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Tony Vinciguerra reviews Haven't we all dreamed of fishing in the famous steelhead waters or Oregon? When the fish aren't biting, and time seems to drag a bit, haven't we all dreamed of seeing a naked woman dive into the water that we are fishing? Haven't we all dreamed of watching a naked woman catch a fish? Perhaps not all of us dream about these things, but David James Duncan does. The River Why tells the story of young Gus. His father is a died-in-the wool, snobby fly fisherman, who snubs his nose at those who fish with bait. Gus' mother loves fishing too. Unfortunately for Gus' father, she only fishes with bait. This dynamic creates some fantastic arguments between Gus' parents. Duncan mesmerized me with such hilarious characters that at first, I didn't even realize that he tells a great story as well. But soon the characters began to take a back seat to the story of Gus traveling the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. I don't consider myself as astute as some readers at picking up on symbolism in novels. Fortunately, this isn't the kind of novel that requires the reader to be that observant in order to enjoy the story. Frankly, Duncan hits the reader over the head with the butt end of a nine weight by the end of the book, but that is not a bad thing. I don't recall a slow page in the whole novel. It's definitely worth seeing a glimpse of the things that David James Duncan dreams about. -- ASV Rating: cane pole Rating System Statistics About This Book Click here to go back to Book Reviews. |
