Reviews

Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America, the Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, and in Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan

thehobota's review

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

sriq's review against another edition

Brautigan’s works feel like being in an altered state, wandering in the middle of the woods that aren’t city-surrounded, aren’t like where you’re not supposed to be; they feel like wandering in the middle of woods that feel ancient and comfortable and familiar in a dreadful way (In Watermelon Sugar is especially comparable to the dreamlike novels of Haruki Murakami, but with the tell-it-slant artistry of Emily Dickinson).

amittaizero's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

onethirdonethirdonethird's review

inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A

5.0

crawfordsmt's review

funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

author_d_r_oestreicher's review

5.0

One of the great poets of the sixties who wrote compact free verse. Most of his work center around a small nugget of plain truth.

The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster
BY RICHARD BRAUTIGAN
When you take your pill
it’s like a mine disaster.
I think of all the people
lost inside of you.

timtom's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.25

kaylenqrli's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

freewaygods's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Categorizing Brautigan’s work is difficult when it’s unlike pretty much anything else I’ve ever read. 

A very fast, very enjoyable read. I liked how this collection has a poetry collection in between the two novels— The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster. 

The titular novel, Trout Fishing in America, is absurd and playfully inventive. In Watermelon Sugar is more hallucinatory, psychedelic. 

Again, it’s hard to describe Brautigan’s work. Better for you to take a look for yourself.

bradblaz's review

funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail