The Other (Vintage Contemporaries)

When one reads a novel narrated by a peripheral character about another, more luminous personality, the tendency is to compare it to The Great Gatsby and its narrator Nick Carraway. In the case of Guterson's new book, The Other, that comparison quickly becomes an unfair one.Neil Countryman, from a blue collar family, becomes Carraway here, and Countryman's high school pal, John William Barry, the Gatsby clone, is from a well off, troubled family. At this point, the Gatsby comparison dies on the vine. The novel is at first a coming-of-age novel of the sixties and seventies, as the boys vie in their schools' 880-yard races, take drugs, drink, play pranks, and date. John William becomes something of a high school and college radical, and one would think he'd be fighting girls off with a stick. But his moody mind is elsewhere.He and Neil begin to explore the virgin forests of the Northwest, taking great risks in this raw terrain. And more and more, John William begins to withdraw from family, school, friends--all normal society. He even tries to push Neil away, but Countryman is too devoted a friend, even following John William into the deep woods to hack out a cave his moody friend plans to live in.Obviously, the two eventually grow apart, despite Neil's constant attention to John William's new lifestyle. Neil marries and he and wife Jamie begin a family, eventually adopting an affluent bohemian, California-style life.Then John William dies. The rest of the novel, as Neil and Jamie age, concerns Neil's efforts at coming to grips with his guilt over leaving John William alone in the woods. To complicate this, J.W. has left his pal a few hundred million dollars in his will.I won't reveal what Guterson intends as spellbinding revelations about the Barry family, things that obviously led J.W. to the woods and an eventual death there. But it's only in the last fifty pages or so that Guterson's story grows meat on its bones.As first stated, I wanted to see the story--with Neil within the first person peripheral point of view--orchestrated in the manner of Gatsby, but this is patently unfair. There should be any number of ways of using Neil to "discover" his friend. But the plot Guterson chooses leaves John William seeming like he's a cheap, Elvis-on-velvet painting of a sixties character, with Neil fumbling about as his friend without any reason to remain close to the moody hermit.The result is, to my mind, a rather effete story peopled with prissy characters. As always, though, Guterson is at his best when casting his characters in the grander context of the damp, somber nature of the Northwest woods. In the chapters in which they spend time together in the woods, Guterson's Steinbeck-esque ability with mood is compelling.His writing has always been uneven, but here, he seems to be going out of his way to deliberately create a literary put-on with The Other, and I don't know why. In a late passage, Neil, an aspiring writer, reveals agent and editorial comments about his writing as pretentious and insipid, these reminding too much of Guterson's own writing in some parts of this book. Put-ons are okay in such writing, I suppose, but in this case--if that's what Guterson's up to--the effort is too self-conscious to work.

I first came across David Guterson's works, like so many, by reading "Snow Failling on Cedars". I've lived in the Seattle area since 1992, and particularly enjoy novels set in places that I know that envelope the scenery, culture and history into the story. My other favorite books are "East of the Mountains", "Ed King" and "Our Lady of the Forest". I've read all of his other published works as well, but I don't particularly find this book engaging. Well-written, yes.The theme is the question between living a life of purity and one of compromise, but the life of purity has a shadow of selfishness and worthlessness, while the life of compromise offers a richer and more meaningful existence on a human level, let alone a material one. And so the book poses this question, and never quite works it out, but shows many sides to the choice. It is an interesting philosophical question that many people grapple with in their late teens and early 20's, and the interesting way in which Guterson explores the question through the novel is, well, novel. Well written, interesting question, written in a place that I love that is evocatively brought to life; why, then, did it leave me unsatisfied? I don't really know. I've asked myself, and my best explanation is that I have already faced and answered the question long ago, and so it doesn't personally connect with me as the theme in "East of the Mountains" does now that I am growing much older. If you have not thought much about this question, you may find this novel to be one of your favorites, but for me, in the end, it did not grab my heart or my mind.

Even after a lot of skimming, I just gave up. I found the author's never ending words numbing after awhile. I just don't understand how some reviewers found this book so inspirational. Also, the flashbacks were confusing. Not an enjoyable reading experience. In fact, nearing the end of the book even after a lot of skimming, I literally threw the book in the air and exclaimed I cannot stand any more of this.

While this book lacks the plot and historical analysis of the outstanding Snow Falling on Cedars, it has something much more powerful: a clear case for the value of ordinary, loving parents--fathers in particular--and a sense of purpose in living one's life. I may be responding to this work through the prism of my own struggles: like Neil Countryman I am the child of a blue-collar father and a resident of the Pacific Northwest. I identify with his work ethic because in the same era I waited tables and sold clothes for tuition money while kids with financial aid packages bought stereos and lots of the aforementioned clothes. And much like Neil Countryman, I learned that those advantages meant little when compared to the advantages of strong parents and determination.Neil's obsession with great literature and poetry fills for him the role of a spiritual center while John William's fascination with the Gnostics does little to address the gaping holes in his soul. Their mutual love for the wilderness gives them a way to connect, but their obvious love for one another provides them both with anchors that don't quite keep them moored to satisfaction. It's easy to wonder what could have soothed the frantic colic of the adult John William, what could have answered the perpetual questions of Neil Countryman after John William's death.My one quibble with the book was the gross "Whole-Foods-ization" of Neil in the form of precious foodstuffs. I'd have appreciated seeing Neil saunter down to Ivar's, order a 4-piece, and toss the fries to the seagulls. Had Neil remained a bit truer to his roots when living in the city, I'd have probably liked this even more than Snow Falling on Cedars.

Great book but for a second hand copy described as very good it didn't hit the mark ! Creased back cover and sticker marks in three places on the cover, quite yellowed pages. Not worth sending back so oxfam here it comes.

I got bored with this book and stopped reading it on about page 20. Admittedly, I'm nothing to go by. I think life's too short to carry on reading something you don't really like.

I loved Snow falling over cedar springs so decided to try more of David guterson's books but this one seemed just so complicated. I will persevere with this author as his research is so good

Always enjoy this author. Great stuff

Classic Guterson! After a fairly slow start,I very soon became engrossed. One not to be missed!