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The Marriage of Sticks (Tom Doherty Associates Book)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312872434
Edition: First Edition
ISBN: 0312872437
Label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: November 04, 2000
Publisher: Tor Books
Studio: Tor Books
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Editorial Review:
Jonathan Carroll is a writer other writers envy. He's been described as a "cult favorite" whose works go out of print too quickly in the USA, despite his popularity in Europe and the admiration of reviewers. It may be because Carroll uses fantastic elements, but doesn't write genre fantasy; his books are often haunting, even frightening, but they're not horror novels. He puzzles you, surprises you, and always makes you think about how what he's saying might apply to your life.
In The Marriage of Sticks, Miranda Romanac is a thirtysomething dealer in rarities who loves her work and lifestyle, but feels unfulfilled. As her friend Zoe says, you don't expect anything better to happen because you've lived too long and seen too much to have any more hope. I'm luckier than you. I don't think life's very friendly either, but I know we can control hope. You can turn it on and off like a spigot. I try to keep mine on full blast.
Miranda struggles to change her life after upsetting revelations at a high school reunion. She has an affair with a married man who leaves his wife and children for her. She lives with ghosts of her past and future, with what might have been and could be. She's forced to face the consequences of her actions and the effect she has on others' lives by being who she is. Finally, she learns "to live without everything" and be content. --Nona Vero
Miranda Romanac is a successful thirtysomething woman in today's modern world, yet she feels alone and adrift on the sea of her life. At her high school reunion she makes a shattering discovery that further undermines her already shaky sense of who she is and where she is going. When she meets the remarkable Hugh Oakley, her life takes a 180-degree turn for the better--but at what price?When they move to a house in the country to start a new life together, the reality Miranda had once known begins to slip away. Miranda is haunted by alarming, impossible visions and strangers whom she feels certain she has known, although they are all from other times and places. As these phantom lives consume her own and begin to affect all that she knows and loves, Miranda must learn the truth to reclaim it. But sometimes the hardest truth to accept is the knowledge of who we really are.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - There's a door in the air.
You are sitting in your chair reading, The Marriage of Sticks, by Jonathan Carrol, and suddenly there's a door flying on air. You don't think twice about the improbability of this strange appearance, but get up and turn the knob. Suddenly an aroma of every Christmas that wasn't spoiled cascades into your room...freshly baked cookies, cinnamon and spice, and everything nice. Now down the chimney comes a nightmare. It pulls up a chair beside you and is prepared to stay.
You can put the book ... Read More
Rating:  - Marriage of Sticks...a novel of paranormal occurrences
A strange novel!
I'd found this title by chance; I'd been perusing some reviews on a fantasy title and a reviewer had mentioned this work as a interesting read.
Rather than a true fantasy story, I'd have to classify this book in the paranormal horror (mild) genre. I must admit this is not one of my favorite themes and as a result, this tale did not really work for me.
The story itself is well written and easy to read; it starts very innocently (so benignly in ... Read More
Rating:  - Essential contemporary fantasy
After reading 5 of Jonathan Carroll's novels, I am certain of this much: his stories, told in clear and urbane prose, are compelling page-turners that, much like British fantasist Graham Joyce's, straddle the threshold of reality and fantasy. In The Marriage of Sticks, Miranda, his first-person elderly narrator, recounts in her journal a life turned upside down after mysterious, seemingly coincidental occurrences begin taking place after attending a 15-year class reunion.
What's so enjoyable ... Read More
Rating: - Provocative Entertainment
As someone recently bit by the Carroll bug, I may not be the most impartial critic. Still I found this book was very enjoyable. I understand the swiftly shifting underlying cosmology of the novel will lose many readers. But it is this which drew me in deeper. Yes, the characters may seem alittle too privledged to connect with some but the underpinnings are sound. I like the fact that while Miranda is sympathetic that when the revelation about her character comes we are not unaware of her personal flaws up to ... Read More
Rating: - good but far from perfect
I loved the first part of the book, introducing the characters and their plaes in the world. And the descriptions of falling in and out of love seemed a bit unrealistic but still beautifully written and I couldn't put the book down. And I loved the ending and where the whole book went. The middle section of the book, as the weird X-filesesque events start to happen and you don't really understand why, seemed clunky to me, and was not as enjoyable. In some ways I wish he could have figured out a smoother way ... Read More
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