Donald Harrington (1935–2009)

After the first section, I was thrilled and ready to dole out 5 stars. I was disappointed in the direction the story took from there so in the end I would give it 3 and a half stars.

The Bluff-dweller resonated with me and IMO he didn't need saving.

Another minor gripe was unlike the other Stay More books, I thought the post-modern elements in [b:Farther Along|2572534|Farther Along|Donald Harington|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347685180s/2572534.jpg|2583895] detracted from the story.

Sub-par [a:Donald Harington|159630|Donald Harington|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1240153955p2/159630.jpg] is still pretty darn good though and well worth reading.

Bummed that only have one more left, [b:Enduring|6408441|Enduring|Donald Harington|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347749757s/6408441.jpg|6597355]
… (mais)

A friend in the publishing business gave me a hardcover copy of this novel in 1973, and I still proudly cherish my first edition copy. The book was a formative read when I was first discovering and building my literary interests. I never really found other of Harington's works in print locally. (just joking, there must still be some around in South Africa) Now, since the digital publication of his nearly complete works by Lake Union Publishing, I can continue my education in Donald Harington's universe.
Re-reading 'Some Other Place' 40 years down the line, in such a different era, I am delighted to find that the work is still as fresh, surprising and delightful as it was when I was a young and fresh reader. Initially, I half sceptically expected to be a bit disappointed at times, half fearing that I might find aspects of the book too superficial, too slow for the tempo of movies and novels that we have become used to.
Of course some of the aspects of the Seventies now looks a bit dated, not many would write poetry by hand on scraps of paper today. But Donald Harington never makes you doubt the soundness of the experience of his characters, not even in some other time, this time. His easy power of invention and skill in storytelling charmed me even more than it did before.… (mais)

What a strange and entrancing read this was. If Truman Capote and William Faulkner had come back from the dead to contemplate what a real love story might look like, and then written something together in the last ten years or so as a result of that drunken and zombie-ish conversation, I'm betting it would look something like this. Harington's depiction of a small town and a long, strange friendship (romance?!?) is weirdly innocent, and sort of wonderfully fresh at the same time. His humor brings every page to life, and yet, the frantic nature of the narrative is never lost because of his careful weaving back and forth from past to present, calm to craze.

No doubt, some of you may read this review, and then read the book, and be a bit horrified that I called it--even in passsing--a love story. And admittedly, I didn't think about it in just those terms until I began thinking about what to say in reaction to this book. The unpolitical, uncomfortable truth is, though, that not all love stories look the same, or look innocent, or even look like love. Some just look like life, oddly lived, and that's what Harington has delivered here. So, don't pick this up because I called it a love story. Pick it up because you love strange southern lit., good books, or books where the plots twist in so many little ways that you can't stop reading, and where the characters pull each moment of its place and turn it around for their own pleasure.… (mais)