By Chelsea Titus
Round Table editor

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” With the grace and power of this line, Norman Maclean begins his modern classic of fiction of the American West, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories.

A River Runs Through It was written by Norman Maclean. This book is written autobiographically.

The story is about two fly-fishing sons of a Presbyterian minister in rural Montana named Norman and Paul. Norman and Paul are exact opposites; Norman is reserved where Paul is rebellious.  

Norman takes his school work and writing a bit too seriously for Paul, who would rather have a good time, drink and play cards rather than get involved with any academic study.

Norman and Paul also have different ideas of the future: Norman wants to be a college literature professor and Paul wants to stay in Montana and write for a local newspaper.

But, ironically, Paul is the better fly fisherman and in this way attains a sense of perfection.

The novel also details the Maclean boys’ involvement with a colorful group of town’s people, including a young Indian woman Paul decides to date and the defiant Jessie whom Norman later marries.

The story not only focuses on the importance of fly-fishing, religion and family but introduces the insight of Norman Maclean’s life. 

The river is the anchor of the story. It runs through the land as well as the Maclean boys’ lives.

I liked the book. My Advanced Placement Literature class was assigned to read it at home as homework.

The beginning of the book seemed a little slow as they were introducing the characters and towards the middle of the novel the words were a little difficult to decipher.

The novel is not just a book to read if you like to fish. Anyone can read it and understand the author’s message.

How to fly-fish: “The one count takes the line, leader, and fly off the water; the two count tosses them seemingly straight into the sky; the three count was my father’s way of saying that at the top the leader and fly have to be given a little beat of time to get behind the line as it is starting forward; the four count means put on the power and throw the line into the rod until you reach ten o’clock-then check-cast, let the fly and leader get ahead of the line, and coast to a soft and perfect landing.”