The River Why

The River Why

by David James Duncan

★★

I wanted to like this one. I loved Duncan’s novel The Brothers K and had been looking forward to reading this one, but it just didn’t work for me. I felt myself dreading it every time I was about to pick it up. It was incredibly hard for me to get into. It’s about fly fishing and philosophy, an odd combination in any book, but in this meandering novel neither subject captured my interest. 

Gus is a fisherman to his core. His parents are both talented fishers and he was raised on a steady diet of hooks and lines. His father is a prim and proper Englishman and his mother is a redneck hot-tempered woman. Though their personalities clash, their loyalty to each other is unshakeable. The odd pairing, along with their eccentric son Bill Bob, were my favorite elements in the book, but the trio made far too few appearances to keep my interest. Gus’ parents are thrilled when he turns out to have a natural ability for the past time. 

BOTTOM LINE: I definitely seem to be in the minority here, but I just couldn’t get into it. There were some beautifully written sections and a few really unique supporting characters, but in the end it wasn’t enough. The rest of it fell flat for me. It’s not good when your favorite part of the book is finishing it so you don’t ever have to pick it up again. 

“… because of fishing I grew up osprey-silent and trout-shy and developed early on an ability to slide through the Public School System as river water slides by the logjams, rockslides and dams that bar its seaward journey.” 

“Perhaps not to know him is to know him well. He has a height and weight, face, voice, hair, the usual number of limbs – all the accoutrements of a brother. Yet there is an impregnability about him that thwarts easy intimacy.”

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book. They can be debut authors, authors who seem to have taken a hiatus, OR for those who read classics authors you wish would have written another book before they passed. Here’s my list…

1) Jane Austen – Of course she tops my list! She was only 41 when she died and had completed only six novels and a few shorter pieces. She showed such wisdom and depth in her writing at such a young age, one can only imagine what she would have written if she’d had more time.

2) John Berendt – He has written two nonfiction books (including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and both have been wonderful in their own way. He captures the cities he writes about (Savannah and Venice) in such rich detail that I know I’ll read whatever he decides to write next.

3) Edgar Allan Poe – He was 40 when he died! He created the world’s first detective novel, wrote the infamous poem “The Raven” and has chilled souls for decades with stories like The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. I wish he’d had another decade and a few more bottles of cognac to fuel his writing.

4) Douglas Adams – The author of the hilarious Hitchhiker series died when he was only 49. I can picture him growing even funny with old age.

5) Harper Lee – Only one book and it’s one of my all-time favorites. Who knows what brilliance could have been found in a second book?

6) David James Duncan – The Brothers K was such an epic novel and I wonder if Duncan’s next book will have a similar scope or would be something more focused. Either way, I bet it will be great.

7) E.M. Forster – He didn’t die at a young age, in fact, he made it to 91, but I still would have loved another book from him. Howards End, A Room with a View, A Passage to India, each of his novels is written so beautifully. I could read 10 more books from him if I had the chance.

8) J. D. Salinger – The reclusive writer published only four books. I’ve read three and have been dreading reading the final one because I know it’s the last new book I’ll ever have from him.

9) David Benioff – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed City of Thieves. Benioff hasn’t written much else, but that’s because he’s busy writing HBO’s Game of Thrones and a few little movies, like Troy and X-Men: Wolverine.

10) Kathryn Stockett – The Help was just wonderful, as just about everyone and their mother (and grandmother) know by now. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next from the debut author.