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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
I was familiar with this title as a movie starring Brad Pitt and directed by Robert Redford. The book is semi-autobiographical and was written by the author when he was in his 70s. It is beautifully written and I sometimes stopped just to relish a passage. The stories involve fly fishing and rivers, logging, and hard living in around Montana in the early 1900s; but it's really a story about life, connections, memories, and lessons. There is a spiritual element to it, but there's also lots of action and humor.
Alberne Geschichten von Testosteron, Rivalität, Testosteron und noch mehr Rivalität. Männer fangen große Fische, sägen Bäume um und laufen an einem einzigen Tag weiter als andere Leute.
I read this decades ago, and saw the movie *only* 25 years ago, so of course the only thing on my mind was Brad Pitt, sunburned asses, and the scene where the Presbyterian father/teacher crumples his son's essay up and tells him to make it tighter (my muse). In re-reading this small gem, I realize that the book and movie tell different stories, and maybe they have to because I'm not sure the fly-fishing philosophies and techniques and snobbery and beauty (from book) can be adequately translated to film. (Must watch movie again this weekend). Maclean's story ebbs and flows and swirls like the rivers he describes - I'd forgotten this was nominated for a Pulitzer but no wonder. I don't understand his many digs on Great Falls-ians; perhaps CMR dissed him back in the day and he carried the chip for all Electric City residents from then on. [Note: I am also a Maclean, but from a different isle.]
I've been drawn to a lot of "western" fiction lately, especially short stories. I am still working through the other stories in this book, but I can safely give it 5 stars on the title story alone. Never saw the movie, and, while the men in my family all fly fish, I'm not a fisherperson. But this story is thick with the smell of hot pine needles in the summer, icy cold creeks, and the ways in which life and nature parallel, but often seem just outside the reach of what we can fully understand.
A great piece of historical fiction about two brothers in western Montana. Full of descriptions of fly-fishing and rivers, this book illustrates the spirituality and meaning that some Christian families find in rivers and fishing, carried down through generations in the west Montana region.
The tone of the book is sad as it involves alcoholism affecting families. But it’s an extremely well-written story.
The tone of the book is sad as it involves alcoholism affecting families. But it’s an extremely well-written story.
The edition I read had the title novella, a short story about logging, and another novella about a summer when MacLean was 17 and working for the U.S. Forest Service. 3 stories, 300% more whores than I anticipated. Lots of whoring incidences.
The only things I remember from A River Runs Through It, the movie, were that fly fishing seemed beautiful and serene and that Brad Pitt was incredibly hot. The movie was very faithful to the novella (I suppose there were whoring incidences in the movie, I just don’t remember).
It took me to the very end of the novella to understand what MacLean was trying to achieve and, then, it was brilliant. MacLean certainly has a way with endings and I love a good ending. The imagery that he used to capture 1920s Montana was also magnificent. I can see why this story is a national treasure.
The short story was literally about a man MacLean worked for who was in charge of logging. This man, off season from logging, went to the local library of whatever town he was in and read whatever books he wanted. And he was also a local pimp. That’s what he did: read and pimped.
The last story, when MacLean was 17, involved his work for the U.S. Forest Service one summer. He did Park Ranger-type work and ran around with the other men trying to keep out of trouble. And ended up at a seedy hotel with, you guessed it, whores and pimps.
I understood from this book that these types of jobs and their locales left little room for women unless they were whores or wives who were cheated on with whores. I also understood that MacLean likely struggled in this super-masculine world — but then, I think most men would. The men in my life would hardly have wanted to be surrounded by this lack of morality and constant pseudo-companionship.
I’m glad I read this stories but it will be hard to recommend them.
The only things I remember from A River Runs Through It, the movie, were that fly fishing seemed beautiful and serene and that Brad Pitt was incredibly hot. The movie was very faithful to the novella (I suppose there were whoring incidences in the movie, I just don’t remember).
It took me to the very end of the novella to understand what MacLean was trying to achieve and, then, it was brilliant. MacLean certainly has a way with endings and I love a good ending. The imagery that he used to capture 1920s Montana was also magnificent. I can see why this story is a national treasure.
The short story was literally about a man MacLean worked for who was in charge of logging. This man, off season from logging, went to the local library of whatever town he was in and read whatever books he wanted. And he was also a local pimp. That’s what he did: read and pimped.
The last story, when MacLean was 17, involved his work for the U.S. Forest Service one summer. He did Park Ranger-type work and ran around with the other men trying to keep out of trouble. And ended up at a seedy hotel with, you guessed it, whores and pimps.
I understood from this book that these types of jobs and their locales left little room for women unless they were whores or wives who were cheated on with whores. I also understood that MacLean likely struggled in this super-masculine world — but then, I think most men would. The men in my life would hardly have wanted to be surrounded by this lack of morality and constant pseudo-companionship.
I’m glad I read this stories but it will be hard to recommend them.
Took me forever to finish this. My memory of the first two stories is hazy, but the feeling I got from them is still there. An old, wild America, filled with young, adventurous men with turbulent relationships with their families.
Points off for the extreme amount of "meta" references in the final story.
Points off for the extreme amount of "meta" references in the final story.
I enjoyed the titular story, but the other two stories feel flat for me. If you enjoy reading about lumberjacks, this is the book for you.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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