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The Other (Paperback)

by David Guterson (Author)

2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (Jun 2 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307274810
ISBN-13: 978-0307274816
Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.2 x 2.2 cm
Shipping Weight: 300 g

Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #23,252 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Guterson, David

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Product Description

Amazon.ca

Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: When John William Barry and Neil Countryman meet at a high school track meet in the early 1970s, they are two sides of the same coin: John is a trust-fund baby and student of a prestigious private school while Neil is solidly working class, but they share an affinity for the outdoors and apprehension over impending changes in their lives. After an unintentionally challenging week lost in the wilds of the North Cascades, John is compelled to an ascetic path: life in a remote river valley in the Olympic Peninsula rainforest, where he chips a shelter from a granite wall and immerses himself in the esoterica of Gnostic dualism--a philosophy that holds that the material world is illusional and destructive. Neil meanwhile chooses a traditional path as a father and school teacher, despite his troubled friend's exhortations to eschew "hamburger world" and find truth in a simpler, stripped-down existence. Nothing is that simple, of course, and The Other compellingly explores the compromises we make to balance meaning and security in our lives through the choices (and their subsequent consequences) of these two men. --Jon Foro --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Guterson (Snow Falling on Cedars) runs out of gas mulling the story of two friends who take divergent paths toward lives of meaning. A working-class teenager in 1972 Seattle, Neil Countryman, a middle of the pack kind of guy and the book's contemplative narrator, befriends trust fund kid John William Barry—passionate, obsessed with the world's hypocrisies and alarmingly prone to bouts of tears—over a shared love of the outdoors. Guterson nicely draws contrasts between the two as they grow into adulthood: Neil drifts into marriage, house, kids and a job teaching high school English, while John William pulls an Into the Wild, moving to the remote wilderness of the Olympic Mountains and burrowing into obscure Gnostic philosophy. When John William asks for a favor that will sever his ties to the hamburger world forever, loyal Neil has a decision to make. Guterson's prose is calm and pleasing as ever, but applied to Neil's staid personality it produces little dramatic tension. Once the contrasts between the two are set up, the novel has nowhere to go, ultimately floundering in summary and explanation. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

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2.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Didn't Meet my Expectations, Aug 4 2008

By	MacFly (Regina, Saskatchewan) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Other (Hardcover)

The Other is the first book I have read by David Guterson. Unfortunately, it is likely the last. The story centers around two men who become friends in university. One becomes a hermit living in the woods while the other continues to visit and befriend him for many years. When the hermit dies, he leaves a fortune to his friend. The author uses very verbose language with many pages not having a single paragraph break. I found this a bit overwhelming and, overall, the story was very slow. Now at the end of the book, I am not really even sure what the point of the book was. I truly enjoy most books that I read. I can appreciate the writing ability of the author but I didn't enjoy this book.

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4.0 out of 5 stars An intellectual and emotional study of a genius/hermit/outcast, Jul 3 2008

By	Samantha "Critical Reader" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Other (Hardcover)

The Other got under my skin immediately. It isn't a light read for the beach, but worth the slight effort to get to know John William Barry, the narrator's best friend. Anyone who has longed to pack it all in and escape to the woods will savour this story. Guterson's language is beautiful, somewhat scholarly, occasionally a little ambitious; it is obviously a literary novel, not pulp fiction. His, and his characters' love of the west coast terrain is evident in the descriptions of the treks through the Cascades and the Hoh rainforest. It is very evocative; I feel like I've walked the South Fork Hoh despite never setting foot in Washington state. I must admit that I was tempted to skim the book after the climax, thinking the book was more or less over, but I'm glad I persevered because, in many ways, the last pages make the book whole and makes John William's choices make more sense. Even an extended section of poetry excepts (that I admit to finding a bit tedious at the time) has a purpose in the tying up of loose ends. My one criticism is that there are a couple of references that are historically off by a few years; I find that distracting. However, I eagerly recommend this book to literary types, especially those with a love of the wild.

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