Trout Fishing in America - Richard Brautigan BOOK REVIEW

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Brautigan Interview:
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[@smokinmystic7363]

“Like reading a Captain Beefheart record”! That’s the best description of Brautigan’s writing I’ve ever heard!👍🤣

[@meesalikeu]

trout fishing was famous, but brautigan is by far most famous for his poem 'all watched over by machines of loving grace,' the first cyberpunk writing.

[@scp240]

Coming of age in the 1960s, this was a cult classic among my generation of Hippies. I think I read it along with some other Brautigan works but honestly I can't recall any of it, other than the title. Kerouac made a bigger impression. I gave a copy of On the Road to my daughter and the next thing I knew she disappeared backpacking in Latin America for a year or so.

[@mercurymachines4311]

I love this book so much. Brautigan is one of my favourite American writers.

[@rjd53]

I read Brautigan when I was young in the late sixties here in Germany. Prefered Watermelon Sugar to Trout Fishing, anyway from that time to today he is one of my five lifetime favourites. The last summer before Covid hit I made a California roundtrip, drove to Bolinas and walked up to the house he lived and killed himself. Wanted to feel the vibes of the place. It's a very beautiful place indeed, you must be very depressed and in dispair to shoot yourself there. I didn't, took a swim at the beach there instead, the beach he could look down at from his house on the hill ...

[@buffyinthewalls6034]

surprise 3am post by the man himself

[@ryanofottawa]

You gotta wake up pretty early to catch them fish.

[@potter5647]

"No one recovers from the disease of being born, a deadly wound if there ever was one" -Emil Cioran

[@aaronmichael8305]

That’s funny, I came about discovering Brautigan the same way. Picked up the same three volume book in a thrift store then moved on to Trout Fishing in America. I feel like Brautigan is “the missing link” between the beats and Pynchon.

[@classicbambi]

So the wind won't blow it all away is my favorite!

[@carolyns4519]

Dust....American dust....

[@CruelSpirit]

Excited you're finally cover Brautigan, as he's become one of my favorite authors. I read Trout Fishing last year and since have read Big Sur and Revenge of the Lawn, both great. I've got Willard and His Bowling Trophies on my shelf as my next Brautigan read.

[@nationalskaren]

I love 'In watermelon sugar' - I believe it helped me get into Pynchon later.

[@mattdalton9672]

Im happy to see a review for this, it has recently made it onto my list, only recently because I have been trying to remember the author from seeing his mustache and the word "mayonnaise" on the front and back of a book being read on the train. Also to my recollection, first time seeing strangers talk about reading the book and how much it meant to them, damn I wanted to fit myself into that conversation so bad. Brautigan will be acquired very soon, maybe a little faster with your recommendation. Have been watching you for a few weeks now and would say our choices are similar, cant remember if it were Elmore

[@timom2064]

I'm confused and also glad that couple of Brautigan's works have been translated into finnish in the 70's. I've read Trout Fishing in America and The Hawkline Monster. The Latter is weird and funny at the same time just like Trout Fishing. I've never read In Watermelon Sugar, but I'd love to some day.

[@med2282]

You need to read "Sombrero Fallout" by Brautigan. I think he is a brilliant writer (in the weirdest way) and that book is the best of the best. Hope you review it someday!

[@carolyns4519]

Brautigan is my favorite author :) So The Wind Won't Blow it All Away is my favorite of his. Would also recommend The Tokyo-Montana Express or some of his poetry (Loading Mercury With A Pitchfork is my overall favorite collection).

[@derwin22]

You're correct about the chronology of Richard Brautigan's novels. "A Confederate General from Big Sur" was indeed his debut novel, published in 1964, while "Trout Fishing in America" followed in 1967; however, he wrote Trout Fishing first, and finished both novels at about the same time. Despite its initial lack of success, "Trout Fishing in America" eventually propelled Brautigan to fame and became a significant work associated with the countercultural movement of the late 1960s. Its popularity and influence have endured, with millions of copies sold worldwide. Brautigan's ambivalence toward the hippie movement is an interesting aspect of his persona, considering his association with countercultural themes.

[@farawayeye8423]

Love your work, Clifford

[@nikosuarilla5562]

"Is Mayonnaise an instrument?" - Patrick Star I seriously wondered if that was a Brautigan homage

[@timkjazz]

One of those strange books that defy categorization but should also be required reading for high school seniors throughout the United States.

[@br1na332]

I only just came across your channel after finishing The Hearing Trumpet this morning and really enjoying your video. I finished the day and a bout of insomnia with this and was pleased to see you had a video on it. Strangely, I think I enjoyed Carrington's novel more than you and this less so, but I have a strong suspicion the amount of surrealism and magical realism I haven't read compared to you played a big part. For me, this was all over the place in a way that seemed as much by accident as on purpose, likewise the quality of the prose and content, with some real highs and lows, but mostly chugging along affabley. The context and information your provided have definitely retroactively improved my experience and I really appreciate the way you discuss books. Thank you

[@peterwillett2536]

Nice piece, Cliff. I'll need to reread this. It's been 35-40 years. I think the author Thomas McGuane also appears in Tarpon.

[@terrymiller2088]

yea I remember really liking A Confederate General at Big Sur read it in the 70s .... the days of our lives are written in watermelon sugar

[@Linda-bq7eq]

These reviews of yours are absolutely amaze-balls. Singular and understandable at the same time. I want to read the books but when I do I find them lacking the fire you lend. Have you reviewed Paris Trout? I admire your particular intelligence. Keep on, Clifford. -All respect.

[@tearsinrain11]

Hey cliff, recently binged all your videos and absolutely amazing. Added and reading a lot of books you recommend. Did you read darkness at noon by Arthur koestler and nausea by jean Paul sartre? Currently reading the tartar steppe.

[@Liisa3139]

I have been reading Nausea all this summer. Progress has been slow, because I'm not enjoying it much. Too much detailed description in there. But I'm not hating it and will finish no matter how long it will take. My first Sartre. Possibly will be the last one too. His writing is pretty good, but there are just so many books that interest me more.

[@tearsinrain11]

​@@Liisa3139 oh that's expected, I read two chapters or (diary entries?!) And even though I didn't hate and had my interest i felt somewhat detached , I guess that's what sartre wanted the reader to achieve. I'll definitely read it as the stranger is one of my favorite books

[@Vokkan]

Having only read (the excellent) 'In Watermelon Sugar' of his I was surprised to find out that Brautigan is predominantly considered a funny writer.

[@neo5kali]

I became interested in reading Brautigan because I had learned H. Murakami adored his writing. I haven't read "Trout Fishing..." but I did read "So The Wind Won't Blow it All Away" which I didn't care for. Going into reading "So The Wind .... ", I was aware RB's writing style was beatnik, and that shows. Lots of repetitive stanzas (reminiscent of a Phillip Glass score), spare prose, lack of characterization, absolutely no foreshadowing since the outcome is offered up front. Mishima's prose style is completely different from Brautigan's and is the kind of descriptive writing I much rather prefer. So if Brautigan's prose means that Brautigan doesn't take himself very seriously, then I like writers who do take themselves seriously like Mishima. And, I had considered reading "Trout Fishing.." to see if Brautigan's style was any different than "So the Wind..", but based on your review it seems like my reading experience would turn out to be more of the same and I would end up feeling irritated.

[@ellelala39]

Cliff, try Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994).

[@Lugbyz]

Excellent video Cliff. On lonely nights like these all I can think about is the imminent arrival of my fall semester of university, but then you come along and post a video that taps into all the things I enjoy: Bizzare authors, fishing, and mayonnaise.

[@brynleyjones3635]

I would be curious to hear a review of Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

[@SIRENTAROT]

Reminds me of my own writing, especially my latest short story collection. I can dig it. ✨🚀✨

[@jeffhallsten5633]

Cheers from Portland!

[@brianbecmer2336]

Hey man, in some of your other vids I’ve heard you denounce a style you’ve described as “zany.” As you’re describing this book, that was the first adjective that kept coming to mind for me. Maybe the comments aren’t the right place for this, but just curious for you to expand more on what you mean by a zany writing style and how this book escapes what turns you off by it.

[@Ernesto_the_Caffiend]

Love the ending

[@MrUndersolo]

Ah, Brautigan... I read this one, and I have an omnibus collection of some other novels. Still not sure where I stand with this one. Feels like it is very much a product of its time.

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

Love his slim volumes.

[@infernity1989]

His dreaming of Babylon is my favorite novel

[@user-wc3ue4jg4w]

Back in Oakland, 1970, I bought SJ Perlman, The Most and Trout Fishing while in high school. We wanted to make sense of it all. These 2 authors were not the best choices, IMO now. LOL.. In hindsight we were free falling and fell on our faces.

[@Shakenmike117]

Whatever happened to his twitter page

[@josephr9930]

My favorite Brautigan books are "Sombrero Fallout" and "The Wind Blew It All Away", such a great author! 🙃😵‍💫😏

[@tonybaretta5221]

Clifford, when you get time, please review the book VALIS by Philip k Dick. It is a fascinating read and quite different from his other books.

[@FrancisGo.]

I actually have that book. Oddly specific, but I always assumed it'd end up on this show. I don't know why. Just weird prescience.

[@lionstandingII]

"And when you realize that their activities are shabby, that their vocations are petrified and no longer connected with life, why not then continue to look upon it all as a child would, as if you were looking at something unfamiliar, out of the depths of your own solitude, which is itself work and status and vocation? Why should you want to give up a child’s wise not-understanding in exchange for defensiveness and scorn, since not understanding is, after all, a way of being alone, whereas defensiveness and scorn are participation in precisely what, by these means, you want to separate yourself from.” Rilke Mah late sister was an ardent devotee of Brautigan...often recommended him- usually as some sort of insulating balm or antidote to whatever interior or exterior, real or imagined, adversary-born or self-inflicted turmoil was plaguing mah life incessantly detailed over a phone line from 50, 500, or 10,000 miles away. Ah think it was because his writing embodied approaching life willfully embracing a childlike innocence in the face of the overbearing and immutable...the face of despair...(Rilke's ethos there..."To look upon it all as a child would". What better describes the mind of the child- "an insane man and a genius"?). In Watermelon Sugar and The Abortion- the girl's black hair "like bat lightning" around her shoulders- did serve as succor in The South, The West, and the East. Ah read The Abortion early on in mah lengthy sojourn in Peach Dreamy Land on The Other Side of The World where Brautigan spent some years and the protagonist's and the writing's approach to facing a situation regrettable and/or reprehensible with the poetic sensibility in a "child's wise not-understanding" could give one to think upon a transformative "way to live" through life's travails. Simplistic and steadfastly idealistic and with humor. She tried....I try. There's a lot to be said...miss my sister....

[@nancyberry3655]

@lionstandingll...Where is that first Rilke quote from? I've been trying to find it (and trying to live it).

[@lionstandingII]

@@nancyberry3655 Letters to a Young Poet...

[@omaressam3676]

I would like to recommend to you my favourite novel of all times, there is a lot of violence in the novel, but also an excellent story that will leave you shocked or in tears at times. please read it, only people in the middle east know about this novel, and it is considered a classic in the middle east, I feel like more people deserve to discover this great masterpiece. Its called: The Shell: Memoir Of a Hidden Observer By Mostafa Khalifa. This book has been banned in Syria by the Government, not by the citizens whom loved and respected the book, those who got a hold of it illegally. The government didn't want people inside or outside the country to know about the book. This book is not politic based or religion based, it is rather a compelling story of the author who had been put in prison and blamed guilty of acts he had not committed. The story has graceful high ups and gruesome down lows, and so many different scenarios happening through out the book, making the book an absolute page turner. I read the book in Arabic, but the book is translated to English and people are giving the translator a lot of credit for his accurate translation on Amazon reviews. So check the book out I promise you will be surprised.

[@joejs7659]

Would be cool to see your thoughts on Ulysses.

[@samuelbrown9287]

So it goes.

[@user-ck1oi7ur1d]

You should definetly try reading In Watermelon Sugar.

[@skiptrailer7048]

amazing book

[@skiptrailer7048]

I feel you've missed the point

[@milomilo5634]

I wonder if you would ever review a screenplay or whether you consider screenplays literature?

[@slavadabadoo]

Sooo does that mean you like Captain Beefheart, Cliff?!

[@MariaCamarena_OneWing]

I am intrigued by this author. Thanks to your review. Read the work of Argentinian author. César Aíra. I think you would enjoy him.

[@willwilder622]

I spy Solenoid on the shelf.

[@CreativeWritingwithIanth-cz6dm]

Fun review--just not sure where you got that he slept with men. He wasn't insane--just an alcoholic. Lots of wild rumors about him on the internet. He did love women and also had wonderful platonic friendships with women.

[@DescryMirare]

Dude we're ur mustache

[@thebooknitter]

There are weird books, weird but fun but weird but bad. I think this is one of the goods

[@immasavagebro2845]

You look like if Bradley Cooper and Charlie Sheen had a baby.

[@bobcabot]

...it´s Bräutigam! german for broom.............ggggggggggggggggggggggggg!

[@jeffb01]

I didn't care for that book. I felt like it was like reading a mad lib.

[@Liisa3139]

The title sounded familiar, but not the author. This book has even been translated into my language (Finnish), so I might give it a try at some point. Some of his other work can also be found at my local library. I liked the wino in wheelchair part. Pure winos have almost gone extinct these days, so you could say that wino street culture is gone. Nowadays all wino looking people are also popping pills or whatever. A minute of silence to the memory of pure winos.👨‍🦽🍷🪦