Interesting Take on the Ghost Story

Martin Riker, an English professor at Washington University, St. Louis by day, wraps up a smorgasbord of ideas and observations, from television and society to a tautological philosophy of being iterated again and again, as is the situation Samuel Johnson’s ghost finds itself in transferring from one living person to another. This might have been a pretty dull affair if Samuel Johnson wasn’t such an arresting narrator, always in pursuit of the young son from whom he was torn by murder, failing at this time and again, resorting to reforming lives he rides around in, again thwarted, but never lacking for ways to express his frustrations, always ready to advance his knowledge, and forever making keen observations about life, death, and television. While his experience is the same pretty much each time he transfers to a new life, there’s enough movement forward and character development to keep you traveling along with him, as well as the aforementioned tautology wrapped up in the essence of Samuel Johnson the ghost.

Samuel Johnson, to briefly relate the plot, grows up in a small religious community in Pennsylvania, leaving young Samuel cut off from midcentury America, when the tale begins. Then a burly man from an even stricter religious community brings a television to the community. Allowed to put it in a small cottage, he invites Samuel, and later young Emily, to watch it with him. Samuel and Emily fall in love and marry. The TV man disappears (to reappear much later). The pair have a baby they name Samuel. Unfortunately, Emily dies in childbirth. Samuel raises his son, until one day a stranger snatches little Samuel and father Samuel dies trying to rescue his son. (Hang on readers of the novel, because there’s a twist awaiting you down the line about this.) After, Samuel finds himself in the mind of the killer, and then in the mind of the nearest person when the killer dies. And on and on it goes. Samuel cannot communicate while sharing the mind he is in. Nor can he control the other’s body, unless the other relinquishes control. But he can observe and, most of all, he can and does mightily recount his situation over and over again, and his objective, finding his son.

In some ways, Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return is like being locked in a room with nothing much to do but contemplate your life and the outside world you’re missing. But how that is done is the key, and Samuel Johnson does it very entertainingly. He’s a character you’ll enjoy hearing as he rambles on about this and that. And many of his ramblings can be insightful. For example, he finds early television (remember, three networks, four if you count defunct DuMont and later PBS) something that unifies people, rather than isolates them, which was the usual criticism of the day. That’s because it provided an entire nation with shared experiences. It’s much later, in current time, that Samuel observes TV and all media as dividing people, scattering them into their own confirmation bias cells.

This is to say that there is more than enough here to keep most readers happily in the company of Samuel Johnson for several hours. ( )

Interesting Take on the Ghost Story

Martin Riker, an English professor at Washington University, St. Louis by day, wraps up a smorgasbord of ideas and observations, from television and society to a tautological philosophy of being iterated again and again, as is the situation Samuel Johnson’s ghost finds itself in transferring from one living person to another. This might have been a pretty dull affair if Samuel Johnson wasn’t such an arresting narrator, always in pursuit of the young son from whom he was torn by murder, failing at this time and again, resorting to reforming lives he rides around in, again thwarted, but never lacking for ways to express his frustrations, always ready to advance his knowledge, and forever making keen observations about life, death, and television. While his experience is the same pretty much each time he transfers to a new life, there’s enough movement forward and character development to keep you traveling along with him, as well as the aforementioned tautology wrapped up in the essence of Samuel Johnson the ghost.

Samuel Johnson, to briefly relate the plot, grows up in a small religious community in Pennsylvania, leaving young Samuel cut off from midcentury America, when the tale begins. Then a burly man from an even stricter religious community brings a television to the community. Allowed to put it in a small cottage, he invites Samuel, and later young Emily, to watch it with him. Samuel and Emily fall in love and marry. The TV man disappears (to reappear much later). The pair have a baby they name Samuel. Unfortunately, Emily dies in childbirth. Samuel raises his son, until one day a stranger snatches little Samuel and father Samuel dies trying to rescue his son. (Hang on readers of the novel, because there’s a twist awaiting you down the line about this.) After, Samuel finds himself in the mind of the killer, and then in the mind of the nearest person when the killer dies. And on and on it goes. Samuel cannot communicate while sharing the mind he is in. Nor can he control the other’s body, unless the other relinquishes control. But he can observe and, most of all, he can and does mightily recount his situation over and over again, and his objective, finding his son.

In some ways, Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return is like being locked in a room with nothing much to do but contemplate your life and the outside world you’re missing. But how that is done is the key, and Samuel Johnson does it very entertainingly. He’s a character you’ll enjoy hearing as he rambles on about this and that. And many of his ramblings can be insightful. For example, he finds early television (remember, three networks, four if you count defunct DuMont and later PBS) something that unifies people, rather than isolates them, which was the usual criticism of the day. That’s because it provided an entire nation with shared experiences. It’s much later, in current time, that Samuel observes TV and all media as dividing people, scattering them into their own confirmation bias cells.

This is to say that there is more than enough here to keep most readers happily in the company of Samuel Johnson for several hours. ( )

This was difficult to get through. The concept was very interesting but I was bored by the events in the story.

There are moments of philosophical interest, but too many pages spent ruminating on television and the mundane lives that so many people live. While that might be an interesting topic to discuss, it's not material I want to spend much time with in a novel.

I wouldn't recommend this, unless you're especially interested in philosophy. ( )

Interesting concept that raises quite a few questions without providing many satisfactory answers. The Tv retrospective aspect is somewhat interesting, but it and some other parts felt a bit too long at times. ( )