Sleeping in Flame

Sleeping in Flame is a novel by the American writer Jonathan Carroll. Originally published in 1988, the novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award the following year. The book's title is a reference to the cremation of Nicholas, who (after seeing Luc off in style with the help of a couple of actor friends) is tragically killed at an airport in a terrorist raid. Although that is one literal translation of the book's title, it could also have a ... more

Sleeping in Flame is a novel by the American writer Jonathan Carroll. Originally published in 1988, the novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award the following year. The book's title is a reference to the cremation of Nicholas, who (after seeing Luc off in style with the help of a couple of actor friends) is tragically killed at an airport in a terrorist raid. Although that is one literal translation of the book's title, it could also have a number of other meanings, along the lines of the fairy tale imagery throughout the novel. The oxymoron of the image—to sleep in fire—is like something out of a Grimm Brothers tale. Also, phoenix imagery comes to mind as well, in that a being emerges reborn from flames.Carroll often has very vivid titles to his novels but they don't always make sense literally, even if they come from direct quotes from the novels themselves. In many ways like Symbolist poetry, they are meant to stick in the reader's mind and stimulate their imagination, rather... less