Customer Reviews

After You've Gone: A Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Someone once said that Cormac McCarthy could write instructions on how to operate a microwave and it would be a good read. I think the same thing can be said of Jeffrey Lent. Each of his novels have been so different that I think it is impossible to compare them, one to another. In this novel a man who has lead a fairly normal life with a successful career and grown children is faced with a sudden terrible accident and finds himself alone. Lent takes the reader back through parts of the characters childhood, his marriage, his failure to come to terms with his sons addiction, and sets him on a course of refinding himself. I thought the best phrase of the whole book was "how alone a person lives", this somehow makes the reader identify with that phrase. The ending while unexpected was, to me, the only way it could have ended, perhaps giving hope that there is grace in each decision we make along the way.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was interesting and engaging to read how the lives of the main characters unfolded, and I found the characters likable. The background about Henry Dorn's Nova Scotia was very interesting -- I bet Jeffrey Lent could write a whole novel set in the community Henry Dorn came out of.

The theme of this book seems to be along the lines of "Man proposes, God disposes." Henry Dorn, his wife, his son, his father, his mother, his lady friend Lydia, and his Russian friend all undergo life events in which they have a particular plan or idea about how things will go, only to have it all turn out very differently. When I think about it, each one of those character's life paths could be expanded into an entire novel. But it might get boring since it seems they would almost all end in the same way...

The character of Lydia Pearce, the lady friend, was a bright spot. Henry Dorn reaches an important realization about the nature of women thanks to his relationship with her, and it is nice to see Lent create a female main character who is not at the mercy of the men around her.

I thought the ending was kind of gratuitous, although I admit it fit with the book's theme, if I understood it right. When I read the last page I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking, "Yes, yes, of course, this is a serious novel about the twists & turns of life and so we are OBLIGED to have this kind of ending -- snort." In sum, I would say it's a good book, much better than "A Peculiar Grace" but not meeting the standard of the author's first two novels.

This book really lacked something. I think the writer was trying to set a mood but missed it. It was sporatic, jumped around in time and I am not even sure the story was worth writing. It pales in light of the authors prior efforts.

This was a disppointing read after some of Jeffrey Lent's other books. A so-so read.

I deeply admire this author's work, as he is one of the premier American novelists. This book however was disppointing. The story is not compelling, and moves very slowly. Let's hope he back to form with his next release.

can't say enough about the books of this author. Have read all of them and have never been disappointed. He spins a good yarn that resounds in your mind long after completion. Wonderful depth of character.

Jeffrey Lent's new novel, AFTER YOU'VE GONE is not only a great love story it's also a indepth look at a man searching for a new start, a new life after being left in the wake of a diaster that rocks his very world. Lent's prose embraces the reader and his sense of place as he writes about different countries is just as pleasing as watching his characters sift through their lives for reason. Jeffrey Lent has done it again with this novel. He is one of the best American writers writing today and he deserves to be read. Buy this book, read it, charish it then read it again.

This book presents a "nice" but very common love story; and it's not particularly imaginative or well written. I bought this book hoping that it might be an "appropriate" read for my next monthly book group meeting, but it's nowhere near good enough to recommend to my fellow readers. I kept hoping that it would redeem itself, but it's a mediocre book and a disappointment. I suggest that you don't waste your time on it.