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Published: April 23, 2011
Words: 73,481 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458050212
Short description
There are worlds where passion means more than action. There are places where time has no meaning, and anything is possible. When a heart-broken sculptor seeks them out, existence itself may crumble under the weight of his pain.Extended description
Charles is a sculptor of unparalleled skill, obsessed with emphasizing the few beautiful aspects of what he considers to be an ugly and dying world. Before putting out his cigarettes, Charles would look at the cherry for a moment and wonder if this would be the flame he’d use to finally set the world on fire. The answer had always been no, until the night Mira was attacked.When his lover's assailant is set free with no more punishment than a legal finger-wag, Charles trades in his chisel for a torch and points his talent of shaping metal and rock toward reshaping the world by fire, one building at a time. It doesn’t take long, however, for him to realize that not even all the oil of the earth could make a fire that would re-weld the crack in the human soul. It is the crack formed by dogma, and the unforgiving nature of memory.
He is unknowingly guided by two immortals whose means are super-natural and motivations are a mystery. With their influence, Charles would soon chan.. (Read more)
Tags
philosophy, atheism, alternate reality, dogma, sculpture, dark energy, ritualismAvailable ebook reading formats
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Reviews
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Review by:
Sharen
on Oct. 27, 2012 :
(no rating)
Beautifully written,words flowed together nicely. The story was interesting but I had difficulty follow it. In the end I gave up as I got losed in the book.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Melanie Bopp
on Sep. 21, 2012 :
There was something about this book that I just did not like. The story itself was interesting, and could have been great! There are layers upon layers in this story, starting with a desert wise man and a journalist, to Donatello and Gray (who's role isn't actually laid out until the very end), and then there is Charles and Dormius (and Mira, who reads more as a plot device than a character). Honestly, they were all kinda assholes (which is fine, but there really wasn't anything redeeming about any of them, and so I just couldn't relate).
I won't go into the plot, since you really should get that from reading the book, not reading everyone's reviews.
The language was flowery, and worked part of the time, but other times it read more like purple prose - extra words for the sake of extra words. More words do not necessarily make the story any better. It just makes it longer. But some times, it worked! And was absolutely poetic (not the actual poetry, that made me feel like I was in some sort of beatnik cafe, complete with bongos).
But with all the different layers of story, and the conflicting story lines, and the language choices - when you put it all together, it just becomes and complicated, confusing story.
If you like philosophical stories, you might enjoy it. If you like layer upon layer of story, you might enjoy it.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Valerie McQueen
on Aug. 28, 2012 :
My review of Ghosts of a Tired Universe by Jonas Samuelle
Rating 4****
This book was provided free from the author in exchange for honest literary review
This is a story of Charles and his sidekick Dormius. It follows the two from a stint in a juvenile detention center on through adulthood. Both are artisans, focusing on sculpture and poetry/writing respectively. Their common threads seems to weave a strong but unlikely friendship.
After a brutal rape on his love Mira, which leaves here scarred for life and institutionalized Charles seems to drift in more of a dark place in his life. He uses his paranormal gifts to spend much more time in reflection and cause and effect world related problems. As you delve deeper into the novel you see that it is actually Charles's journey into himself that is the true focus of the novel.
While the author is cryptic at times and somewhat hard to follow, I understand the purpose it. This book envokes a sense ofbeeflection both worldly and of self. It is way out of my normal genre and I was pleasantly suprised to have enjoyed it. This is some of the most intricate characterization and symbolism that I have ever read. While it is eerie at times it's not truly dark which I liked. Overall good novel and excellent philosophical read.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Haresh Daswani
on June 02, 2011 :
Jonas has written what is indeed a mind blowing material that is mixed with poetry in every line.
His piece just made me crazier in the past two days, seeing the world in a newfound confusion, staring at human mortals with the same question that lingers within my head as it all goes through. We seem to be mortals unaware of personal divine potential, or are we seeking to wish it so?
Page after page, word after word, Jonas has really thought well, pondered deep, and injected thoughts, concepts, a whole new philosophy that would never have been heard of, but carries so much weight, carries so much revelation, that this book had to be read again, and again, and again, until the entire truth found in what might seem like fiction to the rest finally gets absorbed, forcefully, by a mind who was never used of such philosophical revelation and confusion. It has opened a new door that has created doubt, color, and leaves a chalky feel in the tongue as you seek water, and thirst that cannot seem to be quenched anymore.
It changes ones view, and it changes even further, seeking to understand the mind of Donatello.
Somewhere along the line, this book can drive the obsessed insane, and the insane to smile a little smile that can change the world.
For somewhere along the line, success, the healing process, needs destruction first.
And its intensity still throbs in my brain per moment, per second, as I seek temporary hermitage from all fellow mortals, to ponder upon what the universe might have been after all.
An intensely philosophical book, beyond satisfying, and the most gratifying.
I thus place Jonas in the same echelon of authors as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, definitely way above Chuck Pallahniuk, but on shoulder to shoulder with Douglas Adams, less the humor, but on sparring wit.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Alisha Paige
on May 10, 2011 :
This is one helluva powerful book. I started it one rainy afternoon and couldn't put it down until I'd read the very last page. I drank an entire bottle of wine while engrossed in this very smart novel. Like a hungry beast, craving more insight into a tortured soul, watching evil unfold upon itself, begging him to stop while cheering him at the same time, I was held riveted by this tale. An eye opening, soul stripping saga to not be missed, Ghosts of a Tired Universe should be read over and over. So we may think, so we may know passion again and so we may learn something we should have known all along. Jonas Samuelle is an author to watch. A brilliant writer with a knack for the sublime.
(review of free book)
Review by:
A. la Rosa
on May 09, 2011 :
Absolutely superb. Bound to be one of the most influential books of the decade, if not of a generation. Builds to a climax of unbelievable power and beauty--sure to keep you devouring page after page, and reveling in the bittersweet, awe-inspiring power of life.
(review of free book)
Review by:
william brian rafferty
on May 01, 2011 :
So I will start by saying I don't read for pleasure I read for knowledge, my friend told me I had to read this and it truly is a great book. The last fiction book I liked was 1984 by George Owells. This book is truly eye opening, the first chapter alone is insight into a character that comes into play later and in that first chapter I thought wow what a dirty rotten thing to do, I love it, but the rest of the book will really make you think. There were aspect of it that I had to look up and I will say the author really did his home work cause the things he references like, the quentesence I had to research cause it really got me thinking about the universe and life as we know it. So if your looking for a good book its this one.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Heather Macauley Noëll
on April 24, 2011 :
I can always tell in the first few minutes of watching a movie if I'll enjoy it. There's something about the cinematography and lighting that tells me right away if the film is high quality.
When I read books it's the same. Jonas has a marvelous writing style! I was immediately drawn into this story and I feel this is a story that will be especially appreciated by smashwords fiction readers!
Though I haven't finished the story yet, I wanted to be the first to post a review because I'm enjoying it so much!
Heather Macauley Noëll - Sedona, Arizona
(review of free book)