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Besides having a half dozen or more laugh-out-loud moments reading the book, the final page actually gave me chills and a sense that I had just read something of great literary value. This book did not disappoint.
In its poetic and deeply probing style, A River Runs Through It compares favorably with the work of Robert Penn Warren, my favorite author. Even if he's filling in the details with literary license, it doesn't diminish his astonishing gift. Norman Maclean's novella is an inspirational story, definitely poignant and touching as so many others before me have stated.
On the other hand, this is a study of the nature of existence and human consciousness. I have gleaned from this novel the concept that true knowledge eludes us, what we are left with is "a lifetime of questions." This is only one of many questions handled deftly by the author. Just as an aside, maclean's memory of the intricacies of fly-fishing and the events of 50 years prior is simply astounding.
First off, I haven't seen the movie, so this will not be a comparison piece. On one hand, this is a story of a family told in a fly-fishing setting. This is a classic never to be forgotten; I wish I could give it more stars.
This work melds nature, heritage, human emotions, and even metaphysics like none I've ever encountered. I cannot think of another novel that is as satisfying in both literal and conceptual dimensions.
The reef of rock was about two feet under the water, so the whole river rose into one wave, shook itself into spray, then fell back on itself and turned blue. Nope. (p. In fact, Norman and Jessie are married by page 9 and Norman meets his insufferable brother-in-law, Neal, at the train on page 29 well after Jessie becomes Mrs.
The images of himself and his line kept disappearing into the rising vapors of the river, which continually circled to the tops of the cliffs where, after becoming a wreath in the wind, they became rays of the sun. `By help I don't mean a courtesy like serving chokecherry jelly or giving money."Help," he said, "is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly." (p. It's also clear that Norman "knew" his brother without fully understanding him.CharacterizationAs in the movie, the main characters in the print version of A River Runs Through It are cleanly drawn and genuine. Does he need to be.
103), not part of a church sermon, as it appears in the movie.- Maclean's wry wit and sandpaper humor are completely lost in the movie, probably due to its thematic focus and time constraints. 23-25) is an abbreviated but verbatim version of what appears in the book.- Black Jack's Bar appears on page 30 and Old rawhide" puts in her swarthy appearance on page 31.- Norman's brother-in-law, Neal, spins fab fibs at the bar about tracking and trailing otters on page 33. Maclean's love of his Montana roots, his knowledge of the land, its people, scenery, culture, history, and fly-fishing - are keenly weft throughout the warp and woof of this narrative. In the boo,, Paul is "a master," his skills far superior to Norman's (see pp. Almost.
Maclean's musings about how to help someone who won't take help are recited by Tom Skerritt in the movie almost verbatim. Is this story worth the read. Will A River Runs Through It make the NY Times bestseller list. Maclean's teaching techniques for casting are directly from the book, metronome and all (pages 2-4)- Paul vs.
Drawing readers into the story like moths to a flame, each character has his or her own special kind of luminosity. 81)Worthwhile Read.A River Runs Through It is a satisfying story that's been faithfully represented on the big screen. father in the Battle of the Oatmeal (p. 37, 38, 81).
(See p. Instead, he wakes up at his mother's with a hellacious hangover and a couple of annoyed brothers-in law who are raring to go fishing - and tolerate the family picnic that follows.- Neal stores his flies in a fly box; Paul uses his hat band)- "Three things we're never late for" in Montana include church, work and fishing, a line delivered by Brad Pitt in the movie as Paul, appears on page 34 in the book.- Rev. 102 - 104). 7)- Paul's "shadow casting" technique (p. 21)- Norman's clipped conversation with the Irish desk sergeant after Paul's been jailed for a drunken fist-fight (pp. Yep. Moreover, the screenplay deliciously - and accurately - reflects the panache and élan of the print version.
101 in the book.- Rev. They are linked but not necessarily connected. In fact, A River Runs Through It almost makes me want to "get the horse collar off my neck," wade into the Big Blackfoot and learn how to cast myself. In the movie, Paul's pursuit and ultimate triumphant landing of the "unbelievable" fish occurs toward the end of the film. Doubtful. I am invariably disappointed by movies "based on" a book if I've read the book first. 20)The StoryOccasionally coarse, the story itself is gently nuanced with "four count rhythms," "roll casting," the difference between a "brook" and a "creek" or a "number four or six fly," and "setting the hook." The story moves along at a gracious pace, dignified without dragging. Prodigious chunks of the screenplay are lifted verbatim from this disarmingly simple novella of just over 100 pages, with a few minor differences.Some Differences:The chronology of events is slightly different.
But what kind of help and how to give it are questions no one can fully answer. This is summed up sagely by Rev Maclean:"You are too young to help anybody and I am too old, he said. Readers are "hooked" without being drowned beneath mind-numbing minutia or tangled webs of technicalities. In both you can hear the river roar, smell the beer, feel the baking afternoon sun or the cool splash of water on a hot, thirsty day as you watch a fish rise and grab an expertly tied "general," feel him jerk the line and run with it.As for the book, is Norman Maclean Shakespeare.
Maclean's subsequent question about "which hand" of Paul's had the broken bones makes more sense in the book because the author spend more time discussing casting technique and hand strength than the movie had time to develop.Maclean provides additional details about intricacies of fly-fishing and casting that allow the uninitiated to better understand and more fully appreciate fly fishing as an art form. In print, both are as fresh and flavorful as a stream-to-skillet Rainbow trout.Similarities:- Rev. After seeing A River Runs Through It (Columbia Pictures, 1992) recently, I felt compelled to read the book by Norman Maclean upon which movie is based. The opening lines in which an elderly Norman recalls his father's advice to write down his stories occurs far back in the book, which opens with, "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."- No mention is made of Norman attending Dartmouth or being offered a university professorship in Chicago in the book - plot devices invented for the movie.- Norman's courtship of Jessie, a major movement within the movie, doesn't appear in the book, where the couple is already married the first time we meet Jessie.- In the movie, both brothers seem evenly matched in their fly-fishing skills.
Mother, father, and elder brother all know that Paul is in some kind of trouble, yet feel helpless to help him.The theme of "help" pops up throughout the book like an overnight mushroom. Norman Maclean. (However, Neal doesn't spend the night with Old Rawhide after picking her up at the bar, as implied in the movie. Even for a clueless fly-fishing rookie like me, the book is charming in a bucolic and unpretentious sort of way. The text evinces a deep - albeit clumsy - bond of mutual affection and admiration between brothers. In the book, it's Norman who catches the big fish in the Big Blackfoot River, and he does so early on - before page 22.Additional minor differences include:- The timeline is slightly altered from book to movie. 42 and 43).- Norman's offer to "help" Paul, made while he's driving an intoxicated Paul and his girlfriend home from a night on the town in the movie, is clumsily offered while the brothers are fishing in the print version.- Rev. The mini-molecules of water left in the wake of his line made momentary loops of gossamer, disappearing so rapidly in the rising big-grained vapor that they had to be retained in memory to be visualized as loops.
After it recovered from the shock, it came back to see how it had fallen." (pp.16, 17).Below him was the multitudinous river, and, where the rock had parted it around him big-grained vapor rose. Norman's wife Jessie appears much sooner in the book than in the movie. Also receiving more attention in the book is the fishing fiasco with Neal, and how Neal got fried to a crisp under a hot Montana sun. The spray emanating form him was finer-grained still and enclosed him in a halo himself. Norman's struggle to understand and help his brother is more emphatic in the book than in the movie (pp. The Maclean family is at once close and yet distant, as if they've breathed in some mysterious quality of spaciousness from the Montana skies.
Maclean occasionally waxes lyrical with poetic descriptions such as :"It was a beautiful stretch of water, either to a fisherman or a photographer, although each would have focused his equipment at a different point. It was a barely submerged waterfall. 78). 81)- Events surrounding Paul's death, narrated by Robert Redford in the move, are word-for-word from the book (pp. Naw.
In the movie this incident occurs before Norman and Jessie are married.Also, Norman's mother is a more full-bodied, three-dimensional character who makes chokecherry jelly for her boys and, along with Paul, was "the central attraction" of every family reunion (p. These people are gracious and yet sharp, gentle but not simple. In print context, Rev. Maclean's "you can love completely without complete understanding" is a comment made to Norman in the book (p. Maclean's comment about Paul's decision to change the spelling of the family name appears (ages 80 and 81)- "Three more years before I can think like a fish" - Brad Pitt as Paul in the movie; p.
Highly recommended. A River Runs Through It is a wonderful story of life in Montana, well, really life in general. In addition to a great story, this book contains some of the best uses of the English language in the 20th century.
From the time I received it, I couldn't set it down. An excellent piece of literary work.
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