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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I am part of a book club, we read a book a month. This month we are reading A River Runs Through It and other Short Stories. There are 3 short stories in this collection.
The 1st story in the book is A River Runs Through It, this is a story about fishing and family. It is about the Maclean brothers Norman and Paul in the late 1930’s in Montana. The narrator is the older brother Norman who talks about a fishing trip with his younger troubled brother and Norman’s attempt to help Paul get straightened out. The Macleans are a Presbyterian family that describe life through their religion and their passion for fly fishing. Personally, I found all the fishing commentary boring and tedious, but it is obviously important to MacLean and his story line.
The 2nd story in the book is Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, this is a story about Maclean’s summer working as logger with a adversarial partner Jim. It tells how they spent the summer working against each other instead of with each other.
The 3rd story in the book is USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and the Hole in the Sky, this is a story about MacLean’s time in the forest service. I was unable to complete this story, by page 16 I was so bored out of my mind I just couldn’t finish reading it.
Personally, I find Norman MacLean’s writing flat and uninteresting. He narratives of his stories are of his family and experiences, but they are not engaging events. MacLean seems to focus on unimportant details that have no purpose in the story and he describes these details to a painful degree. For example, in Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, he spends an entire page of the story describing Jim’s logging boots and the boots have no significance to the storyline beyond this description. The stories seem to ramble and do not have a point, there is no epiphany found at the end that gives us a reason to read the story. In a way, I felt like I was listening to an old man talk about his youth with no point behind his recollections, just a desire to talk and not forget who he was when younger.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
The 1st story in the book is A River Runs Through It, this is a story about fishing and family. It is about the Maclean brothers Norman and Paul in the late 1930’s in Montana. The narrator is the older brother Norman who talks about a fishing trip with his younger troubled brother and Norman’s attempt to help Paul get straightened out. The Macleans are a Presbyterian family that describe life through their religion and their passion for fly fishing. Personally, I found all the fishing commentary boring and tedious, but it is obviously important to MacLean and his story line.
The 2nd story in the book is Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, this is a story about Maclean’s summer working as logger with a adversarial partner Jim. It tells how they spent the summer working against each other instead of with each other.
The 3rd story in the book is USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and the Hole in the Sky, this is a story about MacLean’s time in the forest service. I was unable to complete this story, by page 16 I was so bored out of my mind I just couldn’t finish reading it.
Personally, I find Norman MacLean’s writing flat and uninteresting. He narratives of his stories are of his family and experiences, but they are not engaging events. MacLean seems to focus on unimportant details that have no purpose in the story and he describes these details to a painful degree. For example, in Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, he spends an entire page of the story describing Jim’s logging boots and the boots have no significance to the storyline beyond this description. The stories seem to ramble and do not have a point, there is no epiphany found at the end that gives us a reason to read the story. In a way, I felt like I was listening to an old man talk about his youth with no point behind his recollections, just a desire to talk and not forget who he was when younger.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a real challenge to get through. The first story held by far the most meaning and interest to me, but it still felt like a slog until the end. I think the fact that I primarily read in the evenings did not help in making progress. I am glad to have read this book, especially as a gift for an academic prize, but I found it meandering. There were bits of prose that struck me, but in between was a lot of what just felt like a listing of events. It is certainly a look into an era of forestry and americas relationship to the environment that was interesting. I may revisit a river runs through it or USFS 1919 again.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I read this book mostly only because I spent a week backpacking in Montana’s Swan Range, near the Blackfoot River. I’ve learned more about fly fishing than I ever needed to know, and have a new appreciation for the wildfire fighting techniques of the early 1900s and the hard work of the U.S. Forest Service, as well as the effort required to navigate male friendships in early 1900s logging camps.
I enjoyed the the wry voice of the narrator - it was like being told a long story from your grandfather or great uncle. Overall, another example of a white man processing and exploring emotions through the safe, masculine symbolism of the woods. And when the woods are this gorgeous, I’ll come along for the ride.
I enjoyed the the wry voice of the narrator - it was like being told a long story from your grandfather or great uncle. Overall, another example of a white man processing and exploring emotions through the safe, masculine symbolism of the woods. And when the woods are this gorgeous, I’ll come along for the ride.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
—A River Runs Through It
Gets me every time.
I am haunted by waters.”
—A River Runs Through It
Gets me every time.
The writing in this story is exquisite, though the story meanders along like the river it describes. I started off reading this book, soon realizing that I was confusing it with Legends of the Fall. Once I realized my error, I started the story over again, but this time listening to the audio version narrated by David Manis. He sounds just like I imagine the author would have sounded if he was sitting in my living room telling me the story.
This is a man's story. It's about brothers and fishing, punctuated by words and situations I'd not likely hear a woman say (not a lady anyway). My father would have blushed had we been listening to this story together. It's a beautiful story though, one that I look forward to listening to again.
This is a man's story. It's about brothers and fishing, punctuated by words and situations I'd not likely hear a woman say (not a lady anyway). My father would have blushed had we been listening to this story together. It's a beautiful story though, one that I look forward to listening to again.
This is a story collection. A River Runs Through It is only the first story. This is critical because THAT story is really good but I really couldn't get into the others.
Okay, I hated them.
The end.
Okay, I hated them.
The end.
funny
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I had read these stories a long time ago, and re-reading them now I'll say they hit a bit different, and mostly for the worse. The stories definitely come off as being of their time - male-centric, a little racist, etc. They're like Hemingway or Steinbeck in that way. The second and third stories more so than the first in this way. He does paint a pretty picture of western Montana though, and has some wonderful turns of phrase, and the movie made of the title story is one of the best adaptations out there. If you are a completist about western U.S. literature, this is a must read, otherwise, maybe just read the first story and be done with it.