Scan barcode
ecrummy's review against another edition
3.0
Gus comes from a family with an intellectual father, a hick-ish mother, and a philosophically-inclined younger brother. Both parents are passionate about fishing, though their methodologies and philosophies differ. Gus leaves his home and purchases a cabin in the woods to live out his dream of fishing near-constantly. When he realizes the life of a fisherman-hermit isn't all it's cracked up to be, he starts engaging with his neighbors and realizes that a fulfilled life is one with community, friendship, and love.
Summarized like that it sounds cheesy and overdone, but Duncan lends his own voice to the "no man is an island" maxim. We are there with Gus throughout his journey, and his inner thoughts are often funny and relatable. With him, we reflect upon everything from "what is the soul" to the importance of protecting nature, to the nature of love.
As in The Brothers K, I liked to picture Duncan writing this at his own cabin in the woods, tired after a long day of protesting development companies and cozied up to fuzzy critters sitting on his stoop. It has a very obvious "save the earth!" agenda, which I'm about.
But it was a tough sell, perhaps. I interrogate anyone who claims fishing as a hobby because I genuinely, try as I might, do not see the appeal (except it's relaxing to hang out near the water, maybe?). As an ignorant non-fisherman, fishing seems like a game of luck and patience, not something worthy of passion. And this book was about a man whose "ideal day" included 14.5 hours of fishing. So I couldn't quite get on Gus's level for a significant portion of the book and found myself skimming fishing-heavy passages (of which there were many).
Another significant portion of the book was philosophy-heavy, which wasn’t terribly surprising after reading The Brothers K. Instead of weaving the character’s philosophies in naturally as I felt Duncan did in The Brother’s K, it was forced in via long dialogues. Maybe enriching for some, but again: not my thing.
Overall, this spoke to me far less than The Brothers K did; I almost wish I had read it first and gone in with lowered expectations. It’s a powerful piece if you like fishing and philosophy, but a tougher sell otherwise.
Stray thoughts:
They made a movie and OF COURSE, the title picture implies it’s a love story. I wouldn’t call this a love story at all.
Bill Bob was a GREAT character; his Dreefree explanations made me want to give random objects back stories and sleep with them in my room too.
If I had a dog I would also narrate his inner thoughts, thanks for that Titus.
Happy ending much? Almost forcefully so, in my opinion.
Summarized like that it sounds cheesy and overdone, but Duncan lends his own voice to the "no man is an island" maxim. We are there with Gus throughout his journey, and his inner thoughts are often funny and relatable. With him, we reflect upon everything from "what is the soul" to the importance of protecting nature, to the nature of love.
As in The Brothers K, I liked to picture Duncan writing this at his own cabin in the woods, tired after a long day of protesting development companies and cozied up to fuzzy critters sitting on his stoop. It has a very obvious "save the earth!" agenda, which I'm about.
But it was a tough sell, perhaps. I interrogate anyone who claims fishing as a hobby because I genuinely, try as I might, do not see the appeal (except it's relaxing to hang out near the water, maybe?). As an ignorant non-fisherman, fishing seems like a game of luck and patience, not something worthy of passion. And this book was about a man whose "ideal day" included 14.5 hours of fishing. So I couldn't quite get on Gus's level for a significant portion of the book and found myself skimming fishing-heavy passages (of which there were many).
Another significant portion of the book was philosophy-heavy, which wasn’t terribly surprising after reading The Brothers K. Instead of weaving the character’s philosophies in naturally as I felt Duncan did in The Brother’s K, it was forced in via long dialogues. Maybe enriching for some, but again: not my thing.
Overall, this spoke to me far less than The Brothers K did; I almost wish I had read it first and gone in with lowered expectations. It’s a powerful piece if you like fishing and philosophy, but a tougher sell otherwise.
Stray thoughts:
They made a movie and OF COURSE, the title picture implies it’s a love story. I wouldn’t call this a love story at all.
Bill Bob was a GREAT character; his Dreefree explanations made me want to give random objects back stories and sleep with them in my room too.
If I had a dog I would also narrate his inner thoughts, thanks for that Titus.
Happy ending much? Almost forcefully so, in my opinion.
tawntawn's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, unique, well written and philosophical. My complaints would be that the characters were a bit exaggerated and the story sometimes too idealistic. That being said, I will definitely read more by David James Duncan.
wsk56's review against another edition
3.0
Apparently this book is a cult classic for environmentalists. Written in the 80's, it is the story of a young fisherman, whose was brought up in an Oregon family obsessed with fishing. He leaves home after high school and moves to a cabin on a river near the Oregon coast so he can live his dream to fish nearly all the time. He finds love and God and realizes the importance of nature. It is a humorous book and had many wonderful quotes about fishing, philosophy and spirituality.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
5.0
David James Duncan is (officially) one of my favorite authors. Largely because of this book.
hwintermute's review against another edition
3.0
This book has its moments: some interesting philosophical tales, a quirky romance, funny & captivating characters… but it moves along at a slow rambling pace. Perhaps a little too slow for my liking.
ryanterry's review against another edition
3.0
The first third or maybe half of this book had me prepared to give it one, maybe two stars. It seemed like it would just be 400 pages of unbelievable and not even really enjoyable fishing tales peppered with intolerable fishing caricatures. But the second half I enjoyed almost as much as anything else I’ve read this year, particularly the last hundred pages or so, when the humans of the story become much more human. So I’ll settle in the middle with three stars.
If you don’t like fishing, probably not worth the read honestly. But if you do, it’s worth the trudge through the first 150 pages to get to the good part.
If you don’t like fishing, probably not worth the read honestly. But if you do, it’s worth the trudge through the first 150 pages to get to the good part.
deniset's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
findyourgoldenhour's review against another edition
1.0
I desperately wanted to like this book. If I had picked it up on my own, I wouldn't have bothered to keep reading past the first 50 pages. But I picked this for the book discussion group at the store! I had to finish it! I kept looking at the stellar reviews here on goodreads, the ones that called it their all-time favorite, and I was wondering what book they read, because it couldn't be this one. It had moments of insight that I would highlight and flag and think, "Okay! Now it's going somewhere!" But it was fleeting, and then the rambling would begin again.
Usually when I read a book for this discussion group, even if I hate the book, there is at least one person who liked it and could give me an appreciation for things I may have missed. Not this time. It was universally despised.
Usually when I read a book for this discussion group, even if I hate the book, there is at least one person who liked it and could give me an appreciation for things I may have missed. Not this time. It was universally despised.