A River Runs Through It

Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: Having seen the movie some years ago, I was anxious to read this book for a book club review, and I have come away wishing I had never seen the movie, for the book is so far above it as to make it trash in all its physical beauty. Having kept my studies basically to European literature, I am now in mid-life finding all these wonderful American authors. I think this is one of the best books I have ever read about human relationships, and MacLean's descriptive style of describing nature is superb. This is definitely on my re-read list!

Rating:
Summary: Not bad. Movie is better.
Review: I learned to fish on the Blackfoot and know (the new) Lolo Hot Springs as well as MacLean. I enjoyed the thoughtfulness of his prose and his writing style, but found that his story wasn't particularly compelling. The movie was splendid, and anyone who has not seen Montana cannot create the beauty of Big Sky Country without seeing the movie. The best words of the book are spoken verbatim in the movie. See the film and save yourself the time of getting through the book.

Rating:
Summary: This book packs a lifetime of living in a fishing tale.
Review: A River Runs Through It is a story of the heart of a man and the passion for life that runs through all men. Some of us may not be aware of this when we look at our lives of struggle and mediocrity. Others may say this is a dreamer's attitude. Norman Maclean shows us how it is as natural as a river, and as powerful as a fist . This book is about men, and growing into manhood. It uses the river both as metaphor and as the dramatic backdrop for a life of a man. It is written as if every word was distilled to its purest essence, and reads as a drink of the finest wine. I read it sentence by sentence and went over many passages simply to savor the view and the feel it created in me. Read it and treasure it and give it to another man you may care about.

Rating:
Summary: IT"S NOT ABOUT FISHING!!
Review: Norman Maclean happens to use his muse, fly fishing, to relate the intricate and subtle nature of one man's relationship with father, mother, wife and brother. Time worn, biblical themes are set down in everyman's terms and after 100 pages a boy (however old) will surely examine his relationship to those people most important to him. After numerous readings the story continues to roll the rocks in the river, revealing more of the words. I, too, am haunted by waters

Rating:
Summary: in my opinion this is one of the best books ever written
Review: In my opinion this is one of the best books ever written, it includes drama comedy and emotions. You feel like you're there with Norman and his family. It really touches your hear

Rating:
Summary: spectacular book
Review: I feel that this book is one of the best in modern literature, incorporating the poetic phrasing of Faulkner to portray the infinite power and beauty of nature and its inhabitant therein

Rating:
Summary: A True Classic
Review: OK...so I admit it..I saw the movie first. But, the book is much, much better. It got me interested in fly fishing. And, isn't that what a classic is supposed to do? This book will broaden your horizons in many ways. Don't miss it

Rating:
Summary: Simply a masterpiece...
Review: One of the ten best works of fiction written in the English language, this book, but particularlly its title novella, takes the reader not just on a trip through the world of fly-fishing, but through the trip of life. Maclean's work tackles the difficult question: how does man relate to the world around himself? Maclean's work is not just the culmination of an author's hard work, it is the culmination of a lifetime of experiences, rolled over in his mind till the full meaning of those experiences is understood. One need not enjoy fishing at all to appreciate the stories of this masterpiece. In fact, it could be argued that it isn't even about fishing. It's about love, art, faith, doubt, charity and all the other myriad things which infest the life of ordinary man. The University of Chicago Press does not publish fiction works as a rule. It's worth the time spent reading to find out why they broke that rule with Norman Maclean

Rating:
Summary: I teach this novel every year
Review: If a class of 30 jaded high school juniors sit back and say "Wow" at the end of the last page, it must really be something. One of the best little books of American Lit ever.

Rating:
Summary: Trout fishing in Montana
Review: The river in question is the Blackfoot River. Fishing at the canyon near the Clearwater Bridge required roll casting, a difficult maneuver. Of the brothers, Paul and Norman Maclean, Paul was the better fisherman. Paul practiced what he called shadow casting to entice the fish.

One of the problems was that Norman never wanted to hear too much about his brother Paul. When Paul was thirty two a police desk sergeant told Norman that Paul was drinking too much and getting in trouble too much.

Fishing in the Elkhorn was undertaken by Paul, Norman, and Norman's future brother-in-law, Neal, who was really not up to such exertion. A fisherman tries to make a world perfect and apart and walks out to a stream to separate himself from others. When Neal went with Paul and Norman he got sunburned when he fells asleep on the sandbar and the brothers fished the stream in different areas.

Paul said he would never leave Montana and go to a larger newspaper. Norman's father, a Presbyterian minister and avid fisherman and hunter was the only man he knew who used beautiful naturally in his speech.

Other stories in the collection concern Norman's stints as a forest service ranger and logger.