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Summary: Memories of fishing when I was young
Review: I fished when I was a boy but stopped when I grew up. Then I read "A river runs through it" and remembered why I fished.
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Summary: Writing like it was meant to be...Quite simply - beautiful.
Review: This is one of those books that I will always remember and keep re-reading. Not only because I love the outdoors, but more importantly, beacause of its beautiful language and how it describes the sometimes distant and difficult family relationships in his family. The last page of text in a "River Runs Through It" is so hauntingly beautiful, that I will never forget it. I could only turn the page and say - wow.
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Summary: Definantly a must read!!!!
Review: Another astoundingly beautiful book by Norman MacLean. I first read Young Men and Fire, then watched the movie A River Runs Through It, and finally the book by the same title. I cannot describe how beautiful the book is except to say that I laughed, cried, and became much more tuned to the world and how all things in life are essentially related back to the earth. Don't be afraid to read it, it is well worth your time!!! Amazingly, the movie was wonderfully true to the story with some exceptions.
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Summary: this book is boring and it makes me feel sleepy
Review: I like fishing but I am not interested in this book
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Summary: You've seen the movie, now read the book!
Review: Like many, I was very impressed with the movie, and did not know until recently about the book (or actually story) it was based on. I was introduced to it by an article in Montana Magazine, where I found that the author had carried on a correspondence for many years with Robert Utley, the historian best known for his works on Custer. Apparently MacLean tried for many years to write a Homeric tragedy about Custer, but was never satisfied with his work. It was not until he retired, and finally got down to writing about the simple things, that he was able to find his niche as a writer. To my mind, he succeeds beautifully. His descriptions and turns of phrase are all carefully thought out. At times he puts me in mind of Hemingway, only a little less sparse. It is truly sad that he started his writing so late, with a little more work, I feel he could have become one of our great writers.
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Summary: good
Review: goo
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Summary: Divine
Review: I have been a fly-fisherman since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I was never able put down my thoughts on Fly-fishing, in the way I wanted to, or the way it meant the most to me. Norman Maclean explained everything perfectly, right down to the statement. "If I hook a big one, how the Hell am I going to land it." I laughed until my sides ached when I read this, and I still smile when I think about it. Thanks for putting my thoughts on paper Mr. Maclean.
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Summary: Maclean's Words Read Beautifully
Review: Most people probably come to this story having seen and liked the Robert Redford movie. I had anyway. What's astonishing is how wonderfully it holds up. Maclean's words read beautifully right up until the haunting final paragraph. As poetic a writer as I can think of--except, perhaps for Louise Erdrich.Don't listen to reviews that urge you to skip the sections on fly-fishing. I've never fished a day in my life, but to skip these sections is to miss some of the funniest parts of the story--and to miss how Norman, in trying to understand the river, is really trying to figure out his relationship with his father and brother.
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Summary: MacLean's Best Book Ever!
Review: OK, so he only has a few. What many reviewers have left out is the extraordinary humor in the story. The comments on learning to cast, the hazards of fishing in cold water, the fly named George's Bobcat Special, and others are humorous without peer. The book, including the other stories, is not only beautiful, poetic, and insightful, but also laugh-out-loud funny.
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Summary: I am haunted my Mr. McLean
Review: Having originally read A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT years before Redford's film or the recent hipness of flyfishing, I find myself still drawn to Mr. McLean's haunting and rich story of love, loss, and acceptance of the realities of life. It is not a "book about flyfishing", but rather uses fishing as framework for defining and illuminating the passage of time and the connectedness he shares with his world and those he knew and loved. One does not need to know anything of fishing to appreciate this monumental work. From the oft quoted opening lines..."In our family..." to the final paragraph, which, by the way after several readings still makes me cry deeply, I find this book to be filled with joy, pain, loss, love, and most importantly art, which never comes easily. Get beyond the fishing thing and experience the immense depth of this one man's life.
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