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. ( )

This is a long-a** book. It could go on this list: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8618.Over_500_pages_

Diana Stoving and Day Whitaker team up to trace the life of Daniel Lyam Montross through the 4 different places he lived. The narrator surprised me, looping back to an earlier book, but just genius.

How to describe this? My heart felt heavy as I read. Often funny. It's like walking in the forest on an upslope that's a vertical crest curve so that you can't see what's coming.

I love how Harington slipped into the book, naming himself as one of Diana Stoving's favorite authors and seeming to allude to himself when writing about an author who travels about to write of disappeared towns.

Lord, the incest. So gee-dee much incest. Well, I guess not that much overall but even a little is too much, like the presence of coliform bacteria in drinking water. All right, an effort to understand: When living in subsistence poverty and perhaps not nurturing children or the mind due to the need for constant hard labor, the bodies become a playground. Do the thoughts move when the muscles are tired? Not always, but sex is easy. And the nearest bodies are family. Yuck. The examples given in this book are out of compassion, torture, and the last is a mystery (I hope the subject of a future book (future read, for me, since Harington (RIP) has written all he will ever write)).

The subject of place, like in the title, I'm not sure if Harington is arguing that location is the ultimate goal. The heroes of the story do end up in Stay More, but I feel that people are what makes home and "the right place," and that "home" and "love" are synonymous. ( )

I remember reading this a long time ago when it first came out and not being all that impressed. Judging from the comments, however, I may have to give it another go.

This is one of the most memorable books that I have ever read. On one level its about a boy trying to hook-up with a girl by pretending to be the reincarnation of her dead grandfather. On another level, its much more.