On 2011-02-04 14:24, Tom Jorgenson wrote:
"Sometimes hedonism is the first step in becoming a mystic."

Hesse.

On 2011-02-04 04:04, stoneunhinged wrote:

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On 2011-02-03 21:02, LobowolfXXX wrote:

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On 2011-02-03 10:35, Nom de Guerre wrote:

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On 2011-02-03 05:21, stoneunhinged wrote:
My absolute favorite ending sentence of a book:

"I am haunted by waters."

Each of the several sentences which precede it are also things of pure beauty.

But the one above actually gives me the shivers. If I let it sink in, I can actually get teary-eyed.

What a great book that was. The other stories in that book were great too. It's a shame Maclean didn't start writing and publishing earlier in his life.

Must be one of those karma things...I just ordered that book this week.

Nom is right: don't neglect the other stories. It's all good. I also highly recommend Young Men and Fire. It's a much different sort of tale (and Maclean left it unfinished; his son put the finishing touches on it), but bears all of the Maclean touches of superb prose and intense reflection on nature, man, and memory.

I've read River (and the other stories) countless times, but I only read Young Men and Fire about a year ago, and the experience was such that I dared not immediately return to it. It's the kind of thing to re-visit a few years later, perhaps, if at all. Hard to explain. I think the reason Maclean is my all time favorite writer is that he touches something very deep and emotional in me, and he is capable of doing it with mere prose.

Nuff said. I'm off topic. Something quite unusual for me!