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THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW!
The last time I was this excited about a book was in elementary school, when I began the Harry Potter series. Woah. I know, huge statement right there. Bathing the Lion by Jonathan Carroll kept me on my toes the entire time.
I’ve never written a book review, so starting with this book is a HUGE undertaking. My mind is still in a fog from finishing the last chapter just moments ago, but I’ll give this a go.
One night five residents of a small New England town all share exactly the same dream. One of them is even on a plane thousands of miles away en route to Europe when it happens. Some of these five know each other, some not. Their dream is crystal clear and confusing at the same time. It is full of wonders—both impossibly beautiful and awful. What it portends for each of them is astounding. Until now, these people have led relatively normal lives. But eventually from the dream they learn that they came here from another place, somewhere unimaginably distant where they once worked to determine the fate of every single thing in the universe. And now, suddenly, they’re being called back…
The information on the inside flap (the synopsis above) was all I knew about this book, and with no recommendation to read it and no knowledge of this author’s previous books, I jumped right in.
The first few chapters were nothing special. To be honest, I could have easily put the book back on the shelf and continued on with my day. Thank God I didn’t do this!
Characters introduced as normal humans living mundane lives all of a sudden begin experiencing strange things. My interest was peaked when a little girl began appearing in strange places. I actually had to put the book away at night-time, because I wasn’t sure how creepy this little girl would end up being. One of the characters actually takes photos of the child, but when the photos develop, no little girl is to be seen. I know what you’re thinking: she’s a ghost. If only it were that simple. This book creates concepts that are so otherworldly that the concept of ghosts seem pretty simple.
Bathing the Lion touches on time travel, magical powers, and what purpose humans (and non-humans) have in this universe. When things get complicated, characters begin to question the purpose of it all. They touch on suicide and what would happen if they chose to jump ship.
As the book progresses, a common thread begins to weave itself throughout everyone’s lives, through different moments in time, and through different areas of the universe. These characters begin to realize that life is so much more than what they understand.
Ants are part of a colony.
Cells are part of a body.
Apples were once part of a tree.
These are a few of the ways Carroll’s characters explain how everyone influences everyone else. And this theme of life and purpose is only about half of what takes place in this 280-page read.
Pat Conroy (a New York Times Bestselling author) explains Carroll as “a Rubik’s Cube without the colored tiles, spinning out of control, trying to say the unsayable things.”
Below is the link to the Goodreads page, where others have left their reviews:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19286662-bathing-the-lion
Although this "review" may not have been very clear, neither is this book. Just like the characters, we can try to make sense of things we don't understand, or we can just go along with it. We can either bathe the lion, or try to fight it.
Until next time, Happy Reading!