A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It portrays two brothers' passion for the sport of fly fishing against the rugged wilderness of Montana in the thirties. While the prose of this evocative and lyrical memoir is simple and direct, Maclean's observations of man and nature are keen. At every turn, then, this seemingly simple story is charged with more sublime and universal implications. Joel Fabiani's reading of Maclean's text, while precise, is passionless and emotionally un-involving. While the simplicity of the text may be clearly rendered, the listener is forced to fight upstream against Fabiani's flat, narration in order to luxuriate in the novel's rich moments of transcendent splendor. R.W.B. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV 93]