Thomas McGuane's Translation of "The Longest Silence"

Chris Mc: Excellent

United Kingdom on May 23, 2023

richard nicoll: Really enjoyed reading this extremely well written and informative book.

United Kingdom on Apr 28, 2023

Savvy Geezer: Great stories coupled with great writing about time on the water with a fly rod but, in this the author’s case there is more! A few painters suck you into the soul of their pictures, and the author here evokes the essence of the fishing experience and shares it with the reader in spades. Friends have read this book numerable times and this was my first, but I can guarantee you, not my last.

United States on Aug 30, 2021

TONY MACDONALD: Purchased for Dad, nice read apparently.

United Kingdom on Jul 25, 2021

B. C. Furzer: Very well written and a diverse range of stories from an obviously accomplished angler and author. Sorry it was no longer.

United Kingdom on Sep 15, 2018

Greg H.: I skipped through several of the chapters because I wanted a read on trout fishing but I was surprised I enjoyed many of the chapters on the Keys and salmon fishing so much. The author is an English professor so the writing style is a challenge to absorb at times. Still an enjoyable read if not a page turner.

United States on Nov 27, 2017

The Garden Interior: If you both like to read and like to fish, this is a book that must be on your shelves, and in your backpack. It is a truly lyrical book about the mysterious, I might almost say mystical, sport of angling. McGuane's literary output over a lifetime has been consistently excellent, with such classics as the early, Florida-centric Ninety-Two in the Shade, and Panama. And then came the later, Montana-centric classics of Nobody's Angel and the Bushwahcked Piano. But The Longest Silence is in a class of its own: a loving, measured and extremely nuanced paean to the great meditative and athletic sport that fishing is. A great pairing for this book is Norman Maclean's A River runs through It. These are guy books, mostly, and perfect for guy book clubs. And they are perfect for readers of The Garden Interior, too, because they have something interesting in common. Fishing is not really about catching a fish, of course, except in a most primitive and simplistic sense; it is about the interior life of the fisherman and what is going on in his heart and mind during the long silences between intermittent bouts of angling action. In just the same way, gardening is about the interior life of the...

United States on Sep 17, 2013

Mr. R.Thomas: Book arrived in a timely manner & the product was as described. Lovely little story to this book, small font is my only complaint but otherwise this is one for the collection, very nice...

United Kingdom on Jun 28, 2012

Bob Saunders: Lovers of fishing and outdoors essays will enjoy this book. While McGuane doesn't have the laid-back humor of Gierach, he has a great eye for detail and his prose immerses you into his scenes.
As an example, here's an excerpt I like from a story about fishing in early spring:

"This was a wonderful time to find yourself astream. You didn't bump into experts. You didn't bump into anybody. You could own this place in your thoughts as completely as a Hudson Bay trapper. The strangely human killdeer were all over the place, human in that their breeding activities were accompanied by screaming fights and continuous loud bickering. When they came in for a landing, their wings set in a quiet glide while their legs ran frantically in midair. The trees in the slower bends were in a state of pick-up sticks destruction from the activity of beavers. A kingfisher flew over my head with a trout hanging from its bill. I came around a bend without alerting three more geese, floating in a backwater, sound asleep with their heads under their wings. I decided not to wake them. I ended my day right there."

Great cure for cabin fever, and very rereadable.

United States on Mar 23, 2011

Philip Carl: Rather than give you a "macro" review, I cover my favorite chapters of this book in sort of a micro-review fashion:

Back in Ireland - is as pointed and sharp as a tack. The story is as much about a time as it is about a place. McGuane reminds us that the intersection of time and space is unique as a snowflake hitting the warm ground.

Twlight in the Buffalo Paddock - McGuane takes us into a seemingly sterile (e.g., there's no fish in those casting ponds) and off-beat, urban setting in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. He points out the art as well as the pointlessness of false casting to plastic-ringed targets at a time when fly fishing is being passed up by faster, more extreme sports like skateboarding and BMX. But even in this setting, McGuane finds his perfect moment. It's a moment that draws many fly anglers back to their sport: "The ponds have gone silver. The emptiness around the few members who remain seems to make their casting more singular, more eloquent."

Henry's Fork - The author fishes the Henry's Fork of the Snake River with guide Mike Lawson. The essay turns into a bit of a rant with McGuane calling Idaho's Department of Fish and Game to the...

United States on Jul 13, 2008