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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I, like many others, knew the movie before reading the book and short stories the movie was based on. So, as I read I compared the two, and frankly, the movie is clearer around the ‘A River Runs Through It’ story, but my favorite story in this collection was ‘USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky’. These three stories are presented in the book in reverse chronological order, and now I wish I’d read them in the correct chronological order rather than in the order they’re presented in the book. But, the writing is clearer in the final story (USFS 1919) and the story clearer and more compelling in my opinion. Overall, I’m glad I read this book and these three stories, and wish there were a movie that told the USFS 1919 story better just like there’s one that tells the ‘A River Runs through It’ story.
A River Runs Through it is a 5 star read. The other two stories are not.
I think this is going to be the first volume of the Outdoorsy/Western Book Collection I plan on reading or re-reading before I head off for my summer job as a camp counselor.
Potential follow-ups: - [b: All The Pretty Horses|469571|All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1)|Cormac McCarthy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498463335s/469571.jpg|1907621]
- [b: True Grit|257845|True Grit|Charles Portis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436277655s/257845.jpg|1320617]
- [b: Streets Of Laredo|54812|Streets of Laredo|Larry McMurtry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1371294481s/54812.jpg|53419]
- [b: Shane|257837|Shane|Jack Schaefer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400442303s/257837.jpg|444396]
Thoughts upon re-reading: Well, as general consensus holds, the other two stories don't reach the level of spiritual profundity of the title story, but they're fine works by themselves. Maclean was in the rare position of having genuine claims as both a rustic man of nature and a cultured man of letters, and I think being one informed the other. His book is unhurried, funny, lyrical, good-naturedly bawdy, and carefully whittled down to reach its wonderful and palpable form. The closing paragraphs of the title story are probably the most breathtaking (I mean that) literary conclusion this side of Joyce's "The Dead." I would give my arm to be able to write lines as simple and divine as those.
Potential follow-ups: - [b: All The Pretty Horses|469571|All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1)|Cormac McCarthy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498463335s/469571.jpg|1907621]
- [b: True Grit|257845|True Grit|Charles Portis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436277655s/257845.jpg|1320617]
- [b: Streets Of Laredo|54812|Streets of Laredo|Larry McMurtry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1371294481s/54812.jpg|53419]
- [b: Shane|257837|Shane|Jack Schaefer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400442303s/257837.jpg|444396]
Thoughts upon re-reading: Well, as general consensus holds, the other two stories don't reach the level of spiritual profundity of the title story, but they're fine works by themselves. Maclean was in the rare position of having genuine claims as both a rustic man of nature and a cultured man of letters, and I think being one informed the other. His book is unhurried, funny, lyrical, good-naturedly bawdy, and carefully whittled down to reach its wonderful and palpable form. The closing paragraphs of the title story are probably the most breathtaking (I mean that) literary conclusion this side of Joyce's "The Dead." I would give my arm to be able to write lines as simple and divine as those.
Nicely written, but this just isn't a topic of interest for me.
The book was long. There are three stories in my copy. Ranking from favorite to least: A River Runs Through It, USFS 1919: The Ranger, The Cook, and a Hole in the Sky, and Logging and Pimping and "Your Pal, Jim". I think most of my enjoyment from these stories came from the descriptions of Montana. They remind me of Northeastern Oregon with it's mountains and lakes and rivers. I appreciate the detailed recall of nature that Maclean sets forth in his stories. It was also interesting to learn about his life as a young boy.
I started this book on a trip to Montana (perfect, right?). Maclean sums up the spiritual effect of the landscape beautifully: "For all of us, mountains turn into images after a short time and the images turn true. Gold-tossed waves change into the purple backs of monsters, and so forth. Always something out of the moving deep, and nearly always oceanic. Never a lake, never a sky."
He talks about hiking--during his years in the Forest Service--to various rhythms, and clearly he has a musician's ear. Or maybe a preacher's, like his father. The language is one part cowboy wit, one part biblical. The content is a similar blend of adventure tale and philosophy, set in the rugged terrain of men and lovingly calling its bluff, which makes me see him as an odd sort of precursor to Dave Eggers. I also really enjoyed reading a somewhat contemporary older man's remembrances of his youth--I feel like that's the closest look I'll ever get at 1919, and it feels like a privilege.
He talks about hiking--during his years in the Forest Service--to various rhythms, and clearly he has a musician's ear. Or maybe a preacher's, like his father. The language is one part cowboy wit, one part biblical. The content is a similar blend of adventure tale and philosophy, set in the rugged terrain of men and lovingly calling its bluff, which makes me see him as an odd sort of precursor to Dave Eggers. I also really enjoyed reading a somewhat contemporary older man's remembrances of his youth--I feel like that's the closest look I'll ever get at 1919, and it feels like a privilege.
reflective
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes