"Те бяха израсли в малки, бедни ферми в два противоположни края на щата. Джак Туист в Лайтнинг флет, горе на границата с Монтана, Енис Дел Мар в околностите на Сейдж, близо до Юта, и двамата бяха изоставили училището, провинциални момчета, без изгледи за бъдеще, отгледани за тежка работа и лишения, и двамата с недодялани маниери и груб език, закалени за суров начин на живот..."

Не обичам да чета книги с гей тематика, но този разказ на Ани Пру, носител на "Пулицър" за Shipping News, минава отвъд всякакви клиширани представи за любовта и страстта.
Гледала съм филма много пъти и винаги ме разтърсва. Смятах, че разказът може би е по-слаб, но не е така. Тези двама младежи, които не са получили обич и разбиране от никого, бедни, без изгледи за по-добро бъдеще из фермите на Уайоминг в Американския юг, преживяват нещо толкова силно, че не знаем как да го наречем - страст, любов, дружба, дълбока близост. Енис Дел Мар не е хомосексуален, но Джак е единственият човек, който докосва сърцето му, преобръща живота му и може би го разрушава. А може би не. Неведоми са пътищата на човешкото сърце.
Препоръчвам!

I've been meaning to read this short-story ever since I fell in love with the film years ago. Well, I finally read it 13 years later. The movie incorporated every piece of this story, even the dialogue and noteworthy quotes. Having experienced the film first, I didn't gain anything further from the reading experience. The film actually fleshed out the characters more which was needed in my opinion. However, this beautiful film wouldn't exist if not for this tiny story and for that I am forever grateful to Annie Proulx. ♥



My favorite quote:
“If you can't fix it you have to stand it.”

My kind of romance.
30% love, 80% depression and 0% maths.

n  

One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough.

n

"Jack, I swear--"

this line gets me every time.
add The Wings by Gustavo Santaolalla to the mix and i'm crying my heart out.

4.5 - Short review

A little book of about 30 pages that covers a lifetime - Annie Proulx has a way with words with her compact, precise, to the point sentences. This story of Ennis and Jack, two cowboys, who fall in love, is gut-wrenching and a sure punch in the face to all the homophobes and society in general. Annie has managed to give out the exact emotions, without going overboard with the scenes. The dilemma that these lovers face, hasn't changed a bit since the story was written in 1997. We still live in a world where anything contrary to the normal parameters of sexuality is looked down upon and mocked and incarcerated or beaten the shit out of.

Coming back to the story, I am still amazed at the fact that Proulx has managed such a depth, not once losing the flow of the characters. There are year jumps which have been handled with such clarity that never once did the transitioning feel odd. Most writers do such a thing by changing chapters or giving breaks, so that the reader knows it. Doing that in one flow, I think is a brilliant achievement.

I sure am going to look forward to know more works of the author. If you have suggestions of some other works of the author or some other similar stories, do feel free to recommend?

What a quick read! So frustrating that their love is really still not accepted or understood by society.

n  “Jack, I swear —” he said, though Jack had never asked him to swear anything and was himself not the swearing kind.n

Not a single word is wasted in this very short Annie Proulx story. It has the weight of a novel, with every word so carefully chosen, with every deceptively simple sentence packing an unexpected punch.

It’s a story of love punctuated by the weight of fear, longing that never gets rewarded, crushing loneliness that is meant to stay, and the price of denial of your needs. It’s the story of regret, the one that comes when it’s too late.

I can say it’s heartbreaking, but it’s actually way more subtle than that. It doesn’t as much break your heart - from the beginning you know there is no happy ending here - but instead makes it ache in a raw, haunting way.

n  “There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it.”n  
n  
n  n

Two young men in working-class rural 1960s America where living life together in the open could have had dire consequences. And one of them was unwilling to take that risk. And so they carried out their affair in stolen minutes and days here and there over two decades — “One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough.”

And it’s a protracted gut punch.

n  “Try this one,” said Jack, “and I’ll say it just one time. Tell you what, we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn’t do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everything built on that. It’s all we got, boy, fuckin all, so I hope you know that if you don’t never know the rest. Count the damn few times we been together in twenty years. Measure the fuckin short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and then tell me you’ll kill me for needin it and not hardly never gettin it. You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets. I’m not you. I can’t make it on a couple a high-altitude fucks once or twice a year. You’re too much for me, Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew how to quit you.”n

So sad, but such a well-written utterly devastating story. Those two shirts on a wire hanger — that’s the image that will always stay in my mind. The price of prejudice, denial and regret. And love.

n  n

5 stars.
________
A link to the pdf version of this story: https://www.taosmemory.com/oscar/Brok...

——————

Also posted on my blog.

"There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it."

Beautiful. From beginning to end. Definitely better than the film (even though I enjoyed the film too).

A beautiful and tragic tale. Now I get to become an, "Actually, the story was better than the movie because..." guy.


Apologies to the memory of Heath Ledger

Beautiful and heartbreaking.

The thing that strikes me the most about this story is how simple and straightforward it is but underneath that simplicity lies complexity and nuance.

Jack and Ennis are two simple men who came from nothing and in another time, in another place could've had something infinitely more satisfying in its simplicity than the hand they were dealt in this one. Something they deserved. The fact that they had to make due with stolen moments, semi-clandestine trysts and were forced to conform to an arbitrary societal construct is precisely what makes it memorable.



And depressing.

Proulx's prose is worthy of all the approbation it's received. There's nothing arcane or flowery about it which is befitting Jack and Ennis. Were it any other way it would be disingenuous to their characterizations. She conveys the ephemeral nature of their relationship as it unfolds over their lifespan and that may lead some to discount their connection, but through those furtive liaisons it became the most important thing in each of their lives.

Nothing drove that point home more than the plangent sound of Ennis' phone call going unanswered and his steadfast belief that Jack would eventually answer.



Campbell Scott delivered a powerful performance worthy of Proulx's writing and these characters.

Not a particularly easy read/listen but one that sticks with you.

This story is probably the perfect length for laying out in the yard on a Sunday afternoon. I'm thinking of a hammock...

But anyway, I guess we're supposed to talk about the "writing."
A real economy of language. Very sparse. It's like Proulx kept carving away down to just what was essential. And yet, this beautiful landscape and beautiful (and sad) love story comes through so sharply.

You almost can't not mention the film.
And I have to say, I was pretty impressed. Lots of detalil in the film. I saw it twice and picked up different details both times.
And maybe without intetion, this story was such a commentary on rural gay life, which is such a different vantage point we seldom view gay life. So much of the gay sensability, as portrayed by pop culture, is urban, smart, rich and image-driven. I don't think this story was any of those things.

And as someone who sees gay life from a rural perspective, many folks in my neck of the woods connected closely with this story.

This story is every bit as compelling, heart wrenching and beautiful as everyone claims. A true masterpiece of short fiction.

Update 8/10/16

My mind is still reeling with thoughts of Ennis and Jack; the story was simply intimate and heart breaking. It's amazing how much power and weight words can carry with them. Works like Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx have taught me that it's about quality, not quantity. Frankly, any author that can move me to tears in less than 100 pages is a supreme writer and artist.