This was a reread for me, but I'm so glad I have my own copy now. An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking story. ( )

I find Proulx's writing to be cumbersome and laborious. I have tried reading other books by her and just can't do it. ( )

I’ve always wanted to see the film based on this novel, since everyone raved about it when it was released, but put it off until I had read the book. This wasn’t a pressing desire, more a kind of ‘add to the mental To Be Read pile’ notion. In fact, I may have continued to vaguely intend to read it for many more years if it hadn’t been this month’s book group choice.

First impressions

I was instantly struck by the slimness of the volume: I’d had no idea that this was a short story. In fact, as this story has a mere 58 small pages of approximately size 14 font, I had time to read a good 16th of it while I waited for the librarian to hunt out the other book I had reserved! If I’d gone to have a coffee, this book probably wouldn’t have made it home unread. Now, while this didn’t exactly put me off, I did wonder whether or not I would enjoy reading it: I’m quite a fan of detailed, winding stories and text. In fact, Charles Dickens is my favourite writer, so next to ‘Hard Times’ or ‘Bleak House’ this looked a little insubstantial!

After reading the blurb, I was even more nervous about the degree of reading enjoyment this book could provide. Lonely cowboys? Harsh environment? Danger? It sounded to me quite a bit like ‘Of Mice and Men’, which I love, and I wondered if this would be like my recent ‘Twilight’ experience (verdict: not a patch on ‘Interview with a Vampire’).

However, to balance out these concerns – it was 58 pages. And I’d read four of them. Given that, there was no reason to ignore the rest.

The plot

‘Brokeback Mountain’ follows the hard, lonely lives of Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar in Wyoming ‘thirty years ago’. They meet young and enjoy each other’s company, quickly developing a relationship that jolts into an intense physical affair. As the years pass, they meet infrequently but the passion simmers, ferocious and unabated. Will they ever be able to admit their feelings – even to each other? Can a story set in such harsh terrain have a happy ending?

My thoughts

Initially I found the pace moved so quickly and the prose was so slight that I couldn’t really differentiate between the characters. Even after the characters were first physically intimate, I had to go back and reread most of the first few pages to develop a sense of which was which and how they differed. Once I had finally pinned them down, they sustained clearly distinct personalities for the remainder of the story, always acting ‘in character’.

Despite the brevity of her prose, Proulx does manage to convey a sense of life when summing up the responses of her characters through telling details. Ennis’ concern with appearances is revealed when ‘he wanted to be a sophomore, felt the word carried a certain distinction’. The unlikelihood of him realising his dreams is also succinctly described: ‘both Jack and Ennis claimed to be saving money for a small spread; in Ennis’s case this meant a tobacco can with two five-dollar bills inside’. Once I had adapted to this concise style, I enjoyed the slower reading pace this encouraged. I felt that I needed to really let the details of their lives sink in, much as Proulx herself had to do in order to write these characters and their lives.

The action is spread over twenty odd years so there are some jumps in time but usually the gaps are smoothed over by narrative that briskly fills in the key information. There are very few moments developed in detail which has the effect of heightening those that are developed. At these points, Proulx relies on dialogue to express and simultaneously avoid expressing her character’s true feelings. The tension between Twist and del Mar is emphasised through the forceful vocabulary they use and the silences that pepper these conversations, creating an engaging tale for the reader.

Proulx is as concise with her use of events as she is with her use of dialogue. I found the casual references to violence quite shocking, but del Mar’s easy acceptance of violence he has witnessed as a child both reveals the attitudes of his culture and creates a sense of (justified) foreboding. Without ever seeming to ‘push’ the issue of homosexuality, Proulx creates a tender and frustrating tale that forced me to genuinely contemplate the lives these fictional men endured. For me, that made this a successful read.

Conclusion

I think in a lot of ways this story might be classified as a ‘slow burner’. It took me at least a third of the story to adapt to the style, but once I did so I read with increasing engagement. I hesitate to use the word ‘enjoyment’ because this is a serious story, concentrating on a life-changing relationship.

Finally, I have to say that this story made a genuine impact on me. Del Mar concludes, ‘if you can’t fix it, you’ve got to stand it’. My instant response was: I want to fix it! This was followed by a more reasoned deliberation, and I’m still thinking about the issues raised by this book over a week after I finished reading it.

Highly recommended. ( )

At 60 pages this is a novella at best, but Annie Proulx packs more into 50-odd pages than most writers manage in ten times that many: beautiful, spare, lyrical, hurt and haunting. ( )

Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer. Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.

The best story I've ever seen about the experience of gay men in America, written by a straight women. Who would have figured. But it's extraordinary.

Great film, too. ( )

Great book but the movie is better. ( )

I've been on a tear reading the books on which movies that I've seen recently have been based. This one is a short story that was adapted very faithfully, telling Jack and Ennis's story from when they meet on Brokeback Mt to the heartbreaking conclusion. The movie tugged harder on my heartstrings, as it had the time to linger over the tender scenes between the two, and there's not much more in the book than was shown. Overall, a quick enjoyable read. ( )

Although I found the dialect a bit hard to manage (there were a few places where I honestly didn't know what they meant), I thought it worked really well. In a full-length story I probably would have gotten sick of it, but it was okay for something this length.

I would have preferred a tighter third person POV. I don't really like omniscient. Sometimes there would have been no other way to get in some of the info she obviously wanted in, but then sometimes there was stuff that was just redundant.

But there really weren't a lot of nitpicks I had with it in that regard. I liked her writing overall. There wasn't a lot of unnecessary stuff in there, pretty streamlined. I saw a few people say they would have preferred it to be fleshed out more, but I thought it was perfect as-is. Not everything needs to be a huge, long novel. It tells all the story that needs to be told and does a great job of it. This is the way I like to write, so it's no surprise I was happy with reading it.

I liked that it was pretty unemotional. I was worried about it being really romantic, from the way people having been swooning about it, but it wasn't some big love story; it was just a story about people being fucked up and I like that. ( )

I don't see the greatness of the story. We readers aren't really witness to these men wrestling with the conflict between being rednecks and their homosexuality. Witness to the struggle between them. To the clash between them and their wives. And witness to the odd reactions of the people who know what they do. But our two cowboys go almost magically from homophobia to acceptance. I really wanted to know how they came to terms, and Proulx didn't tell me that. I lived in Idaho, a similar place to the Wyoming depicted. I want to know.

(Full review at my blog) ( )

Not so sure what all the fuss was about! ( )

Just as beautiful as the movie. Heartbreaking. ( )

The raw emotion of this short story dares to punch you in the stomach; the tear ducts start to sting, but inevitably, do not yield, because the bitter bite of the narrative does not fall to melodrama. To feel the devastating triumph of a love ended too early is to experience the very essence of what literature exists for. Proulx's sweeping, sometimes complex images encompass an entire world into a few short words; the briefness of the story parallels how the characters feel there is never enough time. As always, Proulx betrays her extensive knowledge of the written word as a motif. The colloquially written dialogue is blunt and entirely convincing; not an ounce of it seems forced or unrealistic. To read Brokeback Mountain is to have your nerves catch on fire and belief restored in the power of the written word. ( )

Short Story/ novella. Better than the movie in shorter time. The essence of the love that existed is the only driving force in the novella. ( )

Basic Reason for Beginning: I blame a combination of interest in the emotional investment of the story and a realisation that stories in such a setting aren't necessarily stories I'm not interested in.
Basic Reason for Finishing: Surprisingly fast and intense read. (And not even 60 pages, come on. 'course I can finish that.)

Full review here. ( )

The best love story of our time. ( )

well, i finally read the story so long after seeing the film. the dialougue is exact. gives some insight into the film. ( )

Don't buy this book! Yes, I gave it 4 stars for the story, but the book itself (this edition) is 50-ish pages long and costs as much as any other book. I ordered it online and was disappointed by the size vs cost.

The story is interesting, but having seen the film, the book seems like a summary of the film. Nice if you forgot how the story went and don't have time to see the whole film :-)

If you haven't seen the film, why not buy the Proulx short-story book from which the Brokeback story was taken? I can't remember the title. Proulx stories are always interesting so go for it! ( )

Many people are familiar with the short or story, or the movie. It is a touching tale told in simple language, without much drama. I highly recommend the story, but do not recommend buying this edition. This is a short story and this mass market is VERY TINY. No way worth a retail price of $9.95! Luckily, I got my copy used. If you want the story, I recommend buying one of the author's anthologies that include it. ( )

Une nouvelle soit courte nais cela ne gâche en rien l'intensité du drame. Le film de Ang Lee reproduit fidèlement et sublime le livre. Chapeau ! ( )

This is my favorite short story ever. Proulx always delivers a good narrative, but this tale ripped me into. The movie was such a gorgeous rendering of an already powerful tale, and I know that's partly because Proulx helped write the screenplay. I recommend both. ( )

"Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they work together one summer... Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it." ( )

C'est la première fois que je lis un livre après avoir vu le film qui en fut tiré.
Je suis émerveillé. Je ne sais pas si c'est pas le talent de Proulx ou de Ang Lee. Le livre et le film sont tellement proches.
Mais parlons du livre. La nouvelle de proulx sonne l'authenticité, le vécu, la possibilité que ce fut du vrai. ( )

This slim book is actually a reprinting of a short story that appeared in "The New Yorker", and takes advantage of the acclaim and notoriety that attended the eponymous movie, which I have yet to see. It actually is a poignant and affecting story of forbidden love that ends tragically, given added pathos by the cowboy culture in which it takes place, in which homosexual relationships are particularly taboo. Annie Proulx is at her best here, and manages to avoid the fragmented sentences that were such a distraction in "The Shipping News" ( )