Ghost

For a book written in 1984, it sure was a captivating read. I found the story excellent. It took me a bit of time to figure out the heaven and hell characters, but their roles in the story played out well. I may read it again sometime soon just to get a better hold on their battle, which probably had a much deeper meaning. This book had just the right mix of spiritual, racial, gender, love, trust, parenthood, youth, old age, heaven and hell, and of course a Ghost. I'm sure that someone involved in the movie Ghost, which came out around 1990, must've read this book to get their initial idea. What I found interesting were the relationships of the characters. There's much conflict and change going on in the families of the White Ghost and the little Black boy who befriends the ghost. It takes the love between family members to bring about the success of the story. To have a ghost narrate to you about what it feels like to be dead does get a bit spooky. The ghost, being a writer in his earth life, has the skill to describe his after death existence in a way the reader finds believable and captivating. Constantly while reading this book I found myself putting my being in the ghost's position. What if I'd died and had to watch my ex-wife and family move on with their lives without me. Cut off from any form of contact with them. Anger may drive you to haunt the living as you become an introverted unhappy entity without a home and no future to think of. What would you do? The child's role in this book was perfect. A child with a gift. Reminds me of a biblical quote which says "In order to enter the kingdom of heaven we must become as children." Yes, it took a child to see what adults were unable or too busy to see. And it took a wise old man to help prepare that child for the day when he'd need to use his special gift. Not a lot of excitement, or at least the type of haunting and ghostly excitement you'd expect in a book about a ghost. It's not just your typical ghost story. It's just as much a philosophical/metaphysical journey down a mysterious path as it is a horror/ghost story. A thinking person's ghost story maybe. The author does an excellent job in giving us one possibility of what comes after life. I almost forgot to mention the humor written effortlessly into this story. The author has the ghost talk intimately with the reader about his dilemma and if the reader's mind can respond to the nifty flow of dialogue, then the story becomes alive. I really couldn't put this book down. It was a quick 283 pages that I couldn't guess what would happen and didn't want it to end. It would take Hollywood to screw up this story and make it something of a tear jerker. Fortunately for the movie Ghost, it had a love story, comedy, good special effects and a great soundtrack. Where as this book had a real ghost, a gifted child and a struggle between good and evil. A very good read indeed.