erincharp's review against another edition
4.0
Much like The House of Sand and Fog, this is a novel that doesn't necessarily make you feel happy, but in some ways, it makes you feel whole. Daniel, Susan and Lois are the three characters who center in this novel. Daniel is in his 60s, dying of cancer.. presumably anyway, as he stops seeing the doctor after his recent diagnosis. Susan is his daughter, who hasn't seen him since she was a toddler. At that age, she was ripped out of his hands after he killed her mother. Lois is Susan's grandmother, it was her daughter who Daniel killed.
Before Daniel dies, he needs to see Susan one last time to say his peace. Susan is struggling with a life of her own and runs away to live with Lois again. Lois is her usual cantankerous self, but not without her own journey. Each character in this story was rich, yet I somehow felt empty at the end. Still, it was a beautifully woven story.
Before Daniel dies, he needs to see Susan one last time to say his peace. Susan is struggling with a life of her own and runs away to live with Lois again. Lois is her usual cantankerous self, but not without her own journey. Each character in this story was rich, yet I somehow felt empty at the end. Still, it was a beautifully woven story.
maureenmcc's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book to be trite, boring, repetitive and overly long. I never felt emotionally engaged. I was disappointed because House of Sand and Fog was so good, but this one just didn’t do it for me.
dylanperry's review against another edition
5.0
Reread: August 2020
This one only gets better with age.
Original Review
It's strange sitting here trying to write a review for the book you've most anticipated for the year, and now that it's finally here I can say Gone So Long was worth the wait. No one writes characters so fully, so deeply realized, as Andre Dubus III and that skill is on display here in his first full-length novel in a decade. Gone So Long is a slow burn. Especially compared to the rest of his books. There were some times in the middle where I wondered if it was overly indulgent or navel-gazing, and even upon finishing it I cannot tell if it was or not. It'll take subsequent readings to know for sure, but I can say I will be picking this up again in the future.
This one only gets better with age.
Original Review
It's strange sitting here trying to write a review for the book you've most anticipated for the year, and now that it's finally here I can say Gone So Long was worth the wait. No one writes characters so fully, so deeply realized, as Andre Dubus III and that skill is on display here in his first full-length novel in a decade. Gone So Long is a slow burn. Especially compared to the rest of his books. There were some times in the middle where I wondered if it was overly indulgent or navel-gazing, and even upon finishing it I cannot tell if it was or not. It'll take subsequent readings to know for sure, but I can say I will be picking this up again in the future.
jennyshank's review against another edition
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books/2018/09/28/andre-dubus-iii-dallas-gone-long-review
Dallas Morning News, September 28, 2018
Andre Dubus III excels at getting inside the skin of bad men. In his last novel, The Garden of Last Days, he probed the psyche of a 9/11 attacker. Gone So Long tells the story of Daniel Ahearn, a man in his 60s who, in a fit of jealous rage, killed his wife, Linda, when they were in their early 20s, leaving his 3-year-old daughter, Susan, behind as he went to prison.
Ahearn has been free for decades and longs to see Susan. Aided by scant clues and the internet, he sets out from Massachusetts to find her in Florida, where she's an adjunct at a university.
Gone So Long alternates in perspective between Daniel, who has lived out of prison as a celibate penitent, volunteering to help the elderly; Susan, who has stopped work on her novel to try to write a memoir of her tumultuous past and break free from her difficulty in relationships; and Lois, Linda's mother, who raised Susan. Lois is an unforgettable character — a cranky, profane, cigarette-smoking, hard-driving, 82-year-old antiques dealer who is the embodiment of tough love, and Dubus reveals every shard of her broken heart.
Dubus vividly evokes the faded midway in Salisbury Beach, Mass. — where Linda's parents owned a penny arcade and Daniel worked as a DJ on a carnival ride — in all its grandeur and seediness, peopled with colorful characters, such as Jimmy Squeeze, who "could hold a pencil between his chest muscles."
Gone So Long is chilling in its relentless evaluation of women's beauty. Virtually every time female characters appear, they are framed in terms of how attractive they are. Some are obese or suffer "swollen and purple" legs so horrible even a convicted killer must look away, while men relentlessly peruse and pursue the beautiful, especially Susan and her doomed mother Linda. Susan, in her love for reading and her dream of writing a book, and as the first of her family to graduate college, has tried to build for herself a life of the mind, but in the haunting world of Gone So Long, women's bodies dictate their fate.
In the end, as in all of his novels, Dubus brings the storylines together, causing multiple pots to boil over at once in a climax that surprises and satisfies.
Jenny Shank's first novel, "The Ringer," won the High Plains Book Award.
Dallas Morning News, September 28, 2018
Andre Dubus III excels at getting inside the skin of bad men. In his last novel, The Garden of Last Days, he probed the psyche of a 9/11 attacker. Gone So Long tells the story of Daniel Ahearn, a man in his 60s who, in a fit of jealous rage, killed his wife, Linda, when they were in their early 20s, leaving his 3-year-old daughter, Susan, behind as he went to prison.
Ahearn has been free for decades and longs to see Susan. Aided by scant clues and the internet, he sets out from Massachusetts to find her in Florida, where she's an adjunct at a university.
Gone So Long alternates in perspective between Daniel, who has lived out of prison as a celibate penitent, volunteering to help the elderly; Susan, who has stopped work on her novel to try to write a memoir of her tumultuous past and break free from her difficulty in relationships; and Lois, Linda's mother, who raised Susan. Lois is an unforgettable character — a cranky, profane, cigarette-smoking, hard-driving, 82-year-old antiques dealer who is the embodiment of tough love, and Dubus reveals every shard of her broken heart.
Dubus vividly evokes the faded midway in Salisbury Beach, Mass. — where Linda's parents owned a penny arcade and Daniel worked as a DJ on a carnival ride — in all its grandeur and seediness, peopled with colorful characters, such as Jimmy Squeeze, who "could hold a pencil between his chest muscles."
Gone So Long is chilling in its relentless evaluation of women's beauty. Virtually every time female characters appear, they are framed in terms of how attractive they are. Some are obese or suffer "swollen and purple" legs so horrible even a convicted killer must look away, while men relentlessly peruse and pursue the beautiful, especially Susan and her doomed mother Linda. Susan, in her love for reading and her dream of writing a book, and as the first of her family to graduate college, has tried to build for herself a life of the mind, but in the haunting world of Gone So Long, women's bodies dictate their fate.
In the end, as in all of his novels, Dubus brings the storylines together, causing multiple pots to boil over at once in a climax that surprises and satisfies.
Jenny Shank's first novel, "The Ringer," won the High Plains Book Award.
soliteyah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
catladyjenna1's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nikkihayes's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
susannepari's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tpanik's review against another edition
3.0
A complete and utter downer, as these broken characters never truly find, embrace, or welcome redemption.
yetanothersusan's review against another edition
4.0
I was not prepared for the long emotional journey this book would be. The story is told through the eyes of daughter, father, and grandmother, all who are dealing with the aftermath of the father killing his wife (who is the mother and daughter of the other two). I loved how well Mr. Dubus etched out his characters, detail by detail and painstakingly pieced the story together. I did get a little turned around with the jumps between narrators but more so from the jumps in time. Having three characters doing it, and sometimes getting multiple memories of the same event, was a bit confusing. But I do not know how else Mr. Dubus could have created the story he did without doing just that. This is not a light and easy beach read. This is a get yourself lost in another world and eat ice cream because you are feeling the characters angst kind of read.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and W. W. Norton and Company in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and W. W. Norton and Company in exchange for an honest review.