Customer Reviews

The Old Man's Boy Grows Older

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The reason it's second-best, is that the first book, "The Old Man and the Boy", is the best. Buy them both, read the other one first. If you can, read them when you're 13 or 14 and you're just starting to get good at hunting. If you can't, then just read them anytime, anywhere.

A brilliant sequel to the book "The Old Man and the Boy. Very moving, an excellent account of a man's memories of the lessons taught to him by his Grandfather, "The Old Man". We were moved to tears, both my husband and our grandson have a copy. Marvellous!

I hate sequels, but in this case it worked! The Old Man and The Boy was great, this one is too. I would recommend this one for any age. I am a big "rereader" and this one is certainly on my list of rereads. In my opinion, these two books are the author's best work, much better than most of his fiction.

"The Old Man's Boy Grows Older" is the wonderful sequel to "The Old Man and the Boy". As the author grows up and moves away from his grandfather, he remembers more of the things his grandfather taught him. Being hungry, miserable and mistreated in his first job as crew on a cargo ship brings memories of hunting for ducks and the wonderful food prepared in hunting camp. The reader can see how the grandfather started teaching Ruark to be a man, and dealing with adversity on his own taught him more. As with "The Old Man and the Boy", this book contains some really beautiful hunting and food writing. A book not to be missed by old men, boys, and anyone else who loves the outdoors.

In my opinion, most sequels do not live up to the original. Many movies support this theory. In this case, The Old Man's Boy Grows Older has quite a challenge considering the quality of Robert Ruark's original book about growing up in NC entitled, The Old Man and the Boy. I found this book to be good as good a read. Once again, Ruark wrote this book a chapter at a time, each with its own tale, advice, lessons learned, etc. The difference is that Ruark share many of his own life experiences, as he does the advice he received from his Grandfather (the Old Man) growing up. The two views present and past work well together.

I particularly like the fact that Ruark traveled the world on many outdoor adventures, yet he can connect all of it back to the simple way of life that he learned back in North Carolina in the early 1900s. He also includes a lot more detail about his hunting exploits that I enjoyed since it includes stalking big game in Africa. The last few chapters of the book provide an intriguing gliimpse into the mind of Ruark as he decides to purchase the home he grew up in, and talks about the memory of his favorite dog.

If you have read the Old Man and the Boy, and have not read this sequel, you should. If you have not read either, I recommend starting with the original, then taking a break for awhile, and reading this second one. Some of the content is repeated, thus my recommendation for a slight gap between the two.

I read The Old Man and the Boy and then this book back to back. I found this book to be repetitive, containing some of the same stories and references from the first book in perhaps a recap form. This one was not nearly as interesting to me as the first one. Of course what makes the first book so absorbing is the grandfather's advice to young Ruark which is absent or abbreviated in the second book. Maybe if I hadn't read them back to back I would have liked this one more. It was a disappointment after how great the first book was.

Very good as a stand alone book but terrific as the follow up to " The Old Man and Boy ". Great to read about Rourke's adult hunting experiences. I really enjoyed this book.

This is essentially an anthology of columns written for a major outdoor magazine in the fifties. These were among the last columns written by Ruark for it and essentially the boy has grown and the major character the 'old man' is gone. So, you get a lot of rehashes of the same material written previously as remembered by the boy. I guess you should keep in mind that these magazine pieces were written to be read monthly and not a series of short stories. So, if you haven't read any "Old man the Boy" material it will be an interesting and gratifying read. If you have read the delightful series "The Old Man and the Boy" it is diminished. And if you're choosing between the two books, read the first one. Everything is better the first time.

After reading the three biographies on Robert Ruark I decided to collect all his books.