I saw Brokeback Mountain when I was quite young (my mom changed channels when a sex scene came on like she always did) and I have to say, it sorta blew my mind. Gay was not a word I heard, unless someone in my class was teasing someone or something. I grew up in the Irish countryside so I was quite sheltered until I was at least 15/16 (hmm, same year we got Wi-Fi). But as a 12 year old, to be "gay" meant something bad and dirty and I never understood why. Nobody could give me an acceptable answer as to why it was wrong but I was afraid to question things so I just went with it. When I watched this, I remember that seed of doubt that was already there in my mind being watered a bit. The two cowboys really loved each other, in their own way and I could see nothing wrong with it. Looking back, this film was the first thing to really open my eyes to what it was like to be gay.

I've been meaning to read the book for a while now and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It is so short but it packs so many emotions into it; it really is incredible. I'm always impressed when an author can pack so much into a short story without hindering any other element. This story is beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking and heart-warming. It makes you wish that things were different for Ennis & Jack. I really enjoyed it and I would love to read more stories like this one.

I was unsure about the writing style at the start but when I got into it, I really liked it. I would definitely recommend this and I would read more by Annie Proulx.

ANNIE PROULX bei jos KUPROTAS KALBAS. Kai vienas vaikinas pamilsta kitą vaikiną. Ir pasaulis jiems nesišypso. Nors diskutuotina.

Prieš daug metų pažiūrėjau filmą. Nežinojau, kad egzistuoja knyga, pagal kurią buvo parašytas scenarijus. Konkreti ir labai taikli novelė apie dviejų asmenų meilę vienas kitam, užgimusią kiek atokiau nuo miestelio, jų gyventojų bei labai jau įpareigojančios aplinkos.

Kai gavau į rankas knygą, nustebau. Maniau, kad tai didelės apimties kūrinys, kuris ekranizacijoje man pasirodė turtingas ir labai prasmingas. Kaip tiek daug sutalpinti į tiek mažai. Veiksmas vyksta greit ir pakankamai padrikai. Bet ir vėlgi, ne kūrinio apimtyje ir greitume glūdi visa esmė.

Labai vieniši, sukaustyti baimės, alkani ir ilgesingi, atrandantys, bet nuolatos prarandatys, jaunčiantys gėdą, tačiau užsimirštantys maloniomis akimirkomis. Koks klimatas buvo tuomet ir koks klimats yra šiuo metu, kas panašaus tarp „anksčiau“ ir „dabar“. Taip, dabar geriau, patogiau, drąsiau – ne taip vieniša, ne taip baisu, ne taip liūdna. Anksčiau galėjai mirtį už tai, kas es ir kad esi. Buvo sunku jiems, buvo sunku plačiai visuomenei, bet lygiai taip pat buvo sunku ir moterims. Atsiprašau, kad kurį laiką teko slėptis už Jūsų ir su Jumis.

Prisiminiau labai daug detalių, kurias buvau užmiršęs. Tarsi kino filmo nebūčiau matę - po išsiskyrimo scenos daugiau nieko neįvyko. Perskaičius, vadinkim, antrąją istorijos dalį naujomis akimis. Viskas žavesys yra detalėse. Marškiniuose esantis netikėtumas, nuotraukoje slypinti prasmė, grubumas, atžagarumas, aistra, ašaros, žvilgsnis, trumpi dialogai, prisilietimai, ilgesiu paremti sprendimai.

Ištaikiau progą. Rekomenduoju ištaikyti progą ir Jums. Kol kas tai giliai įsišaknijusi meilės istorija, iki šiol gyvuojantis prisiminimas bei priminimas, kaip viskas gali būti blogiau. Ir kas yra meilė. Gyvenkime laimingai, gyvenkime dabar.

Okay, so I haven't seen the movie but I've heard a lot about it, and I think that I would like the movie better.

The book felt kind of rushed to me, I couldn't invest any emotions towards the characters or the plot but I liked the storyline the meaning is so great.

This is another book that tells a story of two men who fell in love in the worst of conditions. I'm going to watch the movie and see if I'd really like it better than the book or not but in the meantime I recommend this fast read.

This short story is about the choices we make, and the consequences we have to live with.

I haven't watched 'Brokeback Mountain', though I've been meaning to for years now. I'm not a big movie-watcher, so it always gets pushed back. But I am a big reader, so I thought I might as well read the short story that inspired the movie.


Ennis and Jack's romance isn't pretty. It's a reflection of the time and place they were living in. The two are mean to each other, and to the women they married. Yet they're also sweet in their love for each other, and you can't help but root for them. The inevitable end was gut-wrenching.

If you're looking for a quick dose of angst, 'Brokeback Mountain' is a good bet.

Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain is often hailed as a groundbreaking tale of forbidden love, a poignant exploration of masculinity, and a searing critique of societal norms. But when we cut through the romanticized haze, we can call it what it really is: a brutal, unflinching excavation of human loneliness, wrapped in the myth of the American West. This isn’t a love story—it’s a tragedy of repression, a slow-motion car crash of two lives doomed by the weight of their own silence.

Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two men so shackled by their own internalized sexuality and societal expectations that their love becomes a prison rather than a liberation. Their relationship is less a romance and more a series of stolen moments, furtive and desperate, like animals gnawing at their own limbs to escape a trap.

The Infamous line: “I wish I knew how to quit you.” It’s been quoted ad nauseam, plastered on Tumblr blogs and Instagram captions, stripped of its raw, ugly power. But in context, it’s not a declaration of eternal love—it’s a cry of frustration, a confession of helplessness. Ennis and Jack don’t know how to quit each other because they don’t know how to live without the pain. Their love is a wound they keep reopening, a reminder of what they can never truly have.

Proulx doesn’t let anyone off the hook—not her characters, not her readers, and certainly not the society that forces men like Ennis and Jack to live in the shadows. The story is a gut punch, that love alone is never enough to overcome the weight of prejudice, fear, and self-loathing. It’s a story that refuses to offer easy answers or happy endings, and that’s what makes it so damn uncomfortable—and so necessary.

So, no, Brokeback Mountain isn’t a “beautiful love story.” It’s a raw, unrelenting examination of the cost of living a lie. It’s a story that forces us to confront the ways we’re complicit in perpetuating systems of oppression, even as we root for Ennis and Jack to find their way to each other. And it’s a story that lingers, like a bruise you can’t stop pressing…Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it. And maybe that’s the point.

4.3/5

3.5

la verdad que me quiero pegar en la cara porque es hermoso

This is another of those love stories that are both beautiful and tragic. This particular copy was one the first four Novellix short stories published this year (in Swedish). I’d like maybe someday to read the English original.

"Tao đâu có thể chịu mỗi năm một, hai lần làm tình ở tuốt trên cao. Mày quá đáng đối với tao, Ennis, đồ chó đẻ điếm đàng. Ước gì tao biết cách bỏ mày."
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Mùa hè năm ấy, tít trên ngọn Brokeback giá lạnh, hai gã trai vừa chớm hai mươi hừng hực lao vào nhau bằng tất cả bất chợt và nhục dục. Hè qua, họ rời xa, chỉ để lại cho nhau những mảnh ký ức rạc rời.
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Bẵng đi hai mươi năm, khối tình đành đoạn ngày nào vẫn nhen hồng như lửa, đốt cháy tâm can hai kẻ nọ bằng tất cả nỗi nhớ nhung dạt dào tựa gió. Rồi cơm áo gạo tiền đẩy họ dần xa, rồi phận số đọa đày xé toạc họ ra, chỉ để lại một sự im lặng chói lói, bàng hoàng.
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Những ngày sau cuối, người này vẫn còn nhớ đêm hè năm đó, có một người vòng tay ôm lấy một người từ đằng sau, không chút gợn dục, chỉ khát khao sẻ chia. Những ngày sau cuối, người này tìm thấy hai chiếc áo sơ mi đã bạc màu lồng vào nhau, tựa như vẫn miết da thịt vào nhau, gom tất cả nỗi nhớ thắt tim cùng nỗi đau xé lòng tựu thành kỷ niệm.
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Ở một quá khứ xa xôi, từng có hai kẻ tuổi trẻ như nắng đổ vàng ươm, ngồi cạnh bên đống lửa tí tách tàn, nghe hơi thở phả vào nhau miết mải; từng cùng nhau sưởi ấm trong những cơn gió tuyết thốc tháo, thấy mái lều nhỏ bé tựa một gia đình, thấy chênh vênh hóa hư không, và yêu thương thoang thoảng như làn khói. Giá như họ biết trước được rằng, rằng họ sẽ chỉ có duy nhất một mùa hè đó thôi...
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"Cà phê cũ đang sôi nhưng hắn bắt kịp trước khi nó trào, rót vào cái tách cáu bẩn và thổi chất nước đen, để một mảng giấc mơ tràn đến. Nếu hắn không buộc mình cảnh giác, nó có thể khơi dậy ngày ấy, hâm nóng lại thời lạnh lẽo trên núi, khi họ làm chủ thế giới và không có điều gì sai trái."
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Ừ thì làm gì có điều gì sai trái. Tất cả là tình yêu.

These guys went from 0 to 100 real quick. I guess that's because this was a short story and not a full length novel. In this rare case the movie is somehow longer (1 hour audiobook vs 2 hour movie). I did see it years ago and it was definitely a bit more subtle in regards to the first interaction between the main characters.

This story is more about not being able to live the life you want than a gay relationship. It's about society's norms and families' expectations. It's about putting your needs and happiness on the back burner to satisfy others. Even worse, it's also about regret and taking time for granted. Regardless of sexual orientation, I think everyone will have an emotional response from it. Truly moving for such a short story.

Para além da melancolia e do sofrimento de uma paixão interrompida pela opressão e pelo preconceito da época, a escrita e as descrições do ambiente também se destacam nessa obra de arte. Annie Proulx faz um trabalho incrível ao mostrar o amor florescente entre dois cowboys enquanto retrata os costumes da vida rural, que embora difícil e rude, ainda pode possuir certa beleza.

I never really had any intention of reading this book. I've never seen the movie either. (Though I might now. I'm curious how they handled it.) Stories about ranchers & cowboys don't exactly draw me in. To be honest, Annie Proulx's stories don't have much appeal to me in general. I can't really put my finger on it, but they just don't scream "Read me!" when I see one.

Anyway, I had to go to the library to stop them from billing me for a book I'd already returned, and while I was there, I happened to see this book, and thought, "What the hell? It's short." So I grabbed it.

And it was worth it. This is a very short story, but it works at this length. It fits this length. It's sparse and visceral. I was surprised that on page 14, in the space of a single sentence, the relationship between Ennis and Jack goes from co-workers to lovers. It was less like a bomb dropping than like a rock smashing through a window. There's no warning, no whistling descent to warn of the impending explosion - it's just not there one second, and then it is, and there's nothing to do but deal with it.

On an emotional level, I feel for these guys. They were both dishonest with themselves for a long time, and neither of them could have the relationship they needed. Jack needed that companionship and understanding and acceptance - and he couldn't get it unconditionally from Ennis. It actually breaks my heart a little bit, because Ennis was more afraid of the "what if" than he was OK with the "what is", and they both suffered for it. Ennis lost his chance at happiness that he didn't even know he needed until it was too late. The scene at Jack's parents' house was rough, because I can imagine Ennis understanding the depth of Jack's feelings for the first time, maybe, and being unable to change how things turned out would have to be hard. Thinking about that kind of regret kind of kills me a little inside...

I'm surprised how much I liked this book. I really didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did, but a good tear-jerker will do it for me every time. I love when a book can transcend boundaries and make me really identify with a character (or characters) and make me hurt for them. I'll definitely have to check out more of Proulx's books. Maybe there'll be more gems that I'd have otherwise missed.

i don't understand why authors back then had a hard time writing love stories that ends happily. who hurt you?!?!?!?

n  n    I wish I knew how to quit you.n  n

This is the worst kind of love story, I hate the fact that people were actually kept in the closet because of bigoted assholes. Our generation is still fucked up but boy am I glad it's not as close minded as it used to.

I decided I wanted to make my depressed ass cry even more so I picked this up, then watched the movie for the first time afterwards.

See, Jake Gyllenhaal is an ass, but the movie was great. The movie was good and I've got to applaud the ability of such a short book to make me cry...

n  n    sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand itn  n