Customer Reviews (137)

Fishing reveals the meaning of life, and other stories...
Norman Maclean published his first work, this collection of three stories, when he was 73. He was an English Professor at the University of Chicago, and its Press broke precedent, by publishing its first work of fiction. A fortuitous decision, as this best seller provided the Press the funds to issue other drier academic works of non-fiction. The movie A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford, issued in 1992, helped greatly to popularize this story. Nonetheless, not having seen the movie, I was leery of the book, with a gut feeling that this would be about the ultra-rich crowd who water at Jackson Hole, WY, or even further a field, say, chartering a private plane to some remote river in Siberia, so they can differentiate themselves from the masses by practices this arcane sport. And was I ever wrong - this is the REAL thing, fly-fishing as a natural art form, and a passion, as practiced by the natives of an equally obscure part of America: the Idaho-Montana border area.

The story is largely autobiographical, set in the late `30's, and is about Maclean's family relationships, particularly with his brother, who we learn early in the story, was murdered in the prime of life. His father, a Presbyterian minister, of Scottish origins, taught both sons how to fly fish, and it remained a passion, and cement that could be relied upon to bind their relationship. Norman's brother was admittedly the better sportsman. Although I've never fished, this one story explains why it is an intelligent man's (or woman's) avocation, shattering the image of Tom Sawyer sitting under a tree, with a pole in the water, and a worm at the end of the string. For that reason alone, the story is worth the read (I'd also highly recommend Russell Chatham's series of short stories Dark Waters for the same reason). But what really sets this story apart is the beautifully crafted tale of these relationships, coupled with those relating to their absolute loser of a brother-in-law and the women who find self-actualization tending to his pathetic nature. There are also some ribald and humorous scenes in the story. A line in the story summarizes Maclean's outlook: "...at the time I did not know that stories of life are often more like rivers than books." And perhaps the central question of the story is: Can we really help anyone else?

The other two stories don't match the title story in excellence, but still are both worthwhile reads. They are both set just after World War I, when Maclean was in his late teens, and worked in the logging camps and the Forest Service in the same Idaho-Montana border area. It is a portrait of the "rough and tumble" West, not long after the "frontier" had closed, and featured hard work, gambling, boozing, and, yes, ladies of the trade. Maclean's summer work with the Forest Service involved fire watches, and it was in this same area that the largest forest fire in American history occurred nine years earlier, and is described in Timothy Egan's excellent book The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America.

Like Egan, and Wallace Stegner, Norman Maclean has written excellent, , poignant and authentic stories of the American West. A solid 5-star read.

Western Stories with Trees in them
Norman Maclean (1902 - 1990) modestly described the three works collected in "A River Runs Through It" as "Western stories with trees in them for children, experts, scholars, wives of scholars, and scholars who are poets."Published in 1976, the book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, but the selection panel declined to follow the recommendation. The reputation of the book has grown steadily with the years. Perhaps some readers at the time had difficulty with a quiet, restrained literary voice whose subjects included fly fishing and logging.In general, American writers who explore the West tend not to receive the critical attention they deserve.

I had heard of this book but read it only after other Amazon reviewers had recommended it to me. I was attracted as much by the author as by the subject matter as I learned that Maclean had enjoyed a long career as a Professor of English at the University of Chicago before retiring and becoming a storyteller. As someone on the verge of retirement, Maclean's experience inspires me to make the most of my upcoming opportunity.Then too, Maclean's youth in rural Montana, with its toughness, rawness and isolation, contrasts markedly with his latter life as a teacher of poetry in academia.I learned from Maclean's ability to synthesize his diverse life experiences.

The book consists of two lengthy stories with a much shorter story in between. Each of the stories has a strongly autobiographical component and each is told in the voice of an older man looking back at events of his youth. The writer's voice is terse and understated.It ranges from descriptions of seemingly mundane facts to sardonic humor to philosophical reflectiveness. The two outer stories are tautly written and build slowly and carefully through their details and scenes to climactic conclusions. Many telling incidents and details get related casually and briefly, making this a book for slow, careful reading.

The title story "A River Runs Through It" has become the most famous of the three pieces in this collection.Hollywood made a movie of it in 1992 which I have not seen. The story is set in Montana in 1937, and the two chief characters are the narrator, age 35, and his younger brother Paul, 32, a brilliant fisherman but fated by his life of gambling, fighting, and drinking.The two brothers have been raised to a love of fly fishing by their Presbyterian minister father but otherwise are very different. The story combines detailed descriptions of rivers and valleys with small western towns and bars. As with some earlier writers, the art of fly fishing is portrayed in detail and given a metaphysical, philosophical significance, particularly on questions of religion and death. Maclean describes several different fishing trips as the story builds.But its emphasis is on family relationships, on differences between people who are close, and on the difficulties of understanding another person and of offering, and accepting, the kind of help that might be useful.The story between the narrator and Paul is a more developed version of a similar relationship suggested earlier in the story between the narrator's wife Jessie and her brother, Neal who accompany the narrator on Paul on a pair of near-disastrous fishing outings.

The other extended story: "USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky" has many similar characteristics.It is not as well known as the title story but worth reading in its own right.The story is set in rural Montana in 1919 in the early days of the U.S. Forest Service.The narrator, a young man of 17, has a summer job in the isolation of the woods working for the Chief Ranger, Bill Bell, the "toughest guy in town" whom the narrator both admires and fears. The narrator has a near altercation with the camp cook and Bell sends him to lookout duty for two weeks - a dangerous, isolated and hardly romantic assignment in the company of rattlesnakes and grizzlies. The story centers on the narrator's lonely journey walking over the mountains to the small town of Hamilton where he becomes ill from his exertions, and gets involved in a serious fight while his logging companions gamble with the locals, among other experiences. This is a coming of age story as the narrator builds on his summer experience to move ahead with his life.

The short story in the collection "Logging, and Pimping and "your pal, Jim" also is set in a logging camp. It tells of the young man's experience with an older logger, Grierson, whom he both respects and fears. Grierson is a strong, intimidating logger who also works as a pimp, preferring women who are both southern and large. (BBWs in modern usage) In fact, each of the three stories in the book make considerable use of prostitutes as supporting characters. The story has a more comical, salacious feel than its companions, but it shares with them a nostalgic feel and a sense of coming of age.

Maclean has written three "stories with trees in them" and much more. The book includes a good deal of the author himself together with part of the American experience that sometimes is overlooked or downplayed. The stories capture the feeling of rivers, mountains, tragedy, fishing, logging, growing up, bars, gambling, fighting, and western prostitutes, all with an overlay of thought and reflection.

Robin Friedman

If you can push through the immense amount of fishing detail, the end is truly poetic.
I've been fishing once, if there is one thing more boring than fishing, it's reading about fishing.This book has a lot of snoozery to it because the author goes into some serious descriptive detail about fly fishing.That being said, the narrative does come through mostly well, and then the last two pages blow you away.It is poetry, some of the best, loveliest and "beautiful" words in print.Those who read the book know why i put beautiful in quotes.

A laid back, relaxing read
A River Runs Through It is a fiction book that gets the imagination going.This is a book that has stories told by a young man growing up in Montana.The setting of many of these stories takes place on rivers in Montana while fishing.For those who are not interested in fishing, this book is still worth reading.The author, Norman Maclean, does a great job painting a picture of the experiences that a young man and his brother have.

The main characters of the book are two sons of a Presbyterian minister.Throughout the book the boys get into trouble.The trouble that they get into is humorous because the author relays the experiences like adventures.After telling about their theory of always throwing the first punch in a fight, Norman gives a caution. He says, "Every once in awhile you run into some guy who likes to fight as much as you do and is better at it.If you start off by loosening a few of his teeth he may try to kill you."

Those who are interested in a relaxing book would benefit from reading A River Runs Through It.Not only will the reader learn about the life lessons of two boys in Montana, but they will also learn about how life can be enjoyable when we take chances.Even though these chances can get you in trouble, as Norman and Paul found out, they are experiences in which lessons are learned.

Excellent book
Great book.Kept me interested from the first page to the last.Much better than the movie! ... Read more

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