The Gate House
by Nelson DeMille
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Book Reviews of The Gate House
Book Review: Needs to re-invent the characters, not pad the pages!
Summary: 2 Stars
Ever since I read The Gold Coast in the late 90's, I have been a bonafide DeMille fan. However, I must admit that his later work leaves me unfulfilled -- maybe it is because the wise-cracking characters eventually start to grate on my evolving sensibilities (the world and America's place in it has changed much since the late 90's; but DeMille's characters continue to embody the parochial alpha American protagonist who is convinced of his exulted place on this earth. The wisecracks get sophomoric after a while.) The Gate House continues where The Gold Coast left off. 10 years have passed since the events in the Gold Coast and those 10 years have seen the main characters drift apart. John Sutter comes back from England to a post 9/11 United States, where the manifestations of life and society have changed but that change apparently managed to escape John's expatriate lifestyle (which is surprising since the average expat-American is much more humble than his or her stateside counterpart. Traveling the world and experiencing new cultures, societies and civilizations does that to you.) In any case, John arrives in Long Island at about the same time that his ex-wife has decided that she, too, wants to move back to Long Island. The rest of the book is essentially mending John and Susan's (his ex-wife) relationship to the point that it is strong enough to withstand the excesses visited on it in The Gold Coast. The most flamboyant character in the Gold Coast -- Frank Bellarosa -- is sorely missing here. Also missing is Mr. DeMille's crisp writing style -- the story meanders for some 700 pages before finding an unsatisfying end. The wisecracks are still there, but they did not elicit a chuckle as they did many years ago. I believe that Mr. DeMille can produce a much better novel than this one, but only if he started to take stock in his characters and not in the page count. The last few books I have read from him -- Wild Fire, Night Fall, Up Country, The Lion's Game -- all appear to be written as if he is paid by the page. This is sad since Mr. DeMille is such a great writer.Book Review: DeMille Excels
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel by DeMille, the sequel to the outstanding Gold Coast, is not a thriller, a mystery or even a morality play. It is, however, a superbly crafted character study and, ultimately, a very real story about human relationships. DeMille is one of the best contemporary American authors and this book demonstrates his skill. If you love excellent writing, you will treasure this book.
DeMille has written some truly memorable books. Word of Honor, Gold Coast and Up Country are three of the best novels I have read. The Gate House ranks on the same level. DeMille is that rare writer who can create a detailed world in the reader's imagination without describing virtually anything in detail. His characters are so complete, his dialogue so engaging, that it is impossible to read this book without feeling as though you are actually there, watching this slice of life unfold.
The criticisms that some reviewers have identified -- the book is too long; no action or plot twists occur for hundreds of pages -- are not reasons to find fault with the book. DeMille is the quintessential craftsman when it comes to writing about the relationships in which flawed human beings engage. Although there is a lot of ego in DeMille's protagonist, John Sutter, so too are there flaws and foibles. I don't want to say that the plot is irrelevant, but this is not a book that is plot driven. It is character and relationship driven, and no one does either better than DeMille.
This is not a perfect book. There is none of the nuance in the relationship between Anthony Bellarosa and John Sutter that there was between Frank Bellarosa and Sutter. The resolution of the antagonism between Sutter and his in-laws was far too convenient. These are minor points, however. This is a book about John and Susan Sutter. DeMille writes of their relationship with such style and panache that a few minor flaws are gladly overlooked.
Book Review: Give it a chance!
Summary: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (12/08)
"The Gate House," like a good ole' bottle of wine should be savored. When I saw that the sequel to "The Gold Coast" was out, I just couldn't wait to read it. After reading some of the initial reviews, I was hoping it would not be a ghastly offering. So with my own good ole' bottle of wine I curled up on the couch by a roaring fire, cleared my mind of all things good, bad, and indifferent I had read in the reviews and delved into the rest of the story.
John Sutter has been a favorite character of mine since reading "The Gold Coast" many years ago. Not a really nice guy, but one of those memorable ones. He was just one of those I felt almost human amidst his flaws, and from time to time over the years, found myself wondering what he was doing (usually after I had had one too many to drink). "The Gate House" picks up the story ten years later with John returning to the Gold Coast of Long Island to attend the funeral of one of the family's previous employees. Then, as we review what happened in "The Gold Coast," we continue on with sex, drinking (lots and lots of drinking), shopping (sometimes even too much for a shop-a-holic), and did I say sex. All in all, I did enjoy "The Gate House." With a blank slate, it is a good entertaining book. When taken into context with other DeMille work, in my personal opinion, it is lacking. He has made his 5-star so 5-star, that it is almost unfair to judge his work by his own excellence.
Okay, there are parts of the book that really do not make any sense, when you really think about it. And yes, it is a bit wordy and has some plot quirks, but it is a book of fiction, so slow down and let the pages sink in. Nelson DeMille writes to entertain, not educate; so let's not be too critical. "The Gate House" is good fiction - just be sure and have that glass of wine.
Book Review: Good Sex Conquers All
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a tour de force of the stream of conscience of John Sutter, a white shoe, Yale graduate lawyer unable to comprehend that, although his love object is a beautiful and exciting and creative sex partner, she has less character than a fern. What she has is a ton of unearned, family money and the personality to serve her ex-husband breakfast on a kitchen table with her pants off and her knees behind her ears. Sutter, a deep water sailor, regards this the breakfast of champions.
Ten years ago, Mrs. Susan Sutter faced the famous state dinner paradigm where Winston Churchill says to a woman: "We have already established that, madam, we are just dickering about the price." Sadly the largest part of the price a decade ago was paid by Susan's cuckholded husband and her confused, damaged children. So the question faced by the reader, in real time along with the story's narrator, is whether there has been any real change, any growth in insight, any lesson genuinely learned by Susan Stanhope over the last ten years. Susan expresses a Himalayan amount of sorrow, regret, and childish desire to "undo".
Reading each chapter is like pullng daisy petals and saying: "She has; she hasn't, she has, she hasn't" and wondering what the last daisy petal will be after 600 pages blundering about in John Sutter's witty mind. For many readers, the long book will be worth reading if she has grown in character, but a waste of time if she hasn't.
The spoiler is that she hasn't, really. And as the sun sinks over the Big Apple we find John Sutter justifying his acceptance of that case by thinking, philosophically: "I've had partners who put knees behind their ears to be my breakfast, and I've had partners who didn't. Knees behind ears is better. Hey! She's going to buy me a 45 foot yacht and help me sail the seven seas again. Character Schmaracter."
Book Review: The Gate House Is "Fast Out Of The Gate," Then Coasts Until The Last Twenty-Five Pages!
Summary: 4 Stars
If The Gate House was a race horse, I'd say it came out fast from the gate, pretty much coasted for the large part of the race, then put on the speed in the last couple of lengths. For this reader, The Gate House "placed" in the race but was not the big "winner." I've been a big fan, but with diminishing intensity, of Nelson DeMille since his first book, By The Rivers Of Babylon. Demille's The Gold Coast, to which The Gate House is the sequel, is one of my favorite books of his; and so, when I recently received an ARC of The Gate House I put it at the very top of my to-be-read list. Overall, I enjoyed The Gate House but not as much as The Gold Coast. I'd grade it a B-.The main reason being that with the exception of the last 25 pages of the 667 copy I read, little of any substance happens after the first 100 or so pages. In typical DeMille fashion, his character development is very strong -- particularly in regards to his main male character, John Sutter, whose sarcastic wit permeates throughout this book -- and his narrative ability is at the top of his game. However, after several hundred pages of appreciating these characteristics I was getting very impatient for some action and thrills to occur. I would have enjoyed The Gate House much more if it had 200-300 pages less fluff/filler. The Gate House, for me, is a classic example of the adage, "Less is more." Despite these limitations, if you're a fan of The Gold Coast you're going to want to read The Gate House, which takes place ten years later when Sutter has come home to the Gold Coast of Long Island to attend the funeral of an old family servant. I doubt if you're going to dislike The Gate House. As a matter of fact, you'll probably think it is pretty good. The purpose of my review is to urge you to not -- as I did -- expect a book as good as the one on which it is based.