you prove that even under the colour of irrelevant things are important in life and that happiness consists of many small things, sometimes so usual. Thank you for this. -Dorothy
Thank you, Dorothy. I'm smiling now and it's because of your comment.
question: Hello Mr. Jonathan :) I really love your work and your books give me plenty of unimaginative experiences ! :) But I would like to ask you about the endings, because a lot of people say that they are unsatisfied etc. What do you think about that opinions and what is your private opinion about it ? -Luiza
Well Luiza, people have asked that question throughout my career. I have always given the same answer year after year. My books "end" the way life ends-- sometimes logically, sometimes not so. Sometimes our days, our friends, our professions, etc make a lot of sense, sometimes none at all. The people who want books to end boom boom--logically, all tied up in a pretty knot-- THE END perhaps want that in a book because they cannot expect it in life. They know that is not how things really happen in our day to day. Sometimes things don't make sense and there is nothing we can do about it other than to go on and hope things get better later. That's why I end my stories this way sometimes-- because I am trying to stay true to both the story and to life as I know and have experienced it.
question: Hello Jonathan:) /my englisch isn't best, but i'll try:) I am from Kraków, and I know that You love this place...Me too. Now I live in New S'cz/100km from Kraków/ Now I have a gret work(build a road), great family, and a few real friends,and i'm happy, but i remember the times when i was broken, without plans, perspectives, money, and I hate myself. You, and your books help me very much, it was a world, that give me hope, and I could see everything on the other side, in another light. I wasn't so alone:) I want to thank You.How do You feel, when You read , and You know, that You and Your books are so important for so many people? Ich mochte manchmal schreiben, ok?:) -Monika
If my books can lift your heart even a centimeter, Monika, then it gives me a reason to go every day to the desk and try to write the things that matter to me. One centimeter-- that's how I feel and I thank you for telling me your story.
question: Hello mr Carroll Have you read "The World According to Garp" (John Irving)? Part of this book takes place in Vienna. (If You read it) Did you recognize there Vienna which you know? Ofcourse John Irving writes more about people, their lives and feelings than about places, but there is a "picture" of Vienna. Is it similar to Vienna which You know. Best wishes and greetings from Poland :) -Ewa
I read GARP many years ago and loved it. I often say to people who are coming to Vienna or want to know what it is like to live here that's what the city was once like-- a very good portrait of the city about thirty years ago. It is a different, a very different place now, but if you want to know what Vienna was like once upon a time, GARP is the book to read.
question: I first discovered your work when I was 12 (The Sadness of Detail) in Omni Magazine. I'm 30 now, and have only last week found a copy of The Panic Hand. It's the first time I've read the story in probably 15 years. What struck me then was the notion that God could forget anything (a wild thought to an already lapsed Catholic). Now, I see it as more hopeful, that as long as creators create, God never quite leaves this mortal plain. Am I completely off-base, or does much of your work involve defining God? I'm still busily rediscovering your work after years of thinking it was gone forever like much of the fiction I'd read as a child. I appreciate it differently today, but no less. And I was up all night finishing "The Wooden Sea", which I haven't done in a very, very long time. My compliments to you. Deep peace, KT Lowe
Isn't it strange how when we do go back to a book after many years, we sometimes see it in an entirely new, delightful light? As I've mentioned on the blog, I don't like to re-read things I loved once years ago usually because what you loved once doesn't guarantee you will love it again. Sadly, sometimes going back ruins entirely what once owned your heart. But now and then it happens and it is a real delight. Every few years I re-read THE GREAT GATSBY simply because it is one of my favorite books and every damned time there is something different in it that knocks me out. If I could do the same thing with my books then that is a real achievement.
question: re: your 5/29 blog post I can't speak for everyone else, but I know that I became a book kisser by working in a new-and-used bookstore. Being able to read a book and leave it looking new is a reasonable skill, there (though not necessarily one to put on a resume). Cheers. Karen B.
For those of you who don't read the blog, I wrote one that said there are book kissers and book killers. The kissers read a book and finish it in such good physical condition that you could sell it again because it still looks brand new. Book killers live a book so hard that it barely makes it to the finish line, water warped, sun bleached, ketchup stained, back broken... But by God, that books has been LIVED IN!
question: OK, so the Sultan's assistant fires a rope horizontally from the helicopter into the balcony door on the sixth floor of a high rise, and then Harry and friends are on the ground rescuing people. How does that work? Up the rope? Down the rope? And what of Big Top? Love your books. -Johnny D
You have to remember I wrote that book about fourteen (no, more!) years ago so never having re-read it, I don't remember how I worked that rope bit out. It always tickles me when people write in who have just read a book asking what did you mean on page 45 where so and so says... Once a manuscript is finished, it takes about a year for the publisher to release the book. I finished writing OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM around 1993. I can't even remember what I had for lunch three days ago but now you're asking me about rope logistics fourteen years ago? You are a demanding reader, Johnny D ;)
question: Dear Sir, I'm a student at the Department of the English Philology at the University of Lodz, Poland. I'm going to write my M.A. thesis on you as the heir of the magical realism tradition. I'd appreciate if you could comment on my idea. Do you consider your books to be parts of that tradition? I hope you do not mind my writing about your works. Ewa.
I don't like labels, Ewa, so if you ask do I think I write magic realism I would say no. But then again if you asked any of the really famous magic realists if they thought THEY wrote it, I'd bet they would say no too because no writer likes to be put in a box (category) because it limits the number of people who will read their books. There are some people who don't read mystery novels simply because they don't like them. But if you get them to read Thomas H. Cook or Dennis Lehane, it surprises them how wonderful those guys are although they are considered mystery writers. I don't think many of us like labels in general. I'm not (only) one or two things and neither are you (woman, graduate student...). But labels want to file us under this or that category and they're just too limiting.
question: Dear Jonathan, what a miracle I finally managed to find such a brilliant website. Well, I must say I thought I will be the ONLY one from Poland and what I've found here is.. funny :)) But that's true, we all LOVE you here in Poland!!! Maybe because we all feel you admire and like Poland so much, it can be read in every book.. I allowed myself to write to your mail regarding your autograph, will it be OK? I can't wait to get it!! Please, do not stop writing because you are the lightest ray in our mundane lives!!! THANK YOU!! Ewa, Poland
If I haven't sent you one yet, Ewa, send your name and address to me at jscarroll@hotmail.com and I'll send one right out.
question: Jonathan...I found my first copy of one of your books in a discount store and bought it because I liked the artwork on the cover 'A Child Across the Sky'. I started reading it on the bus home and was very quickly hooked. Ever since then I have been a fan. Never since has a book or an author grabbed my immagination whilst at the same time leading it a merry dance around the wonderful places in Europe and the disturbing places of the mind. No matter what book I read, no matter the author, although an enjoyment is certainly there...my literary soul has already been stolen on that bus ride home...and you can keep it. -Mark
Nice letter, Mark, thank you. I will keep your literary soul in a safe place and check on it regularly to see if it's comfortable and happy there...
question: I'm one of the fans of your books and it happens that I'm from Poland.I found on your website that King of Poland is your fan as well!! Amazing...the last king we had over here died in 1798.... -Simon
Yes, I've often been kidded about that mistake. My UK publisher at the time learned that the then-president of Poland liked my books. But somehow they made the mistake of saying the King of Poland on their press release and on the cover of the book they were publishing. But then again, maybe the king of Poland in 1798 would have liked my books too-- you never know-- Poles have good taste.
question: Dear Mr. Carroll, I have read today's note on your blog and I would like to ask you "One object from your past you wish you still had and why"?
And I have one more question, would you be so kind to send me your autograph?
My address is: Edyta Sedzimir Kaya Infrou 1 Curacao Netherlands Antilles
I can't think of any one object from my past that I would like to have again, which I take as a good sign because it means objects aren't that important. What I really would love to do/have is a meal with one special person who was extremely important to me about 24 years ago. I would give a great deal to sit across the table from them again and talk deep into the night.
question: A few years ago I discovered your work, I can't remember how, and over the next year poked around in used bookstores across the US until I found all your books--except Black Cocktail. Do I need to keep looking, or is it the same novella-length story found in The Panic Hand? (I haven't actually read The Panic Hand yet, because I like to space out books by authors I like so that I'll have something to look forward to.) Also, as long as people are mentioning books they like, have you read Nicholas Christopher's Veronica or John Crowley's Little, Big? They remind me much more of that fantasy/sci-fi/literature/magic realism/whatever thing that you do more than, say, Murakami or Gaiman, whose names keep coming up. I'll mention too that I hope somebody makes a movie of Voice of Our Shadow. People don't seem to mention it as much as Land of Laughs, but it's one of my very favorites among your work, or anybody's work. Anyway, thanks for everything; I hope all is well in your country of composers, coffee and ghosts. -Eric
Yes, Black Cocktail was included in the US edition of THE PANIC HAND so you have it on your shelf whenever you're ready to take it down. Someone recently asked what books you'd like to see made into a movie and I said well first there's VOICE OF OUR SHADOW and then... I agree with you. If done well, it could be both spooky and romantic, which was what I intended when I wrote the book. A kind of Hitchcock meets Ernst Lubitsch. Right before he died, the great Polish director Kieslowski contacted me and said he wanted to make VOICE into a film. That's always been one of my life's heartbreaks-- how wonderful for the man who made THE TWO LIVES OF VERONIKA to do VOICE OF. I would have given a lot to see that film. I liked Christopher's A TRIP TO THE STARS (I think that was the title), but couldn't finish VERONICA. I didn't like the Crowley book at all. I thought it was way too twee and Tom Robbins-cutesy.
question: I bought your book „The Panic Hand‰, in Italian, my mother tongue, „Tu e un quarto‰, only because of the cover∑an illustration of Rafal Olbinski! I love his artwork and I thought that if you have chosen this cover we have something in common∑Then I read the book and I love it! There is too much love in this email∑if we were in your books now must happen something far out or terrible∑So, I would like to ask if you know in person Rafal Olbinski, if you are friends, or you hate him, or you and him are the same person -Francesca
No, I don't know Olbinski but I think his work is often marvelous. The first time I saw it was when he did the cover to the US edition of THE WOODEN SEA. I liked that a lot and asked TOR if they would use him again. They didn't for the cover of WHITE APPLES and if you have seen it, you know it is one terrible cover. But then there he is again on the US edition of GLASS SOUP and it's great stuff. The Italian publisher liked these illustrations very much and contacted him to do the cover of their THE PANIC HAND which is again, very good
question: Commenting on your blog about recommending books with enthusiasm. I find the opposite for myself. If I find a book I absoulutly adore, I want to keep it to myself. It seems less special to me if other people are discussing it with me, or if they don't happen to like it, then I feel let down that they didn't see the same magic, the same special moments I did. I don't know, call me crazy. Not really a question, just felt like sharing that with you. Also, thank you for all the wonderful stories. Goodnight. -Rob
It sounds like the people who discover a great restaurant but don't tell anyone about it because they want to keep the secret. But remember that writers like restaurant owners, need customers to keep them going, so the more sales the more of a chance the restaurant will stay open or your poor writer will have enough bread (literally and figuratively) to write another book!
question: Hi there. I just wanted to let you know that your books have changed my life. I love you! I love you! Crystal
I owe you a hug, Crystal. That's a promise.
question: 43 years ago My wife and I honeymooned in Vienna. Wonderful. We had a guide who took us to a cafe where, at the end of a warren of room and passages there was a room with the walls covered in autographs. Many were of famous people and one special one was a short piece of music from Strauss and the note "Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms." We are returning to Vienna soon for a short visit and would like to revisit this cafe. Would you know where this is please ? ps this time we WILL go to Sachers. Phil Corkill
I'm not sure, but you are probably talking about the Griechenbeisl restaurant in the 1st district. It is famous for being both the oldest and most visited- by- famous- people restaurant in the city. If it's not that one, then I can't help you. They have a website. Google "Griechenbeisl Vienna" and you can see pictures of the place. PS It's a wonderful restaurant even if it is not the place you're looking for. Mark Twain once wrote a short story in there because he kept going back there to eat.
question: Mr. Carroll:
I was a student of yours at U.Va.--it was an introduction to fiction writing class, and I was thinking of becoming a writer. Most of our stuff was dreadful, as I recall, but you bravely slogged through most of it. My own effort was about--everything sounds stupid when condensed ("see, there's this guy, Achilles")--a man (the most unreliable of narrators) sitting on the end of a mosquito-infested dock complaining that his old high school friend, a Vietnam vet, had borrowed money from his and refused to return it because he (the friend) had turned into a fish. You were a good and enthusiastic teacher, but don't pretend you remember the story.] My point is that when you suggested revisions in a perfectly amiable, collegial, way, it occurred to me: "You know, this is hard, and I don't seem to be very good at it. I'm not going to try to do this for a living." You saved at least two readers from having to read some execrable fiction.
But that's not my question--in fact, that's not a question. You were paid to read my stuff; I want to pay to read yours. If one were starting to read your fiction, where might it best best to begin?--Ray Smith
Wow, that was a long time ago, Ray. I rememeber that class-- huge, full of pretty women and lounging young scoundrels. Beyond that, I was just a poor graduate student trying to get his degree without making too much of a fuss so that the professors wouldn't see how subpar my work was compared to my peers. Where's the best book to start? Try SLEEPING IN FLAME or OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM. They'll give you a good taste of what I'm trying to do.
question: Hello, Jonathan! I've just finished re-reading all of your books for my thesis, and while experiencing them again as a young woman as opposed to a teen-aged girl, I noticed that many of your novels revolve around one spectacular love, and the new book seems to be more of that theme. My question is this: in order to write about such fantastic love between two people must you have experienced such a thing? At the age of 23 I'm not sure I've ever experienced the kind of relationship you seem to create with such skill, and I feel as though such beauty and faith in love can only be crafted so believably by someone who has either experienced it first hand, or who has never had their heart broken in such a way that they no longer trust that such pure love can exist between two people. I wonder which of the two you are... -Jessica
both
question: How can I send you several books that might strike some affinities? c/o your publishers? Which ones? -Karen Christensen
You can send stuff to me c/oThe American International School 47 Salmannsdorferstrasse 1190 Vienna, Austria
question: You mentioned in an interview that magic realism inspired you. My question is what books/authors of this genre could you name specifically? I have just come across your novel Bones of the Moon and I am enjoying it immensely. Please keep writing...and think about doing a great epic fantasy story that will reach five or six books. THANKS! Gavin
Start with the Bible of Magic Realism, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Garcia Marquez. If you like that, move on to the stories of Julio Cortazar and Vargas Llosa's AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER
question: I love your books so much! thank you for writing them. it's amazing how you manage to create so many beautiful things and still have time for your fans or family. thank you for sharing your work with us:)love you! -Ariadna
You know, Ariadna, sometimes I think writers have two families-- the one he lives with, and the one he writes for/to. So in a way you're part of my family and that second family is no less important than the other one. Thank you for your words.
question: Thank you for 'The Ghost in Love'. It is amazing how sometimes books are similiar to real life. I can't wait to read it in English, cause unfortunately this time polish translation was not the best one ever, but still the book is great! I love it! -Martyna
A number of people have asked about the new novel in the US. It will be published in October 2008 by Farrar Straus and Giroux. We'll have further details about it as they come in in the months to come.
While I was on a book tour some years ago, one of the people in an audience said, "You've given us a lot with your books, what can we give to you?" I immediately answered-- Love letters. Lots and lots of love letters would do nicely, thanks. It's taken a while Kendra, but yours is the first. Thank *you*.
question: Dear Mr. Carroll, I love your work. In fact long ago during my fiction-writing years I actually made a few hundred 3 x 5 card notes on your books, and when I taught introductory story writing to undergraduates, I would have the them read (in addition to the obligatory "Hills Like White Elephants" and "Araby") at least a couple from Panic Hand, which were always well received.
This is just to say I very much enjoy your writing, not only reading it but studying it too.
Also, hoping to ask you a question about cafes. Your books and blog are filled with fantastic sights seen while having an espresso. As I'll have a 22-hour layover in Vienna this coming weekend (Cairo to Seattle), I was hoping for a cafe suggestion in your city, or at least for a good neighborhood. I don't expect guarantees of talking dogs or long-legged ladies with ice cream, just a good place after the museums. - Gabriel
I'd say go to either the Café Landtmann across the street from the town hall, or the Café Sperl on Gumpendorferstrasse which was a favorite of both Mr. Hitler and Mr. Freud in their respective days. Apparently Brahms liked the Café Landtmann a lot and used to eat lunch there. Both are wonderful places, as turn of the century Viennese café as you'll find anywhere in this town.
question: hey. I have written a post to you, and you answered. But I am disappointed! I have asked you about your books in Lithuanian. Telling me that I can always read in Russian just killed me!Every person thinks that Lithuanian is twin brother of Russian! It is not! Different families of languages! Please don't tell me that you had no idea. -Martyna
I do know the difference, Martyna, believe me. Living this close to the one time Iron Curtain countries, you learn very quickly the name of the different places on the other side of that spooky thing. I told you that my books have been translated into Russian because unless you are very young, I know that until 1989 when the curtain came down, all kids in that part of the world were required in school to learn Russian. As far as I know, no Lithuanian publisher has expressed interest in my work. How about Chinese?
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past Q&As in the Archive Section (1350 k) ]
