I purchased this book with great anticipation.

It was said to be an influential work of the 1960s and had a profound impact on Haruki Murakami, one of my beloved authors.

Regrettably, it failed to meet my expectations.

The book seemed to be a jumbled collection of Brautigan's senseless ramblings.

It didn't strike me as intelligent or profound; rather, it gave the impression of trying too hard to be "surrealist."

However, some of the chapters had their闪光点.

I did appreciate certain critiques of society.

Particularly, I liked the chapter about the junkyard where one could go to buy a trout stream.

It presented an interesting and unique concept.

Despite its flaws, the book still managed to capture my attention in some aspects.

Perhaps with a different perspective or a second reading, I might be able to discover more of its hidden gems.

Overall, it was a somewhat disappointing read, but not entirely without value.

Trout Fishing in America is not simply a novel; rather, it is a collage composed of rather offbeat and surreal vignettes.

It may not appeal to everyone's taste, but once I got into the rhythm of it, I found myself enjoying it.

It is liberally sprinkled with doses of off-the-wall humor.

The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster is a collection of poems.

I've heard Brautigan referred to as the last of the Beats, but I've also heard him called a hippie poet.

Actually, I think he was a sort of bridge between the beat and hippie cultures, and I believe that Brautigan was truly a trickster poet.

Once again, I derived enjoyment from this work.

In Watermelon Sugar takes place following the collapse of society and centers around a group of people residing in a commune.

The central part of this commune is a building known as iDEATH.

There is no real plot; instead, it consists of a series of incidents surrounding these individuals.

It is surreal, offbeat, sad, and possesses a strange beauty.

Overall, these works by Richard Brautigan offer unique and engaging perspectives that are well worth exploring.

I have a deep love for surreal and experimental writing, which made this reading experience a great pleasure for me. It was also quite eye-opening to explore the 'older' surrealism. If I had to summarize it, I would say it's "surreal Americana". I can clearly see that many of the modern surreal and experimental writers I've read have likely drawn inspiration from Brautigan.

"Trout Fishing in America" is often described as poetic prose, and I wholeheartedly agree. The work is like a series of short essays, usually under one or up to two pages, all loosely related to trout, fishing, camping, and nature. Each one has a surreal twist or observation. Interestingly, Trout Fishing in America is sometimes referred to as a character or person, but not in all sections. And there's the curious mention of mayonnaise.

"The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster" is a collection that I liked overall, despite not being a huge poetry fan. His poetry is easy to read, with most poems being very short. Some are amusing, some sad, some touching, and others are magical, surreal, or just plain odd.

"In Watermelon Sugar" is the most story-like piece in the collection. It seems to be set in a dystopian, futuristic, or folk/fantasy world, although it's not entirely clear. There are some truly beautiful descriptions and ideas, such as the town burying people "all in glass coffins at the bottoms of rivers and putting foxfire in the tombs, so they glow at night and we can appreciate what comes next." Despite the beauty, this is a melancholy tale set in an offbeat world.