Norman macclean movie#

вЂњHe stood there next to the river, framed by bluffs and mountains to either side and the river running through them,вЂќ he writes, вЂњand with his arms outstretched, he gazed upward at the sunset with that open, ecstatic expression on his face that arose only in moments of greatest joy. In one instance, he describes coming upon his father as daylight faded on the Blackfoot. While MacleanвЂ™s journalistic prose is sharp and concise, it can also be beautiful. вЂњI didnвЂ™t spend my career teaching Shakespeare and Wordsworth,вЂќ he says. Maclean concedes that his fatherвЂ™s book is вЂњmore consistently poeticвЂќ than his own, but he makes no apologies, noting that the older Maclean was a renowned English professor at the University of Chicago. вЂњI wanted to straighten people out,вЂќ Maclean says. In reality, he was murdered in a Chicago alley, and, although conspiracy theories abound, the circumstances remain a mystery.

In the film, Paul вЂ“ played by a young Brad Pitt вЂ“ is beaten to death in Montana.

Norman macclean movie#

вЂњHome WatersвЂќ was not meant as a вЂњconscious parallelвЂќ to his fatherвЂ™s literary achievement, Maclean says, but we do learn more about the characters and stories that made вЂњA River Runs Through ItвЂќ so splendid.ДЄfter reading an early version of вЂњHome Waters,вЂќ a friend told Maclean, вЂњYouвЂ™ve written the backstory to вЂA River Runs Through It.вЂ™ вЂќ вЂњI said, вЂIвЂ™ve done what?вЂ™ I almost fell off my chair.вЂќ вЂњHome Waters,вЂќ though, stands nicely on its own.ДЇans of вЂњA River Runs Through It,вЂќ and particularly those of the movie adaptation, will find intrigue in MacleanвЂ™s investigation into the death of his uncle. But when I got to a place in вЂHome WatersвЂ™ where it was appropriate, I knew I had to do it.вЂќ вЂњI could not write it,вЂќ Maclean says of that childhood outing. Family lore, told and retold, can be a fuzzy thing, but some memories about his father, like their first time fishing together, remained spectacularly vivid and personal. When IвЂ™m on the water, and especially when no one else is around, I feel the presence of generations of my family whose stories run through it.вЂќ вЂњI do not fish alone on the Blackfoot River, ever,вЂќ Maclean writes, вЂњeven though now I mostly fish by myself. ThereвЂ™s also a fair bit about trout and his famous fatherвЂ™s book. ItвЂ™s about nostalgia and cross-country car rides to a family cabin by Seeley Lake in Montana and how generations of Macleans became tied to a place. ItвЂ™s about history and Meriwether Lewis and how larch trees grew to be giants. Indeed, вЂњHome WatersвЂќ is about geology and glaciers and the forming of a river. A memoir is about you, and this isnвЂ™t all about me.вЂќ вЂњI thought this was going to be a big fish story, but then it turned into something very different,вЂќ says Maclean, now 78. That was the end of it, he thought, until a couple years later when an editor unearthed the magazine article while on vacation in Montana. He wrote about that fish, вЂњthe fish of a lifetime,вЂќ he called it, for a local club of anglers, and, then, with some prodding, expanded the tale for a regional magazine. Then, he caught a big trout вЂ“ a really big trout вЂ“ while fishing a stretch of the Blackfoot that his father memorialized in вЂњA River Runs Through It,вЂќ published in 1976. His storytelling вЂ“ from fishing with his dad to the life and death of his uncle Paul вЂ“ is reliable, elegant and charming.ДЄfter a 30-year career as a journalist, mostly as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in Washington, D.C., the younger Maclean took to writing well-received nonfiction about wildfires in the American West. Maclean, is also an author, and his latest book, вЂњHome Waters,вЂќ is a lyrical companion to his fatherвЂ™s classic chronicling their familyвЂ™s history and bond with MontanaвЂ™s Blackfoot River. Only my wifeвЂ™s good sense kept his surname from higher billing on the boyвЂ™s birth certificate.

To me, Norman MacleanвЂ™s book, more poetry than narrative, is a triumph of American literature.

We named him after the author whose novella about flyfishing and Montana transformed both.

If youвЂ™re expecting an unbiased take on anything to do with вЂњA River Runs Through It,вЂќ I should disclose that my sonвЂ™s middle name is вЂњMaclean.вЂќ This is not some cute happenstance.