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jeathhp's review
4.0
This was a two-fold delightful surprise. I just acquired two huge bookshelves and have been cleaning and sorting and relocating books for days. Was surprised to find this slim volume that I didn't recognize. It seems I swept it up in a bundle of books at the last Friends of the Library sale and promptly forgot about it. Let's talk about the physical book for a moment. This is a hardbound, illustrated, short story --it feels like a found treasure. The flourishes and artwork add to the mystique of the tale of a man who falls in love with a beautiful ghost he meets while placing coins on Jean Harlow's star at the Chinese theater. Now, I read this at night, so perhaps I missed something; I think the ending is just a wee bit unclear, but no matter. The ghost has a secret and an agenda. George Sydney must make a fate-filled choice. Clever story, beautiful book. I doubt I'll ever make it to the Chinese theater, but if I were to visit, I would be disappointed not to see a ghost. Loved this encounter!
easolinas's review
4.0
First, a warning -- this is not a novel, or even a novella. This is a short story with a cover. But despite that, "A Soul In A Bottle" perfectly shows us why Tim Powers is one of the best writers you've never heard of. It starts off on a grey, rainy, dreary note, and is gradually illuminated with the light of Powers' haunting, bittersweet writing.
George Sydney makes a living off of used books -- he hunts down rare tomes and then sells them at a profit. And one day he finds a very, very rare book: a copy of poet Cheyenne Fleming's work, but with a sonnet that has never appeared in any other book. And on the same day, George encounters a beautiful young woman... and soon learns that she's the ghost of Cheyenne Fleming.
As he falls in love with her, George begins to search out the details of how Cheyenne really died, and what is tying her to the mortal world. There may be a way to restore her to life, but it would mean changing the past -- and the present.
Tim Powers seems to have a preoccupation with ghosts tied to material objects. You could see it in "The Bible Repairman," and it's the whole point of the story in "A Soul In a Bottle." This ghost story isn't scary, suspenseful or even weird -- instead it's a bittersweet contemplation of love, death and art, with a bittersweet denouement that leaves you thinking.
Powers paints Los Angeles as a grey, rainy place that is full of ground-up dreams, dirty streets and monuments to the celebrity dead. But the place lightens up whenever Cheyenne appears, a vibrant colorful flame even after she's dead. Apparently Powers based her on Edna St. Vincent Millay, and clearly he overflows with personal and professional respect for her.
"A Soul in a Bottle" is only a short story (and can be more cheaply obtained in one of Powers' later collections), but is a sublime little story that leaves you with a little twinge of heartache.
George Sydney makes a living off of used books -- he hunts down rare tomes and then sells them at a profit. And one day he finds a very, very rare book: a copy of poet Cheyenne Fleming's work, but with a sonnet that has never appeared in any other book. And on the same day, George encounters a beautiful young woman... and soon learns that she's the ghost of Cheyenne Fleming.
As he falls in love with her, George begins to search out the details of how Cheyenne really died, and what is tying her to the mortal world. There may be a way to restore her to life, but it would mean changing the past -- and the present.
Tim Powers seems to have a preoccupation with ghosts tied to material objects. You could see it in "The Bible Repairman," and it's the whole point of the story in "A Soul In a Bottle." This ghost story isn't scary, suspenseful or even weird -- instead it's a bittersweet contemplation of love, death and art, with a bittersweet denouement that leaves you thinking.
Powers paints Los Angeles as a grey, rainy place that is full of ground-up dreams, dirty streets and monuments to the celebrity dead. But the place lightens up whenever Cheyenne appears, a vibrant colorful flame even after she's dead. Apparently Powers based her on Edna St. Vincent Millay, and clearly he overflows with personal and professional respect for her.
"A Soul in a Bottle" is only a short story (and can be more cheaply obtained in one of Powers' later collections), but is a sublime little story that leaves you with a little twinge of heartache.
mellipscomb's review
5.0
A short, creepy ghost story, with the quirky, evocative details that make Powers work so compelling.
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