Customer Reviews

Stories of the Old Duck Hunters (Gordon Macquarrie Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is for anyone who is ever thinking about buying a book with stories by MacQuarrie in it. Buy it and don't look back. MacQuarrie wasn't an advertiser like so many things are today. He wrote about everyday people and their love of the out doors. You must be careful though because after you read MacQuarrie it will be hard to find someone to out do him. I never heard of him before I found a book that Zack Taylor compiled with the stories of MacQuarrie flyfishing. Buy anything you can find by him and you won't be sorry. Enjoy MacQuarrie in your private times when you need things to be enjoyable and he'll never let you down.

The terms "author" or "writer" do not apply to Mr. MacQuarrie. He is an artist. Reading "Stories of the Old Duck Hunters" will first transport you to your favorite duck blind, with the early morning sun glowing through the morning mist, the winter chill misting your breath and numbing your fingers. Then you will find yourself in the middle of the old Brule river, the cold water swirling around your waders as you try to tease a crafty Brown from behind a rock with a worn no-name brown fly.

MacQuarrie's wonderful story telling will cause you to laugh with joy, sigh with nostalgia, tense with apprehension, and bring the occassional tear to your eye. I found myself many times gazing of into space as I reflected upon my own experiences, the book momentarily forgotten in my hands as MacQuarrie once again made some connection to my thoughts and feelings. If you love the outdoors, and especially if your idea of a perfect day involves the frigid, wet, muddy, foggy self-torture device known as a duck blind, you must read this book.

Gordon MacQuarrie passed away more than 50 years ago, but his stories are as fresh and relevant today as when they were penned more than half a century ago. People will still be reading and enjoying these stories a hundred years from now. This book contains a collection of 19 of MacQuarrie's best short stories spanning his prolific career. They are about fishing (mostly fly fishing) and hunting (mostly duck and deer hunting) in his native northern Wisconsin. If this is any evidence of what impact this book has had on me, I've fished all my life, but I've never fly fished. I'm now going to go and buy a fly rod and try it this year! These stories really are amazing, after reading them you'll want to spend the rest of your life out in the woods. MacQuarrie apparently based many of his fictional adventures and characters on real life incidents and people. Each of the stories center around the fishing and hunting adventures Old Duck Hunters Association, Inc (the Inc stand for Incorrigible). Hizzoner, the quirky and often irascable chairman, and the author travel around Wisconsin often in friendly competition, occasionally scheming to out-maneuver the wife, but always enjoying life, companionship, and their outdoor adventures. I think that MacQuarrie has perfectly captured the image of what we would like each of our outdoor adventures to be, even if they do not often live up to this expectation in reality. This collection rates as 4.8 stars in my view, rounding up to 5 to give GM the benefit of the doubt. It is better than similar collections by Gene Hill (which are also good but tend to be more introspective). The only reason that I give this 4.8 is that as good as they are, these stories are not on the same planet as Ruark's `The Old Man and the Boy'.

I purchased the item 1-3-11 and today is 2-3-11 and i have not only NOT received the product, I have heard nothing as to why it is not here. Stories of the Old Duck Hunters was to be a gift for my husband.

Just reread this old favorite of mine. His characters are masterpieces of excellent writing and his storytelling is an art. May GM's works live forever!