Lyrical - wonderfully done

A River Runs Through It is one of my favorite books of all time. It is not simply a book on fishing, but instead an elegantly articulated story about relationships, about beauty ("My father was one of the few men who would comfortably use the word beautiful"), and, above all, a story about the individual spirituality of fly fishing (from the first line: "In my family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing").

It is, as well, a wonderful example of how to write well. The prose is evocative, yet lean and spare - MacLean could draw more from fewer words than anyone else I ever read.

Having the book read by Ivan Doig, another Montana author, gives it a familiarity of someone who also writes well (but not in Norman MacLean's league) about Montana and the out doors and relationships. I will listen to this book again and again...whenever I need context to contemplate the challenges and the beauty of life!

16 people found this helpful

A River Runs Through It

I wish I had this book in my hands to quote from it...a definite lack in this listening thing. I find this short novel exquisite. Every line has meaning. The relationships are achingly full of perception and grace. The metaphor of the river, and fly fishing, is omnipresent and speaks of the love that is shot through the main characters' interactions with each other. I have listened to this book twice, and read it once. The film is ghastly....the meaning is in the words, and layered: the river, fly fishing, one's relation to one's god, brothers and families, the story of the prodigal son, violence and mayhem of the heart, the beauty of knowing something. And in closing: I plan to just ignore reviews that don't recognize or understand the craft of fiction.

6 people found this helpful

Gorgeous

Prose and story are both gorgeous and a delight to listen to. For those who wrote about the overuse of fly-fishing, it's a metaphor for life. I've never fly-fished, nor will I, but I can appreciate the way the lessons of fly-fishing have informed the narrator's worldview. The narration, like the prose, is understated. Truly a treat.

5 people found this helpful

almost excellent

Without a doubt the text of this story is wonderful. I great book to listen to and contemplate. However, the sound quality broke up in places and that much of the experience makes me hesitate to give all 5 stars - a review the book itself deserves.

5 people found this helpful

If you love a Fisherman

What you need to know is that this is mainly a book about fishing. And brothers. And the pain and deep love of Family. It is not the movie, although it is clearly the brothers of the movie and I think if I read more of these stories, I'll find the movie story. I've never been a fisherman. It doesn't work to read and fish, so that's out. But I do love fishermen, my grandad in particular. So I loved reading about fishing.

2 people found this helpful

Much better than the movie as always!

This audio book was really interesting as it went into much more detail about the fly fishing than the movie. I was required to read this book for a fly fishing course at my college but don’t let that stop you! Great read!

1 person found this helpful

a timeless tale. Wow

I could not stop listening. This was everything I expected and so much more. I could feel, from the start, the things that the main character was going through. I felt his pain, his elation, his meanderings, and was touched on a spiritual level that has rarely occurred in my lifetime. I do not write reviews so I have to say that this book touched me. To the Author, thank you.

will read next book

beautiful story telling, but I seemed to miss the reason for the story, after 3 hrs of reading i feel a large lesson granting such a bank story was missed.

Intriguing.

An amazing book that dives into the depths of humility and family with a switch kick in the ass to tie it all together.

A classic for every fisherman

This book is what made me decide to buy a fly rod.
I learned so much about life and fishing.