Scan barcode
A review by gengelcox
A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll
5.0
This novel focuses on Weber Gregston, who we first met in [b:Bones of the Moon|42146|Bones of the Moon (Answered Prayers, #1)|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391047473s/42146.jpg|968918] (he was the other person to experience the Rondua dreams with Cullen). Another great opener: “An hour before he shot himself, my best friend Philip Strayhorn called to talk about thumbs.” That opening lets you in on the set-up; instead of a male-female relationship, Carroll looks at the relationship of two male college roommates with similar interests, who have gone slightly separate ways since school. Gregston became a widely respected director of art house films; Strayhorn became “Bloodstone,” the “hero” and writer of the Midnight series of horror films. Though addicted, both have become disenchanted with movies. Gregston has turned to theater while Strayhorn is putting the finishing touches on the fourth (and last) Midnight movie.
Strayhorn commits suicide, sending Gregston a videotape of his last requests. Strangely, the videotape will only play so much before showing white noise–revealing new portions each succeeding time it is played. Strayhorn requests that Gregston finish the last Midnight movie and close Strayhorn’s business in L.A. Interspersed in this narrative are comments from Strayhorn himself, who has entered the larger world (the “afterlife”?) and become a postmodern fiction character–someone who both participates in and comments on the action of the novel. While finishing “Midnight Never Leaves,” Gregston is visited by Pinsleepe, who is either Strayhorn’s unborn daughter or an angel. Pinsleepe explains to him the importance of finishing the movie, something to do with the evil that Strayhorn had released into the world. But there are may types of angels, and what the dead want isn’t always the best for the living….
A Child Across the Sky contains a lot of punch, yet most of the blows are only glancing. For readers familiar with Strayhorn and Gregston from the previous novels, this is an interesting addition and complication to their stories. Readers unfamiliar with them or Carroll’s work in general will find themselves lost and unsure in this new realm of unasked questions and unaddressed possibilities.
Strayhorn commits suicide, sending Gregston a videotape of his last requests. Strangely, the videotape will only play so much before showing white noise–revealing new portions each succeeding time it is played. Strayhorn requests that Gregston finish the last Midnight movie and close Strayhorn’s business in L.A. Interspersed in this narrative are comments from Strayhorn himself, who has entered the larger world (the “afterlife”?) and become a postmodern fiction character–someone who both participates in and comments on the action of the novel. While finishing “Midnight Never Leaves,” Gregston is visited by Pinsleepe, who is either Strayhorn’s unborn daughter or an angel. Pinsleepe explains to him the importance of finishing the movie, something to do with the evil that Strayhorn had released into the world. But there are may types of angels, and what the dead want isn’t always the best for the living….
A Child Across the Sky contains a lot of punch, yet most of the blows are only glancing. For readers familiar with Strayhorn and Gregston from the previous novels, this is an interesting addition and complication to their stories. Readers unfamiliar with them or Carroll’s work in general will find themselves lost and unsure in this new realm of unasked questions and unaddressed possibilities.