Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Thomas Nelson (2016), 320 pages
Original publication date
2016-10-04
Description
"'No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home.' At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O'Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish. Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns to his remote home in the Colorado Mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith. When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it's too late to tell her the truth about his past and if he is ready to face it. A radical retelling of the story of the prodigal son, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home"--… (more)
Awards
Christy Awards (Nominee — Book of the Year — 2017)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
320 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
0718084713 / 9780718084714
User reviews
LibraryThing member lamb521
Title: Long Way Gone
Author: Charles Martin
Pages: 320
Year: 2016
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
Charles Martin has written a novel that moves the heart very deeply and engages the mind in wondering where he is taking readers. The novel also moves the soul in a way that people
The author uses flashback a couple of times and slowly reveals a modern day fictional telling of what many know to be the prodigal son parable from the Bible. With slow movement and time to let the story sink into the heart of the reader, he unveils the true look at the heart of a prodigal. While the character is a man, readers will soon see that all of the players are prodigals. The difference is some come home and others choose not to.
Cooper also learns that he sees in the spiritual realm and it affects his life, heart and future in ways he couldn’t before understand. When he realizes his earthly father is gone and what he was teaching his son was right, a powerful scene in the book will take your breath away. The one scene towards the end of the book, and you’ll know what I’m talking about when you read the story, is one that I will be thinking about for a long time.
Avid book lovers or those just looking for a good book now and again, look no further as this fictional novel will grab you and won’t let go even after you close the book. So, if you know someone who is on the prowl for a good book or want to share a novel with friends, family or others in this season of giving, look no further! A perfect, touching story for all of us prodigals!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Author: Charles Martin
Pages: 320
Year: 2016
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
Charles Martin has written a novel that moves the heart very deeply and engages the mind in wondering where he is taking readers. The novel also moves the soul in a way that people
Show More
can easily identify with by using the language of music. The main character, Cooper, readers meet seen as a man playing a guitar on a street corner. His looks have changed along with his voice. Soon, due to being at a stoplight, he observes a young lady who looks very familiar. When he sees her again, he is struck by how little she has changed. Or has she?The author uses flashback a couple of times and slowly reveals a modern day fictional telling of what many know to be the prodigal son parable from the Bible. With slow movement and time to let the story sink into the heart of the reader, he unveils the true look at the heart of a prodigal. While the character is a man, readers will soon see that all of the players are prodigals. The difference is some come home and others choose not to.
Cooper also learns that he sees in the spiritual realm and it affects his life, heart and future in ways he couldn’t before understand. When he realizes his earthly father is gone and what he was teaching his son was right, a powerful scene in the book will take your breath away. The one scene towards the end of the book, and you’ll know what I’m talking about when you read the story, is one that I will be thinking about for a long time.
Avid book lovers or those just looking for a good book now and again, look no further as this fictional novel will grab you and won’t let go even after you close the book. So, if you know someone who is on the prowl for a good book or want to share a novel with friends, family or others in this season of giving, look no further! A perfect, touching story for all of us prodigals!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member vintagebeckie
A few days ago I posted on FB that Long Way Gone by Charles Martin was one of the best books I have ever read. Quite an assertion, I agree. But this part coming-of-age, part love story, part parable, conveys beautiful truths while immersing its reader fully into the story. Martin is an excellent
Cooper is a musical prodigy who soon becomes the draw for his father’s tent revivals. Hundreds of people come from far and wide to hear his song. But he soon comes to believe that he is indeed something special and rejects his father’s way of life — striking out to find his own way, a way that shuns not only his father but God.
Long Way Gone is a retelling of the Prodigal Son. This is an emotional story filled with song that shows the depths of God’s love. Martin expertly describes just how far a person can fall and just how deep a father’s love can be. Characters are complex and real. The first person account from Cooper holds nothing back as he journeys from cocky kid to a wiser, yet resigned adult. The supernatural becomes natural as well under Martin’s deft hand. The ending will surprise and delight and cause not a few tears. I have been recommending this novel to all because while on the surface it is a great story, it also conveys the truth of God’s love and care even while letting us suffer the consequences of our own actions. Be sure to read the Afterword — insights into Coop’s story as well as the beliefs of the author are revealed. There were a lot of things that hit home with me as I was reading Long Way Gone. One thing that resonated over and over was that we are made to worship, and we need to be very careful what we choose as the object of our worship.
For those who love music, for those who love great characters, for those who want to be touched and challenged, for those who have a prodigal in their life, Long Way Gone is a must read.
Very Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
Show More
story-teller and has proven it over and over again. But I think Long Way Gone goes one step further. Maybe it is the subject matter or maybe it is the characters that immediately capture your heart. Or maybe it is the underlying truths of God’s love and care for His children. Whatever the element, the magic is there.Cooper is a musical prodigy who soon becomes the draw for his father’s tent revivals. Hundreds of people come from far and wide to hear his song. But he soon comes to believe that he is indeed something special and rejects his father’s way of life — striking out to find his own way, a way that shuns not only his father but God.
Long Way Gone is a retelling of the Prodigal Son. This is an emotional story filled with song that shows the depths of God’s love. Martin expertly describes just how far a person can fall and just how deep a father’s love can be. Characters are complex and real. The first person account from Cooper holds nothing back as he journeys from cocky kid to a wiser, yet resigned adult. The supernatural becomes natural as well under Martin’s deft hand. The ending will surprise and delight and cause not a few tears. I have been recommending this novel to all because while on the surface it is a great story, it also conveys the truth of God’s love and care even while letting us suffer the consequences of our own actions. Be sure to read the Afterword — insights into Coop’s story as well as the beliefs of the author are revealed. There were a lot of things that hit home with me as I was reading Long Way Gone. One thing that resonated over and over was that we are made to worship, and we need to be very careful what we choose as the object of our worship.
For those who love music, for those who love great characters, for those who want to be touched and challenged, for those who have a prodigal in their life, Long Way Gone is a must read.
Very Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
Show Less
LibraryThing member caslater83
This is a beautiful book, full of emotion that touches you to no end. We often think that we're too far gone to turn back. The thing is, we have every chance every day until we're called Home. A very good book that I will happily re-read.
LibraryThing member LisaSHarvey
Long Way Gone
Charles Martin
My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publisher Thomas Nelson on Brilliance Audio (Audio Edition)
Publish Date October 4, 2016
SUMMARY
Long Way Gone is first and foremost a story about love and forgiveness. A father's unyielding and immeasurable love for his son. It's the
Cooper eventually finds a job working in a guitar repair shop in Printer's Alley with Riggs Graves, a kind man who took a chance on him. Riggs's shop overlooked the Ryman Auditorium. But Cooper had lost all desire to play. Cooper got a second job working on the stage crew in the Ryman Auditorium and he meets the rising star Daly Cross, a singer trying to figure out just who she is. Cooper instantly falls in love with this girl and her voice. He make a quick decision to give her the one remaining thing he has left...a song. This song hits gold for both Daley and Cooper. But tragedy start strikes once again for Cooper and he is seriously injured in a fire. With nowhere else to go, Cooper returns to his father's home in the Colorado mountains to ask forgiveness and to make a new start.
Years later Cooper sees Daly Cross on a street corner in his hometown of Leadville Colorado. Is it too late to tell her the truth about what really happened that night of the fire in Nashville?
REVIEW
Charles Martin's writing is as lyrical as the music that Cooper O'Connor writes in his little black notebook. Long Way Gone captivates you from page one with a multifaceted heartwarming story intricately woven into a beautiful tapestry.
Cooper's childhood is spent traveling everywhere with his tent-preaching father. Music was as big a part of his father's tent-revivals as the sermons. Cooper loved music and was soon playing the piano at the revivals and eventually people came from all around to hear him play. But Cooper thinks he has enough talent to make it big. Cooper's defining moment is in Nashville where he loses everything but learned so much about people, life and love. Seeing Daly Cross in Leadville, again after rebuilding his life brings the hurt, pain and suffering he caused all back again. The feelings evoked from the Long Way Gone story is palpable.
The characters in Long Way Gone are expertly developed and you can't help falling in love with just about all of them. Cooper's formidable dad imparts enough wisdom and sage advice to wish he had been our dad. He only wanted what was best for his son. From Cooper's dad to the ever watchful and protective Big Big, and Daly Cross, the girl with the voice, each character is robust and real with each playing a significant role in the life of Cooper O'Connor. One of the most interesting, fascinating and mysterious characters is Blondie, a greasy blond long-haired guy who hangs out with Cooper while playing the piano.
The settings for this book in The Falls, Leadville and Nashville are so real I felt like I was there. The setting could not be placed anywhere else, the book just wouldn't be the same. Having visited the Ryman Auditorium a few years ago, I felt like I was there again. I could see, feel and smell it all over again. Charles Martin captured the essence of that great building perfectly.
I loved this book all the way from the beautiful cover artwork to the thought-provoking pay it forward epilogue. Long Way Gone is perfect. I laughed and I cried and I cried some more. A beautiful and powerful story about love, forgiveness and redemption, will do that to you! Coop's dad said that "Great music, the kind that moves people is an offering. Anything less is a counterfeit and anyone who hears it, knows it." I think this book is an offering too!
Charles Martin
My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publisher Thomas Nelson on Brilliance Audio (Audio Edition)
Publish Date October 4, 2016
SUMMARY
Long Way Gone is first and foremost a story about love and forgiveness. A father's unyielding and immeasurable love for his son. It's the
Show More
modern day story of the prodigal son. Cooper O'Connor is eighteen and angry when he runs away to Nashville stealing his dad's most important possessions. His truck, his life savings, and his prized guitar-named Jimmy. All taken by a kid who has hopes and dreams of making it big in the country music capital of the world. But instead he loses everything, first the money is stolen from his hotel room, then the truck is stolen from a parking lot, and finally he is assaulted and even Jimmy is taken from him. Cooper vows not to go home again until he can pay his dad back for everything he took, and everything he lost.Cooper eventually finds a job working in a guitar repair shop in Printer's Alley with Riggs Graves, a kind man who took a chance on him. Riggs's shop overlooked the Ryman Auditorium. But Cooper had lost all desire to play. Cooper got a second job working on the stage crew in the Ryman Auditorium and he meets the rising star Daly Cross, a singer trying to figure out just who she is. Cooper instantly falls in love with this girl and her voice. He make a quick decision to give her the one remaining thing he has left...a song. This song hits gold for both Daley and Cooper. But tragedy start strikes once again for Cooper and he is seriously injured in a fire. With nowhere else to go, Cooper returns to his father's home in the Colorado mountains to ask forgiveness and to make a new start.
Years later Cooper sees Daly Cross on a street corner in his hometown of Leadville Colorado. Is it too late to tell her the truth about what really happened that night of the fire in Nashville?
REVIEW
Charles Martin's writing is as lyrical as the music that Cooper O'Connor writes in his little black notebook. Long Way Gone captivates you from page one with a multifaceted heartwarming story intricately woven into a beautiful tapestry.
Cooper's childhood is spent traveling everywhere with his tent-preaching father. Music was as big a part of his father's tent-revivals as the sermons. Cooper loved music and was soon playing the piano at the revivals and eventually people came from all around to hear him play. But Cooper thinks he has enough talent to make it big. Cooper's defining moment is in Nashville where he loses everything but learned so much about people, life and love. Seeing Daly Cross in Leadville, again after rebuilding his life brings the hurt, pain and suffering he caused all back again. The feelings evoked from the Long Way Gone story is palpable.
The characters in Long Way Gone are expertly developed and you can't help falling in love with just about all of them. Cooper's formidable dad imparts enough wisdom and sage advice to wish he had been our dad. He only wanted what was best for his son. From Cooper's dad to the ever watchful and protective Big Big, and Daly Cross, the girl with the voice, each character is robust and real with each playing a significant role in the life of Cooper O'Connor. One of the most interesting, fascinating and mysterious characters is Blondie, a greasy blond long-haired guy who hangs out with Cooper while playing the piano.
The settings for this book in The Falls, Leadville and Nashville are so real I felt like I was there. The setting could not be placed anywhere else, the book just wouldn't be the same. Having visited the Ryman Auditorium a few years ago, I felt like I was there again. I could see, feel and smell it all over again. Charles Martin captured the essence of that great building perfectly.
I loved this book all the way from the beautiful cover artwork to the thought-provoking pay it forward epilogue. Long Way Gone is perfect. I laughed and I cried and I cried some more. A beautiful and powerful story about love, forgiveness and redemption, will do that to you! Coop's dad said that "Great music, the kind that moves people is an offering. Anything less is a counterfeit and anyone who hears it, knows it." I think this book is an offering too!
Show Less
LibraryThing member NadineC.Keels
It's quite heavy and intricately woven, this contemporary prodigal son story: Long Way Gone by author Charles Martin.
I was in for a surprise when I received this book. While I'd seen the wooded path and the man in the distance on the book cover, I didn't notice the most telling feature of the cover
This is certainly a tale where music is a living, breathing creation, and musical instruments are virtually people. The author gives illustrations of gifting that goes beyond talent, beyond what's tangible, and fierce love (of different kinds) that does the same--that goes beyond.
I did have some minor issues with the plot development. I didn't fully buy into how drastic the protagonist's turn on his father is, perhaps because the severe change happens in a rather short amount of time, reading wise. And the story may have what I call "too many endings," when it seems a climax or conclusion stretches a bit too long or keeps unfolding so much that the zenith or plateau it reaches begins to lose its effect.
But that's of little matter here, considering all the areas of the soul the novel explores, and the powerful depiction of a love that is, again, so fierce that I had to set the book aside for a while and just breathe. I couldn't even cry.
They may be what Wordsworth would call "Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." But, knowing myself, and being sure that my thoughts from this novel will stick with me, I may very well cry later.
_________________
BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.
I was in for a surprise when I received this book. While I'd seen the wooded path and the man in the distance on the book cover, I didn't notice the most telling feature of the cover
Show More
until I held the book in my hands: the path is a guitar.This is certainly a tale where music is a living, breathing creation, and musical instruments are virtually people. The author gives illustrations of gifting that goes beyond talent, beyond what's tangible, and fierce love (of different kinds) that does the same--that goes beyond.
I did have some minor issues with the plot development. I didn't fully buy into how drastic the protagonist's turn on his father is, perhaps because the severe change happens in a rather short amount of time, reading wise. And the story may have what I call "too many endings," when it seems a climax or conclusion stretches a bit too long or keeps unfolding so much that the zenith or plateau it reaches begins to lose its effect.
But that's of little matter here, considering all the areas of the soul the novel explores, and the powerful depiction of a love that is, again, so fierce that I had to set the book aside for a while and just breathe. I couldn't even cry.
They may be what Wordsworth would call "Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." But, knowing myself, and being sure that my thoughts from this novel will stick with me, I may very well cry later.
_________________
BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gincam
Author Charles Martin’s “Long Way Gone” is an emotional and ultimately uplifting story of redemptive grace and abiding faith. Rich in musical details and the history of gospel music, tent preachers, and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and “Grand Ole Opry”—this fascinating tale borrows
Book Copy Gratis Thomas Nelson Books
Show More
from the Biblical legend of “The Prodigal Son”. Cooper O’Connor grew up in the loving and larger-than-life presence of his father, a gifted preacher and musician. Blessed with an innate understanding of music, and a talented singer and songwriter on his own, Cooper would eventually leave his home and the life he knew with his father to reach out for the bright lights of stardom. His journey will be nothing like he expected, and treachery and tragedy will separate him from his dreams and those he holds most dear. At times finding himself in the lowest depths of a despairing existence, Cooper must fight for his very life—both his spiritual life and his life on Earth. However, as the author reminds us throughout this story, no one is ever “too far gone”. Forgiveness and healing are always ours for the asking—if only we have the courage of faith to make that leap. “Long Way Home” holds a special resonance for me, and I appreciate the respect that Charles Martin shows this musical genre and its entertainers, especially Elvis. I am a Southerner and a lifelong fan of Elvis and old hymns and gospel music. My mother, one of the greatest Elvis fans ever, was also quite musically talented. She played the piano and organ, and for many years, she was the only music provider for her little home church in the country. Mama “played by ear”, and I often teased her about the extra notes she added, but she just said “that’s the way it should be played”. Thank you, Charles Martin for your care in creating this story. The musical insights at the heart of this story are simply amazing.Book Copy Gratis Thomas Nelson Books
Show Less
LibraryThing member JoniMFisher
Charles Martin gives the reader an insider's look at the music industry and the life of musicians while also exploring the complexities of the father/son relationship. This is a deep, emotional ride through the perspective of a man discovering his identity and how to use his talent. He struggles
Show More
with faith in his father, faith in himself, and faith in life and all of his struggle rings true. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lisa5127
This took me a while to get into, but I will be reading more of Charles Martin books for sure! This was a wonderful allegory for the power of the love a father has for his son, taken from the prodigal son from the book of Luke. I loved the idea that there is a song in each of us if we will just
Show More
listen for it. Show Less
LibraryThing member zmagic69
Another great book by this author. Yes they are predictable, but he does an excellent job telling a story and they are spiritual as well, but not heavy handed. As an added bonus part of it takes place in Colorado- Leadville and Buena Vista.