Customer Reviews

The River Why

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, it's not a book about fishing. Duncan uses fishing as one kind of bait, along with wonderful humor, beautiful writing and memorable characterization, to make a much larger, much more important set of points.

Second, the plot isn't about fishing, or living in harmony with nature; it's about a young man's discovering what life really is. The Perfect Schedule - young Gus's plan for getting in the absolute maximum number of hours a day fishing - turns out to be a horrible failure. It takes a long time for Gus to realize something is wrong, including a harrowing adventure with a drowned man and some pretty serous sickness. Now it may be - ahem - that fisherpersons are more stubborn or more stupid, but Duncan has Gus discover that there are things more important than fishing, and that those things can lead to still greater things. And that all of that can make the fishing better.

Third, while Duncan and Gus poke immense amounts of fun at it, this really is a re-casting of Izaak Walton's _The Compleat Fisherman_, although Walton is nearly unreadable and Duncan writes extraordinarily well. This book is also about more or less the same thing as those "witlesses" that Ma brings to grief, although both Gus and the Witlesses would likely deny it. One of Duncan's subtle messages is there, too.

Fourth and last, like a fish taking a fly, when you read this book you will be so dazzled by the gorgeous fly of Duncan's humor, writing and characterization that you will miss the hook and line of his real message until, like Gus, the line of light has you and you feel that gentle tug in your heart.

Beautiful and subtle, hilarious and passionate, charming and amazing, this book is simply an astonishing piece of writing. It's one of my ten or so favorite books, and likely will be one of yours, too.

I chose to read The River Why because I loved The Brothers K and hoped his first novel had been as well written and memorable. I was not disappointed. The River Why follows Gus Orviston, the recently graduated son of a famous fly-fisherman, who is a fishing prodigy and wants nothing more than to fish every waking hour of his day. In order to persue his passion he moves to an isolated riverside cabin in Oregon with his fishing pole Rodney and the hopes of fishing 14 hours a day, making flies and other fishing related activities 6 hours, and sleeping the remaining six. He assumes that following this plan will lead to "optimum happiness," but quickly realizes it isn't fulfilling. He wants to interact with other people, enjoy his surrounds apart for more than its fishing potential, and falls in love. It is an excellent coming of age/finding a personal religion story.

Besides the main story line, however, the book is excellent for several other reasons. The first is that it has a great supporting cast. Bill Bob, Gus's younger brother, in particular is one of the best child character in any novel I've read, and the rest of his family and neighbors are also developed well. They have great personalities, quirks, and are both insightful and humorous. Duncan also does a tremendous job bringing the environment to life. His descriptions bring the rivers and hills to life and allow the reader to imagine the beauty of the area. It is also a very funny book, so it flies by and is very enjoyable to read.

The River Why isn't a perfect book. Duncan's politics seeped in a little too much in a few instances, which would have been fine except Gus lives in an isolated world with problems to worry about other than the government and it just seems out of place when the Vietnam draft and war come up. The conclusion of the book is also disappointing after Gus marries--there are just too many unnecessary changes in his life. Thateing said, however, these small complaints don't hurt the book's overall impact and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in fishing, the environment, the Northwest, philosophy, or simply great writing. It can be enjoyed by people of all ages and all readers will come away with something new.

I bought this book for my husband because he likes to fish. I grew up along the banks of the Red River in Louisiana and enjoy fishing, too...so I was a bit curious about this little tome myself. Hubby and I decided to read this book aloud to each other every night before bed, taking turns with chapters. I have to tell you that I have never, ever laughed so hard in my entire life. Reading this book was a blast...a total blast! The story of how his parents met was worth the price of the book, not to mention the story of how his mother shot the dr's dog. Truth IS stranger than fiction. Mr. Duncan's family is one-of-a-kind and about as eccentric as they get in a very readable way. This book is in my 'I'd take with me if I were stranded on a desert island' collection. I highly recommend it.

The River Why has become a family favorite ever since the winter I read it aloud to our precocious kids.... who are still fond, 3 years later, of saying things like "got him!" or "witlesses" or "twinkies catch big ones!" They will even occasionally quote Isaak Walton as they hawker into the fire...

My thesis is that any book about a solitary young man's learning to see the entire world as a metaphor for fishing, only to be hooked himself by the power of love, while being funny, profound, serious, uproarious, symbolic, cathartic, and a love story about the world and the Fisher of Souls must be packing a wallop... and this one is.

The River Why was published by the Sierra Club, either in one-dimensional reflex, or in a sudden access of Light to an editor.... and it is a book about living in harmony with nature. But more than that, it's about aligning one's soul with what has been said, thought, felt, and done over the past few hundred years.

This is a book that has made me guffaw, cry, and, always, think. I re-read it every couple of years with joy... and wish that to every reader who ventures on the trout-laden waters of the River Why.

This book is beautiful, simple, funny, and deep like a dark, swirling undercut bank of a good trout stream, in which secrets lurk, and wonder is promised on the very next cast. This is only fiction because the characters themselves are the creation of the author's imagination...yet in reality they are an amalgamation of all of us, each one having a purely human experience. Fishing is a metaphore in this book, not what the book is about, though folks who do fish, especially those who study the stream and just "know" where the fish will be will find a special appreciation for this book. It is philosophy told in the context of a story, like "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, or Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," or as has been mentioned many times, Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

I am certain that The River Why would be read and understood 60 different ways by any 50 people who read it. For me, it was a compelling journey of a young man, trying to navigate the waters of understanding between what is true, what is not, and finding that those two extremes don't exist. Old ways of seeing the world didn't work when he was confronted with real life "stuff," like death, love, time, and the creatures with whom we share this little wet planet. Over the course of a year on one of any Coast Range rivers of western Oregon, he discovered the "middle path," a path that made sense to him, brought him peace, brought him understanding, and ultimately brought him love, reunion with his family, and a sense of his place in the universe.

This is a book for those who are drawn to nature and native wisdom as doorways to spiritual insight. It is a book I will give away as gifts to special people whom I believe it could touch as it touched me. Spend 15 minutes with it, and you, too will be "hooked!"

When DJD writes about a game of catch the ball burns my hand thru the mitt. When his story is about wading up a trout stream, my neck gets hot from the sun on it, I can hear the mosquitos whine, and my feet go numb from the cold water. His characters are complex; warm, funny, honest, whacked, i.e quite real. He writes books that I could live in and I don't even play baseball. Or fish.

and I love this book. I will pick it up and turn to my favorite pages just to re-read them again and again. I am no literary genius, but I thought this was great fun to read and very clever. The philosophy cracked me up, and the chapter on the bible and religion is one of my favorites to laugh at - and I'm a Christian! The story has stuck with me for years. I first read it about 9 years ago, and its still one I give out as a gift. Do not hesitate.

I first read this book about 6 years ago and have since re-read it often. Friends and family got sick of me recommending it and finally read it and they loved it as well. My writing abilities are too crappy to give this novel the praise it deserves. DJD's other books are outstanding also but this one is my favorite.

I love this book. I reread it at least yearly and I wish I had bought the hardback because I have worn out my paperback copy with rereading and note-taking and it will remain in my library permanently.

This book is not about fly-fishing. The main character, Gus Orviston, exists for fishing but this book is not a snobbish put-down of non-flyfishers. I would compare it most closely to "A River Runs Through It". Where Maclean is "haunted by water" Duncan is immersed in it. It is really about the business of living and becoming and how the character's family and loved ones help him on his journey of self-discovery.

I use this book in my life. I often tell friends to read it. I use stories from it to illustrate things I am explaining to patients. I have even used it in church sermons and lessons. The story I share most often is of the Christian friend of Gus's who learns the mercy of God and is left with a large scar on his hand as a reminder of God's rescue of his soul and body in a near-fatal drowning when his warship blows up. Read it for yourself, but it always leaves some of the people to whom I read it in tears.

The writing is uneven and some of the digressions lost my interest. The author's leftish politics are more evident than they need to be, but this really doesn't detract from the book. And there are a few weird religious ideas and a few off-color parts.

On the positive side, the characters in this novel are breathtakingly complete and you can't help but fall in love with them all - imperfect though they may be. There is a strong environmental ethic that pervades the book (That's probably why the Sierra Club publishes it). The peripheral stories, digressions, etc. that are thrown in are generally fascinating and thought provoking.

The plot is really simple. A young man leaves his home to pursue what seems to be the perfect life - fishing all possible hours of the day. The title of the book comes because the river on which the author settles is in the shape of the word "why", and pondering this "why" drives him to do more than just live a life of quiet desperation. He burns out and discovers that life and fishing and the environment are really not enough without the context of family and friends.

I highly recommend this book; one of the best I've ever read and it stands up to repeated readings.

In some ways The River Why is too complicated to summarize, and any shorthand version of it does the book no justice. The San Francisco Chronicle poll of the best novels of the 20th Century west put The River Why at number 35. That's in the company of The Angle of Repose and The Grapes of Wrath. While it does not much resemble those classics, TRW certainly belongs in their company. Since first reading it 20 years ago, TRW has made me laugh and cry and think. We even used some of the text in our wedding vows. What more could you want from a book?