What do readers think of Gone So Long by Andre Dubus III? Write your own review.

Andre Dubus III is always worth reading. In his latest book, Gone So Long, he has his character Susan, a teacher and aspiring writer say "…my love for stories that brought me into the dark bottomless hearts of others." And I think that is probably a good description of the stories he tells us. Writing from a depth of knowledge of people who live on the edge, this time he tells us the story of Susan, her grandmother Lois, and Susan's father Daniel who 40 years ago had done the unforgivable thing. And - now at the end of his life - hopes that there may be, if not forgiveness, perhaps an opportunity to be seen. It is a book about despair, anger fueled by guilt, and uncontrollable desperation and yet it is a hopeful book. Dubus' writing is as always beautiful, full of descriptions that will take you to places you probably haven't seen, including deep inside his characters who are doing their best to survive. Highly recommended.

Mother love. The thing Susan searches for but never finds, going from man to man with no feeling of finding permanence. The murder of her mother by her father when she was a child haunts the characters in Gone So Long. A lone, vicious act of uncontrollable anger when Danny Ahearn stabs Linda creates a lifetime of fear and self loathing in Danny, his daughter Susan and Linda's mother Lois. Dubus depicts these characters in minute detail, as the story tells us how that act affected each of their lives and what the absence of Linda was to each of them. The story is dark, but some of the pieces are put together to bring some joy to Lois and Susan.

I have long been a fan of Dubus' novel House of Sand and Fog. I am reminded of that story by this volume because, once again, Dubus is skillfully able to create a story which is thrown into a downward spiraling vortex. A single act propels Danny into this vortex, and the reader is unable to predict whether he will fall farther, or be lifted up. Anger from his daughter, Susie, with whom he has had no relationship for forty years, along with the rage of his former mother-in-law beat down on his efforts to find forgiveness. Time is not on his side as he makes a final effort. Will Susie understand?

This book is well-written, but sometimes difficult to follow. Less of the "novel in the novel" would have been preferred by this reader, and thus made me choose the four rating, rather than a five. Dubus' language is often dark and visceral, and a reader will find it difficult not to experience the depth of the pain of the characters. You won't leave this book without a lingering sense of the consequences of the act, the need for forgiveness, and the burden of hatred and rage.

As for me, I will be awaiting the author's next novel.

This author paints such beautiful pictures with his words, that everything is clearly seen. The images are so vivid and the characters are so real that anyone who enjoys character driven books will enjoy this novel. The book is not an easy read though, and the story is not at all uplifting.

Even though the imaging was terrific, the over-abundance of it throughout the whole book slowed the story down a bit for me in the middle. It did pick up again in the end, and on the whole was a good read.

What a long slog of a book! Since I read and loved House of Sand and Fog, I know the kind of story Dubus is capable of writing - this wasn't it. I don't mind that most of the characters were unlikeable; in spite of that the author skillfully allows us to really get into their heads to understand why they think the way they do, BUT, he does it over and over and over. Some of the passages were brilliantly written, but the book became a chore to read because it just went on and on. I would have skipped over sections if I hadn't agreed to read it for this review. I have not given up on him, though....maybe next time will be different.

Three people are still suffering from a 40-year-old trauma...David Ahearn whose impulsive act of violence causes him to lose his daughter; his daughter, Susan, who has never gotten over that night she can't remember; and Susan's maternal grandmother whose life has never been the same. At 447 pages, the author slowly develops his story of how these three people try to find recovery and absolution. For me the book is just too long for the story it tells, and would have been better had it been edited to be much tighter. I generally like longer books that really develop characters and story-lines, but I found it difficult to finish this book.

Dubus does not paint a very attractive picture of the relations between men and woman. Men are seen as predators only wanting one thing and the women, all beautiful (he uses the adjective "beautiful" to the point of tedium) endure the consequences of the men's actions. Sex is a bartering tool, an account to be drawn from and used. The daughter and her father each travel their own memory train to the point of collision. I found the ending flat. None of the main characters are likeable. They work in a carnival, a place of false hope. Dubus uses a mundane trick of references to books to connote intelligence in the daughter Susan and her mother Linda, like a white hat on a cowboy to tell you he was the hero. It was weak. They were weak. I was intrigued that the father's post prison professions were chair caning and hair cutting. Caning is also a type of punishment and the father certainly did plenty of that. Like Sampson, Daniel's anger lost its power. I would not recommend this book.

Gone So Long begins slowly introducing the reader to the cast of characters, even some with more than one name! Most are dysfunctional! The novel drags on for over 450 pages.
The book revolves around an unattractive, uneducated, violent young man that works in an arcade where he meets a beautiful, sexy young woman who becomes pregnant.
The author then tells two stories, one in a letter and one in a memoir. Eventually, the two come together as you know it will.