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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I very much enjoyed the opening 5 minutes of this book. Not sure that I understood the point of the rest of it…
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
A beautiful short story describing the landscape of Montana rivers, the craft of fly fishing, and relationship between two brothers. Maclean finds ways of writing that perfectly convey the way we project emotions and look for meaning and guidance in the world around us.
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Hands down, one of my favorite books of all time. I re-read this every couple of years.
?Well, reading this was a little strange since I have seen the movie several times before finally reading the book. I have known that I want to read this for years, but finally got around to it.
I think I have two main reactions to it. First off, it is a beautiful book, but it can't quite make up its mind about a number of things. First, is it a memoir? Is it fiction? Is it a dramatic tragedy? In some ways, you could say the fact that it had all of these elements makes it great, but I kind of think he should have just written it as a sort of eulogy to his brother Paul rather than having so much of his own mystical thoughts about fishing and rivers and the movement of time and all that.
Second, I read on Wikipedia that he taught mainly Shakespeare at Chicago, and this really makes sense. I think that we have really lost the genre of tragedy in recent generations, and I think this book echoes the great Shakespearean tragedies. It is a beautiful and terribly sad read, like Hamlet or Lear before it.
I can't say I am much of a fisherman, although I have fished enough to know why people love it and to respect the fish. Cleaning a fish certainly makes you conscious of what you are doing. But for Maclean, it is almost a religion, and truly, his worldview seems to be a blend of the sort of deep reflective thoughts men have while drinking whisky, good old Scottish Presbyterianism, the love of the wilds of Montana, and fly fishing.
Certainly a book everyone should read. I plan to read it again in the future, because there is a lot of deep stuff that I think I could access more in future reads of it.
I think I have two main reactions to it. First off, it is a beautiful book, but it can't quite make up its mind about a number of things. First, is it a memoir? Is it fiction? Is it a dramatic tragedy? In some ways, you could say the fact that it had all of these elements makes it great, but I kind of think he should have just written it as a sort of eulogy to his brother Paul rather than having so much of his own mystical thoughts about fishing and rivers and the movement of time and all that.
Second, I read on Wikipedia that he taught mainly Shakespeare at Chicago, and this really makes sense. I think that we have really lost the genre of tragedy in recent generations, and I think this book echoes the great Shakespearean tragedies. It is a beautiful and terribly sad read, like Hamlet or Lear before it.
I can't say I am much of a fisherman, although I have fished enough to know why people love it and to respect the fish. Cleaning a fish certainly makes you conscious of what you are doing. But for Maclean, it is almost a religion, and truly, his worldview seems to be a blend of the sort of deep reflective thoughts men have while drinking whisky, good old Scottish Presbyterianism, the love of the wilds of Montana, and fly fishing.
Certainly a book everyone should read. I plan to read it again in the future, because there is a lot of deep stuff that I think I could access more in future reads of it.
I've never fished in my life, but still found this book fascinating.
Good quick read. Even if you're not into fishing, I think any nature lover could appreciate this. There was a LOT of descriptions of fishing though, but some things were fun, like the fish theories (guessing what the fish were up to).
Skip the introduction, as there's a HUGE spoiler there. Because of the introduction in this book, I'm going to avoid reading introductions from now on, and just get straight to the text...
Skip the introduction, as there's a HUGE spoiler there. Because of the introduction in this book, I'm going to avoid reading introductions from now on, and just get straight to the text...
Read the title story only. It was fine - definitely improved after first few pages. Didn't compel me though.