i was thinking about this book as i checked out the imdb website and searched the movie. reading the "memorable quotes" and i started to cry just thinking of the movie. i kept getting images of the movie in my head and i was just heartbroken. it was such an amazing story, it was short, but amazing nonetheless. it is about the writer norman maclean and his experiences growing up. it's all mixed together, past and present. telling tales of his childhood and stories about his brother paul. i found myself crying at odd moments in the reading as i thought of my own younger, more...spirited brother. for me, it was necessary to read. and after doing so i wanted to carry it around with me everywhere and read it to anyone i met. the mere fact that he outlived almost his whole family. very close to his brother, dying in his early 20's, then his parents, and then his own wife. his children are still alive but it just seems that something so tragic would impede any happiness that would come. the last page and the last scene of the move alike are perfect depictions of how i would imagine him. his poetic writing and touching story really made this come alive for me. it's not exactly a biography i guess. it's more of...a collection of stories from his life? some parts he goes into detail more than some would like, but it really helps you engage yourself in the time he is in. the whole fly fishing background makes it neccessary for some explanation, so be patient. read it. it is worth it. it's really short if that will motivate you at all. the new edition they've added on some extra stories that he wrote, also all true. but "A river..." is about a hundred pages and change and every one of them is truly moving. so what did you think? movie/book?
I read it a few years back, and I don't recall how it all turned out... I was hooked (pardon the pun) by the lines, early in the book, about how his father didn't have to tell them that John The Baptist was a dry-fly fisherman, or something like that, I just burst out laughing. I remember his brother getting in trouble, etc., ... I should re-read it. I certainly remember that I enjoyed that one.
i loved it. plain and simple. the last words... I am haunted by waters they gave me chills...it just reinforced the feeling that his life was just so...wraught with sadness. sigh.
