Customer Reviews

The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family

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"The Everlasting Stream" is a tale about male relationships, about self discovery and about hunting that does justice to all three subjects. While many books use one story as a vessel to carry another, this develops all three stories simultaneously and completely.

Author Walt Harrington portrays himself as a snobby Washington Post reporter who finds himself tramping around Kentucky fields, shooting rabbits with his father-in-law's hunting buddies to prove he is not above them.

Through the Thanksgiving hunts, Harrington comes to respect the men. He comes to understand himself and to wonder how he so misplaced himself. He grows up with his son and reconsiders his relationship with his late father. Through it all, he thinks deeply about the experience of hunting, turning inside out his initial revulsion to it. In the end, the hunts lead him to make a profound change in his life.

Harrington finds answers, real-life answers, and not the clear-cut, no-regrets answers of cardboard stories.

As Harrington re-evaluates his life, male friendships and hunting, you will, too. It's a journey worth taking, and Harrington is an engaging guide.

Having married an African-American woman, journalist Walt Harrington found himself expected to maintain the family traditions by going rabbit hunting with his father-in-law, and his friends, every Thanksgiving. At first, Walt looked down on these course, back-country men as throwbacks to an earlier, more primitive way of life. With time, though, he came to realize that these men shared a different, stronger bond than he had ever known. Unconsciously, they showed him what being a man could be all about, and he learned many lessons as he (and later him and his son) hunted rabbits in the hills of Kentucky.

This book came as quite a surprise to me. I tripped across it by accident, and am quite glad that I did. It's written in a stream-of-consciousness style, which allows the author to skip forward and backward through time, showing his development throughout. Indeed, if you are interested in men's books (such as those by Robert Bly), then I highly recommend that you get this one. It is a fascinating look at life and being a man.

A thoughtful, beautifully written, almost poetic meditation on hunting, tradition, friendship, nature and human nature. It is ostensibly about rabbit hunting, but that is not where this book's meaning lies nor where the heart of its story is. Its story and meaning lie with the people, and Harrington writes in a voice so personal that you feel you know him and his family and friends. This is not a book for the PETA crowd, or for those who call rabbits "bunnies." If you've ever hunted, or if you understand the true nature of Nature, you'll enjoy The Everlasting Stream. (Note: This review has been written by a woman who, although she does not hunt, has shot the occasional rabbit when its depredations in her garden have become intolerable and the Hav-a-Hart trap proved ineffectual.)

The Everlasting Stream, by Walt Harrington, is a hunting book that isn't a book about hunting. I had read a brief review about this book being a good addition to the pro-hunting literature. Well, it was, in a sense. Harrington is a fine writer, and most pro-hunting books tend to focus on the charismatic megafauna like deer and elk. Harrington's focus is on the common and ordinary, the prolific cottontail. No trophy hunting here; this is all about hunting for meat.

What does Harrington say in defense of hunting?

"Animals bleed. Live with it" (p. 146).

"It doesn't matter to a rabbit what kills him - fever, flukes, worms, weather, hawks, or me. The rabbit is dead" (p. 184).

"Killing an animal doesn't deaden the human conscience; it enlivens it" (p. 184).

"Hunting isn't golf or tennis, which demand only technical mastery. Hunting isn't merely an exercise in male bonding, as so many believe. Hunting has moral gravitas" (p. 185).

"It is people who enjoy the fruits of the kill without feeling the ominous responsibility of the killing who are morally delinquent" (p. 186).

"I'm not supposed to hunt without guilt. I'm supposed to hunt despite the guilt" (p. 187).

"Long ago, a woman at my table said to me, 'I can't believe you killed those little bunnies.' I now know what I should have said in response. 'I can't believe you ate those little bunnies without killing one'" (p. 189).

Harrington isn't perfect. He confesses a time when "I fire, and the rabbit tumbles, heels over head. When I reach down, the rabbit suddenly kicks his hind legs violently and drubs my hand twice before I can pull away... I use the butt of my gun like a deadfall and club the rabbit's head. After I do, his left eye dangles from its socket. I take out my knife that I will give to Matt at Christmas, slice the eye free, and put the rabbit in my bag" (p. 214).

I certainly hope he removed the shells from his shotgun before using it as a club. And although Harrington did not appear to be apologetic for his act, there is a line between killing an animal and torturing it. It is this line that society scrutinizes. He hints at its existence with his "It doesn't matter to a rabbit what kills him..." comment; however, it does matter to society, and I would say it should matter to the hunter as well.

With this said, this book is much, much more than a book about hunting. Harrington explores issues of manhood (and boyhood), parenting, memories, and livelihoods. He discusses race relations (Harrington's hunting buddies are black while he is white), politics, friends, and folklore. He reflects on his passions, and eventually makes some drastic, life-altering decisions.

All in 217 pages. The subtitle says it all: The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family.

Harrington's father repeatedly said to him, "Everything's beautiful if you look at it right." I'd say this IS the theme of the book.

If you are not a hunter, keep reading through the hunting scenes. Harrington keeps springing new topics and ideas upon the reader.

There is something here for everyone.

After seeing The Everlasting Stream featured on PBS, I read the book to find out about a number of issues I had with hunting and the associated killing of animals. Although I had fished in years past, before reading this book hunting seemed "barbaric" to me. After reading the book I have a better understanding of the sport, and am a little more open-minded about those who hunt and those who own guns, rifles and shotguns and hunt for the sport and food. (Mind you, I still don't consider an AK-47 a hunting implement.) The other stories in the book, of friendship and family were heart-warming, honest and a breath of fresh air, and remind the reader that indeed we strive to be the best in a brother, a son, a father, that family comes first, and that broken lines of communication should be mended before we leave this earth. In addition, as one-half of an interracial marriage these past 35 years, I identified with the author's relationships with his spouse, his father-in-law Alex and Alex's friends. Of Alex, Bobby, Lewis and Carl, I'm reminded of the saying, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." I loved Harrington's style, and substance, of writing so much that I am now reading another of his books, Crossings: A White Man's Journey into Black America, and so far it is outstanding as well. And finally, the book's other storyline---leaving the yuppie fast lane of traffic---resonated with this reviewer as well.

An outstanding book about male relationships. It was this book by an "Easterner" that showed me, who grew up in Wyoming hunting, what hunting is about for males. A great read for anyone who has been in a hunting camp or spent time hunting with friends.

More than just about hunting, family, and friends. A life's trip to one's past with refelections.

Any outdoorsman, especially one that rabbit hunts, will truly enjoy this book. It shows the feeling of true friends and the value of sharing time together. The interaction of the group reminds me of my buddies I have been hunting with for nearly 40 years. It also talks about the importance of friendship and family all intertwined into a very outstanding book. I plan on buying a copy for each of my hunting buddies and family.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND WHO IS A RABBIT HUNTER HE LOVED THE BOOK ALLL THE STORIES OF THE MEN & THEIR HUNTS.. I ALSO GOT ONE FOR HIS BROTHER HE & HIS WIFE BOTH LOVED THE BOOK A GREAT BOOK I HAVENT READ IT YET BUT LOOKING FOWARD TO READING IT. I RECOMEND IT TO ALL HUNTERS OR ANYONE WHO LIKES A GOOD GOOD TRUE STORY OF JUST PLAN PEOPLE HAVING A GOOD TIME ENJOYING FAMILY & FRIENDS
WE ALSO SAW THE SPECIAL ON PBS WHICH WAS GOOD.
JUANITA

brand new book for a great price

a most excellent book
my husband is enjoying