Itemize Books As Stone Junction

Original Title:	Stone Junction: An Alchemical Potboiler
ISBN:	0802135854 (ISBN13: 9780802135858)
Edition Language:	English

Stone Junction Paperback | Pages: 384 pages

Mention Based On Books Stone Junction

Title	:	Stone Junction
Author	:	Jim Dodge
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 384 pages
Published	:	September 11th 1998 by Grove Press (first published 1990)
Categories	:	Fiction. Fantasy

Chronicle Concering Books Stone Junction

Charging like a runaway semitrailer on a downhill grade and spanning the era from Haight-Ashbury's Summer of Love into the darkness of 1980s Manhattan, Stone Junction is a wise and wildly imaginative novel about Daniel Pearse, an orphaned child who is taken under the wings of the AMO -- the Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws. An assortment of sages sharpen Daniel's wide-eyed outlook until he has the concentration of a card shark Zeta master, via apprenticeships in meditation, safecracking, poker, and the art of walking through walls. Wizards are made, not born, and this unconventional education sets Daniel on the trail of mysteries ancient and modern.A strange, six-pound diamond sphere held by the U.S. government in a New Mexico vault, rumored to be the Philosopher's Stone or the Holy Grail, becomes the AMO's obsession. In time, Daniel perfects his powers and heads off to steal the magic stone, and what happens changes his life forever. Stone Junction is a bravura act of storytelling, both a free-spirited adventure and a parable about the powers within all of us.

Rating Based On Books Stone Junction

Ratings: 4.11 From 2235 Users | 200 Reviews

Comment On Based On Books Stone Junction

This is one of those books where the plot is original and the pace is upbeat, the characters are well-desribed and the twists are in abundance, but overall the work falls well short of the sum of its parts. I really wanted to like Stone Junction. I enjoyed its Pynchon-Tom Robbins kind of Americana raw boned wide-eyed American late 20th century style, with occasional touches of Richard Ford-like blatantly non pretentious poetic observations-- but only up to a certain point. Then it kept going,

SPOILERSStone Junction starts promisingly and goes quickly downhill. The opening account of Annalee and Daniel's life and the mysterious AMO is intriguing and fresh. The style is direct and easy reading, with dashes of philosophical ramblings, actions scenes and flashy dialogue. Annalee is the most interesting and fleshed out character - then she's blown up and the novel takes a nose dive.Part two is a weird series of Karate kid style montages as the faceless, characterless Daniel undergoes

Stone Junction reads like a literary Frankenstein construct - equal parts Tom Robbins' whimsy, Umberto Eco's esotericism, and Ken Kesey's individualism/anarchism, yet it is all Jim Dodge's brilliance. If this witches brew makes you blanche in horror then avoid this book. If, however, like me, it whets your imagination and sets your mind to salivating, then by all means crack the covers and come dance at the monster's ball!Stone Junction will introduce you to the AMO - The Alliance of Magicians

I can see what seems to appeal to so many in this book but it left me cold. A woman and her son are taken under the wing of a collective of anarchists and magicans and end up joining the fight against "the man". Gradually the story gets ever more fantastic as the man daniel grows and gets taught various skills culminating in the heist of the worlds biggest diamond. I just could not relate to any of the characters except they reminded me of some very overwrought addled monologues I had to listen

I really wanted to like this book it starts off with a young woman punching a nun (swoon!) - but the further along I got, the less interested I became.It's not a bad story. Orphaned boy, society of outlaws and sorta-kinda magicians, esoteric training, a peculiar heist, a decent MacGuffin and a host of weird characters.Let's just cut to the inevitable but (I feel like that has potential as a dumb band name The Inevitable But), though: for a whole bunch of reasons, the ideas are better than the

This is a great, different and interesting book. It starts off really well, has some truly colourful characters and the story winds and weaves towards who knows where but... then it falls of the rails a little towards the end. I am not 100% sure if my review is too low, as it really is a great book, but it's quite long, takes it's time building you up and the payoff is a little - weird and ultimately not very satisfying. It's such a strange book that I am not really confident in my review, it is

Of the few novels that Pynchon has blurbed, I'd say Stone Junction is both the best (though Far Tortuga is pretty good) and also the most Pynchon-esque. Dodge is almost shameless in his borrowing from Pynchon, specifically Lot 49, but this is one of the very rare cases where an imitator arguably surpasses the original (see also Patrick O'Brian and Jane Austen, Littell and Grossman, McCarthy and Faulkner . . .). Stone Junction is better than most of Pynchon's work (except for Against the Day),