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Review
Praise for Bad Dirt:
‘Proulx writes in wonderful stews, everything thrown in together…the stories demand a second reading.' Daily Telegraph
'Her keen eye for idiosyncrasy ensures her continuing reputation as one of the shrewdest chroniclers of contemporary America.' David Robson, Sunday Telegraph
Praise for The Shipping News:
‘A very impressive achievement. So funny, so full of delights.’ Guardian
‘As stark and ruggedly beautiful as the storm-battered coast of Newfoundland itself.’ Sunday Telegraph
Praise for Accordion Crimes:
‘The detail is breathtaking, her ear for dialogue matchless, her observation unsentimental, her pace infectious. She tackles death, sex and the gruesome with black hilarity and the skills of a born storyteller. Rich and dense, Accordion Crimes is a splendid novel.’ The Times
‘The power and presence of this book cannot be overstated.’ Sunday Express
‘Exhilarating magic, leaves you begging for an encore.’ Daily Telegraph
Review
'Beautifully composed and wonderfully acted ! a beautiful and moving story. Their story is not tragic, but heroic' Peter Bradshaw, Guardian 'Extremely moving and elegantly crafted ! "Brokeback got us good," says Jack, and it'll get you good too' Jonathan Romney, Independent '[An] elegiac and engrossing drama and a wonderful meditation on longing and regret ! Brokeback Mountain may even be Lee's finest film to date' Empire 'A knockout' Observer 'Magnificent' Sunday Times
--This text refers to the
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Before buying this book, after being told about the film, I wasn't aware of how short it was...One thing I regret about this book is it's length. It's such a magical and well told story that I only wish it was much longer, maybe even as long as a normal novel. Annie Proulx tells a wonderful story about forbidden desire and love which is so heart wrenchingly real and genuine that you just wish it went on for longer and that it wasn't just a "short story." I'm now really looking forward to the film adaption which is set to be an instant classic, the cast looks amazing and the acting also. I love this story!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Previous reviewers here have not always made it clear that it is a collection of eleven stories, of which "Brokeback Mountain", representing just thirty-five pages, is the last. The collection was originally published as "Close Range: Wyoming Stories", and, to tie in with the movie, has been reissued and retitled "Close Range/Brokeback Mountain and other stories", with, of course, cover photographs of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal against a backdrop of scenery from the Ang Lee movie.
The majority of readers will come to this volume, as I did, having already seen the film, and so turn straight to page 283. The story "Brokeback Mountain" is quickly recognizable as the inspiration behind the film, and is as such doubtless the best introduction to Annie Proulx's complex and brilliantly dense prose-style. Some of the dialogue in the film comes directly from that in the story, while other elements feature in the narrative part. For example: "the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough." [In the film, the words "never enough time, never enough" are spoken by Jack Twist.]
Despite the easily recognisable overall situation, reading the short story is, of course, a significantly different experience from watching the film. The female characters generally speaking feature relatively little in the story, and Jack's first meeting with his wife is absent, for example, as is the Thanksgiving confrontation between Jack and his father-in-law. However, there are also elements in the story which were left out of the movie, a particularly unsettling one being a late revelation about the conflict between Jack and his father, glossed over in the movie when Jack briefly mentions that his father never had any time for him. What is related in the story is considerably more disturbing.
As for the other ten stories, ranging in length from just one page to something over forty, my personal feeling is that the longer ones are the better ones [and that the one-page one hardly qualifies to be included in the first place...] But Proulx writes brilliantly throughout, sometimes with acerbic humour [one female character is "distinguished by a physique approaching the size of a hundred-gallon propane tank"; there are "women with eyebrows like crowbars" and men with "knuckles the size of new potatoes"]. Fans of the movie coming in search of more gay cowboys will, I'm afraid, be disappointed, but there is plenty here dealing with the darker side of human hearts and psyches, and some very dark moments indeed. As one of the character-narrators puts it, human emotions are fuelled by "...the little running grass-fires of the heart, the kind that usually die out on their own but in some people soar into uncontrollable conflagration." Which applies aptly to Ennis and Jack. More generally, though, it is those uncontrollable conflagrations and their devastating consequences which make all these stories what they are. Be warned: they are difficult - but they are unforgettable.
The majority of readers will come to this volume, as I did, having already seen the film, and so turn straight to page 283. The story "Brokeback Mountain" is quickly recognizable as the inspiration behind the film, and is as such doubtless the best introduction to Annie Proulx's complex and brilliantly dense prose-style. Some of the dialogue in the film comes directly from that in the story, while other elements feature in the narrative part. For example: "the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough." [In the film, the words "never enough time, never enough" are spoken by Jack Twist.]
Despite the easily recognisable overall situation, reading the short story is, of course, a significantly different experience from watching the film. The female characters generally speaking feature relatively little in the story, and Jack's first meeting with his wife is absent, for example, as is the Thanksgiving confrontation between Jack and his father-in-law. However, there are also elements in the story which were left out of the movie, a particularly unsettling one being a late revelation about the conflict between Jack and his father, glossed over in the movie when Jack briefly mentions that his father never had any time for him. What is related in the story is considerably more disturbing.
As for the other ten stories, ranging in length from just one page to something over forty, my personal feeling is that the longer ones are the better ones [and that the one-page one hardly qualifies to be included in the first place...] But Proulx writes brilliantly throughout, sometimes with acerbic humour [one female character is "distinguished by a physique approaching the size of a hundred-gallon propane tank"; there are "women with eyebrows like crowbars" and men with "knuckles the size of new potatoes"]. Fans of the movie coming in search of more gay cowboys will, I'm afraid, be disappointed, but there is plenty here dealing with the darker side of human hearts and psyches, and some very dark moments indeed. As one of the character-narrators puts it, human emotions are fuelled by "...the little running grass-fires of the heart, the kind that usually die out on their own but in some people soar into uncontrollable conflagration." Which applies aptly to Ennis and Jack. More generally, though, it is those uncontrollable conflagrations and their devastating consequences which make all these stories what they are. Be warned: they are difficult - but they are unforgettable.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Great story, brilliantly told by one of the best half dozen writers on the North American continent today. And nobody tells stories about the ways of local Wyoming folk, going about their daily business, anywhere near as well as Proulx does.
But my advice is to to fork out the extra pound, or so, and buy 'Close Range', the collection of short stories from which 'Brokeback Mountain' is taken. Non-judgemental to the end, these vignettes dissect the mores and codes of Wyoming life, delivered in a beguiling rhythm that speaks of good ol' country wisdom, at once full of warmth for the place and people, but also harsh, and veined with dark humour.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brokeback is special, the others less so...
It is probable that readers will, on the back of the film, split this into Brokeback Mountain and the rest, as the title implies. So... Read more
Published 8 months ago by bloodsimple
Close Range
Close Range isn't usually a book that I would be compelled to pick up and read, but after studying it as an english assignment I found I really enjoyed it. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Guerriero
No depth....no feeling
Short stories which don't seem to have an ending, but just come to a sudden halt! Peopled by characters with odd names like Aladdin Touhey, Hondo Gunsch, Car Scrope! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mountain Man
A real bore - thank god for the film
The worst thing about this book was having to wade through all the over short stories before getting to the 'famous one'. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2008 by Hayles
un-romanticised yet touching
Although i found her style of writing rather difficult and in some ways irritating, i did enjoy the main story of the book. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2007 by L. Eden
A Masterpiece
I saw the film of Brokeback Mountain before I read this lovely book of short stories, and now read eveything by Annie Proulx that I can lay hands to. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2006 by Janjo
Disappointing
I saw the film which I enjoyed and which prompted me to buy the book. I have to say that I found the language difficult to follow at times and actually gave up after I had read... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2006 by J. Wheeler
"If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it."
First published in the New Yorker magazine in 1997, this powerful short story won the National Magazine Award for Fiction and an O. Henry Award. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2006 by Mary Whipple
A foreign Language
Let me start by saying I enjoyed Annie Proulx'The Shipping News, which is why I bought this book. (I have not seen the film). Read more
Published on 19 July 2006 by Lce
'there's no reins on this one'
I saw the film first - thanks Amazon DVD rental. The most thought-provoking film I've seen in years. Read more
Published on 14 July 2006 by Lindann
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