The River Why, Twentieth-Anniversary Edition

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Summary: A read that will make you cry, think, laugh and smile.
Review: I read this book at the insistence of my boyfriend, an avid flyfisher and owner/operator of a fly fishing shop. Not being a fisherman, I approached the book with some hesitation as to whether I'd enjoy it. I found the story of the piscatorial and philosophical pursuits of a guy named Gus to be endearing, enlightening and entertaining. A knowledge or love of fishing is not required to enjoy the adventures of Gus nor the clever prose and talented use of language by David James Duncan. I believe just about anyone would like this book, whether they are a worm-dunker, dry fly purist or non-fisher. I plan on purchasing a copy for my father, a dreaded worm -dunker according to my boyfriend

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Summary: Absolute best fiction I've ever read
Review: I have bought copy after copy of this book, only to give them away to my friends, acquaintances, passers-by, etc. I can't recommend it enough! (But I'll try....) I originally bought it because the cover states "In the tradition of Catch-22 and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I would change that to "In the tradition of A River Runs Through It and Be Here Now". Such a beautiful, beautiful book. It might sound trite, but I laughed, I cried (then laughed again)

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Summary: My top ten list of all time...
Review: Whenever the weight of life bogs me down.... I pull out thisbook for a reconfirmation of the beauty, love and humour found allaround us... Mr. Duncan puts in words, conditions and feelings about the human spirit that all of us have locked inside us put find it hard to release...

Rating:
Summary: Quite simply, fabulous.
Review: The book is not just filled with wisdom, the story is a good one, not in the manner of a "ripping yarn" but in an involving way. The reader actually cares about the characters. Topping this the fact that Duncan uses the language very well. This is excellent prose. Duncan's other book (The Brothers K) is very good but not as good as "River Why" and his book of essays (something like "River Teeth") is just plain excellent.

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Summary: The BEST book I have ever read.
Review: I came upon this delightful book a few years back while living in Montana. A fly fishing/spiritual friend referred it to me. I laughed from the first page on and fell in love with the characters and descriptions of their antics. Is it about fishing? Well, sure on the surface, but it's also about life and love and the divinity on tuning into who we are and what we can be through our relationships with ourselves and others. This book is a must read for those you love.

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Summary: Beautiful
Review: As I was reading this book (and toting it with me wherever I went), people kept coming up to me and asking what it was about. I was forced to answer, "Fishing...sort of." I managed, even with that feeble response, to get a number of other people to read it, with my assurance that it was a wonderful book -- just hard to explain. When they finished it, I always asked whether they could think of a better response to the "what's it about" question; but everyone seems to get stuck after "fishing...sort of."

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Summary: Why not?
Review: When DJD writes about a game of catch the ball burns my hand thru the mitt. When his story is about wading up a trout stream, my neck gets hot from the sun on it, I can hear the mosquitos whine, and my feet go numb from the cold water. His characters are complex; warm, funny, honest, whacked, i.e quite real. He writes books that I could live in and I don't even play baseball. Or fish.

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Summary: Thought-provoking!!
Review: I read this book after having read another of David James Duncan's books, The Brothers K, at the advice of a friend. The books are very similar, with the protagonist being of a moderate spiritual mindset, observing his own spirituality as well as the styles with which those around him view the world. While The Brothers K did this with baseball being the avocation of choice, The River Why does it with fishing being the avocation of choice.

I am not particularly drawn to either activity, but was happy to read about others' excitement at it, understanding that it was being used as a framework for what drives the protagonist. I loved both books, and the next David James Duncan book that I read is likely to be My Story as Told by Water.


Rating:
Summary: Uneven, but great at its best moments
Review: It is rare to laugh out loud while reading novels. It can happen. But I have yet to find another book that had me laughing out loud, rereading the passage, and laughing out loud again. This book does that.

It's not 5 stars only because I hit a couple periods where the story felt slow to me. But, then again, I'm not much of one for fishing, having long decided that I prefer rocks to rivers.

For those of you like me, there are plenty of rocks in this book.

The amazing thing about the book, though, is how well it ties together spirituality and fly fishing, almost as though it were <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156027321/qid=1098570045/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-8383531-5474308?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">Life of Pi</a> set on rivers instead of the ocean.

The River Why also has shares some similarities with A River Runs Through It. Most notably both are books about people and place. As an inland westerner, I must say I chuckled at more than a few of Duncan's disparaging remarks about California.

Duncan is best, though, when he writes about people. Bill Bob is one of the most entertaining characters I've ever encountered. Gus's initial encounter with Eddy contains some of the strongest humor writing I've ever read. And Duncan manages to more aptly capture the rivalries that occur between fly and bait fishers than any other writing I've seen. The sense of smug superiority that the two often feel is typically matched only by strong football rivalries or, perhaps, the most marked of skiing/snowboard arguments.

For non-fishers out there, please heed my advice, and work with the early chapters. You'll be glad you did.

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Summary: The most bestest book ever!
Review: Gus Orviston is a young fly fisherman who retreats from his family and lives on the shores of a river in the Northwest of Oregon. Hoping to become the greatest fisherman in the world Gus devotes his time to the river and his trusty fly rod "Rodney." On a hike with his younger brother looks down on the river he has made his home by and sees the river curve, bend, and loop to look like the river is asking why? Through interaction with his candle-making neighbors, a philosopher fisherman, his dreaming younger brother, and a beautiful fisherwoman, Gus embarks on a journey to discover new things about himself and the world around him.

Filled with realistic and fully drawn characters, Duncan has created a coming-of-age story that is filled with love, humor, ecological treatise, and some of the most beautiful prose that I have ever read. Duncan's character's all have quirks that allow them to enter into the reader's minds. Gus' younger brother's idea of "dream food" is one that strikes in particular. Duncan has created a world where nature and intelligent conversation can lead to enlightenment both on the spiritual and human plane.