Standing in a river in Montana and seeing the mountains rise above it remembering all those in my family who’ve seen the same unchanged beautiful scene and have come and gone brings me to tears. Standing in a cemetery there where they are resting and hearing the sight wind in my ears is transcendental. Time may pass but the beautiful land known as “God’s Country” is timeless. I too had a brother who I tried to reach and now mourn the fact he lives in my heart forever as a young man. Cannot go to the cemetery in Montana without thinking somehow he rests there due to my failure as an older brother.
Crazy to believe but some of the famous words (quotes) in the movie I use with my friends,. I’ve watched this movie about 10x, wish it was longer with my insight with Jessie or mabel. Sad to see Blackfoot over run by people
That’s not your fault Mark. You can only love people and not judge them if they don’t want your help. They even said this in the movie. May his memory assuage your pain. Thank you for sharing. Burns: If he came back next summer, would you try and help him? Norman Maclean: If you wanted me to. Jessie Burns: Well he's not coming back. Norman Maclean: Well, at least he's got friends out there. Jessie Burns: Who Ronald Coleman? Jessie Burns: Why is it the people who need the most help... won't take it? Norman Maclean: I don't know Jess. Jessie starts to cry. Jessie Burns: Well, I don't cry Norman. Norman takes his handkerchief and drys her eyes. “Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one in need and ask the same question: We are willing Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, that part we have to give… is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us… But we can still love them… We can love-completely-even without complete understanding….”
Mark, I am exactly the same age Norman Maclean was when he published "River," and, like Norman, I struggle to make sense of my life. The loss of friends and companions has been especially difficult. The one who died in a crash while drag racing his car. The ones who were lost to alcohol or substance abuse. Those lost to AIDS. Those who lived lives of despair before ending their suffering. So many, that I sometimes look at troubled souls who come into my life and find myself wondering if they are marked for death. Like the one young man who helped me with my computer and just went into rehab. Will he make it, or will we lose him? I have been fortunate to have reached out and been of help to some, and they have given me the courage to continue reaching out. I have come to believe I am like the farmer planting his crops. Not every seed will take root. And of those that take root, some will be lost to drought or flood or storm or to an early frost. But the farmer tends his field and does his best, and there will be a harvest. And I am in the harvest of my life. Norman Maclean's gift to me was his father's sermon, which brought peace and clarity to my sense of loss and fears of failure... “Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, that part we have to give… is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us… But we can still love them… We can love-completely-even without complete understanding….” We can love completely without complete understanding.
I am also haunted by rivers. Bury me in a streamside and I will live beyond this life a happy man. Never has any book, word, or movie touched me like A River Runs Though It. John Maclean speaks words of brilliance.
My Bride and I have graves by the side of the Thronapple river in west Michigan. We stop buy a couple times a year on motorcycle rides. Not looking forward to passing, but pleased where we will be rested.
Barely 100 pages. The prose is Biblical in its beauty. Norman writes from the very depths of his soul. Not everyone who reads it "gets it" or takes the time to pause and ponder how he struggles to make sense of his life and the loss of his brother. But millions of people who have read the book do "get it." And, for those who do, it often brings clarity and healing. It did for me.
Few movies capture the essence of their subject matter quite like A River Runs Through It. Fly fishing is one of the most beautiful art forms on earth…rewarding on a level that simultaneously satisfies your spirit and your ancient, animal instincts. It replenishes everything that modern society takes from you as a human being. Everybody needs at least ONE activity in their life which performs that function…it’s vital to your well-being and it’s sorely missing for too many people nowadays.
When we Americans mostly left the country for cities, we lost something important to mental and physical health, and I believe it was the peaceful connectedness to the land we’ve missed. It isn’t possible to be in nature and not feel something beyond our mere self… a respect for the natural world, the realization how small man really is.
Great movie I have ever seen, crazy how his brother died after inviting him to go to Chicago with him, I would love to meet Norman but unfortunately that can’t happen, I would love to go to that famous river. Wish the mover was longer
8/12/22 - I hope to meet my 21-year-old son in Northern Michigan over the Labor Day holiday to fish for brook trout. I'll be using my fly rod; he will probably use crawlers and a split shot. Doesn't matter. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter if we even catch fish, even though we will! Read the book, saw the movie. The movie was good, the book better. Tight lines everyone.
Standing in a river in Montana and seeing the mountains rise above it remembering all those in my family who’ve seen the same unchanged beautiful scene and have come and gone brings me to tears. Standing in a cemetery there where they are resting and hearing the sight wind in my ears is transcendental. Time may pass but the beautiful land known as “God’s Country” is timeless.
I too had a brother who I tried to reach and now mourn the fact he lives in my heart forever as a young man. Cannot go to the cemetery in Montana without thinking somehow he rests there due to my failure as an older brother.
Crazy to believe but some of the famous words (quotes) in the movie I use with my friends,. I’ve watched this movie about 10x, wish it was longer with my insight with Jessie or mabel. Sad to see Blackfoot over run by people
That’s not your fault Mark. You can only love people and not judge them if they don’t want your help. They even said this in the movie. May his memory assuage your pain. Thank you for sharing.
Burns: If he came back next summer, would you try and help him?
Norman Maclean: If you wanted me to.
Jessie Burns: Well he's not coming back.
Norman Maclean: Well, at least he's got friends out there.
Jessie Burns: Who Ronald Coleman?
Jessie Burns: Why is it the people who need the most help... won't take it?
Norman Maclean: I don't know Jess.
Jessie starts to cry. Jessie Burns: Well, I don't cry Norman.
Norman takes his handkerchief and drys her eyes.
“Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one in need and ask the same question: We are willing Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, that part we have to give… is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us… But we can still love them… We can love-completely-even without complete understanding….”
@@jvc12183 Thanks, Bro. Was very powerful reading…
Mark, I am exactly the same age Norman Maclean was when he published "River," and, like Norman, I struggle to make sense of my life. The loss of friends and companions has been especially difficult. The one who died in a crash while drag racing his car. The ones who were lost to alcohol or substance abuse. Those lost to AIDS. Those who lived lives of despair before ending their suffering. So many, that I sometimes look at troubled souls who come into my life and find myself wondering if they are marked for death. Like the one young man who helped me with my computer and just went into rehab. Will he make it, or will we lose him? I have been fortunate to have reached out and been of help to some, and they have given me the courage to continue reaching out.
I have come to believe I am like the farmer planting his crops. Not every seed will take root. And of those that take root, some will be lost to drought or flood or storm or to an early frost. But the farmer tends his field and does his best, and there will be a harvest. And I am in the harvest of my life. Norman Maclean's gift to me was his father's sermon, which brought peace and clarity to my sense of loss and fears of failure...
“Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, that part we have to give… is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us… But we can still love them… We can love-completely-even without complete understanding….”
We can love completely without complete understanding.
My all time favorite movie, lived in Missoula and actually lived in their home! The best times of my life.
thats cap
I am also haunted by rivers. Bury me in a streamside and I will live beyond this life a happy man. Never has any book, word, or movie touched me like A River Runs Though It. John Maclean speaks words of brilliance.
My Bride and I have graves by the side of the Thronapple river in west Michigan. We stop buy a couple times a year on motorcycle rides. Not looking forward to passing, but pleased where we will be rested.
I love Montana and know the feeling if the beauty and the rivers that flow! Time for a road trip❤️
Norman Maclean is one if my favorite authors. very underrated amongst other American writers.
The mountains and the outdoors are God's most majestic Cathedrals ! I never felt the serene peace that it gives me !
There is poetry in the blood of the Macleans. 🎣
The movie was my favorite since I was 10. The book was fantastic and I still own a first edition. Im also haunted by unfished memories.
I didn't know there were books, love the movie! Definitely purchasing.
You won’t regret it.
@@michaelkang215 I actually purchased the book shortly after this post and you are right, I don't regret it. Really great read!
@@jaxs7267 Great!
It's incredible how a good book or a movie can change you. Fly fishing in Montana is now on my bucket list! lol.
@@michaelkang215 Traveling to Montana is a bucket list item for me. Very beautiful! The cinematography was beautiful!!!
Barely 100 pages. The prose is Biblical in its beauty. Norman writes from the very depths of his soul. Not everyone who reads it "gets it" or takes the time to pause and ponder how he struggles to make sense of his life and the loss of his brother. But millions of people who have read the book do "get it." And, for those who do, it often brings clarity and healing. It did for me.
Few movies capture the essence of their subject matter quite like A River Runs Through It. Fly fishing is one of the most beautiful art forms on earth…rewarding on a level that simultaneously satisfies your spirit and your ancient, animal instincts. It replenishes everything that modern society takes from you as a human being. Everybody needs at least ONE activity in their life which performs that function…it’s vital to your well-being and it’s sorely missing for too many people nowadays.
When we Americans mostly left the country for cities, we lost something important to mental and physical health, and I believe it was the peaceful connectedness to the land we’ve missed. It isn’t possible to be in nature and not feel something beyond our mere self… a respect for the natural world, the realization how small man really is.
I'm not much on reading books but sure liked the movie
Great movie I have ever seen, crazy how his brother died after inviting him to go to Chicago with him, I would love to meet Norman but unfortunately that can’t happen, I would love to go to that famous river. Wish the mover was longer
In real life, his brother died in Chicago after accepting the invitation
I love all this
And the movie is now on Netflix
On the dvd i have it saying Norman MacLean Classic Memoir.
8/12/22 - I hope to meet my 21-year-old son in Northern Michigan over the Labor Day holiday to fish for brook trout. I'll be using my fly rod; he will probably use crawlers and a split shot. Doesn't matter. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter if we even catch fish, even though we will! Read the book, saw the movie. The movie was good, the book better. Tight lines everyone.
What a family. Alba gu brath!
Aloha Mahalo Nizhoni Always Forever Everlong Evermore
Good movie. But it has messed up Montana
How so?
A realtor runs through it, sadly @@emilysatterlee995