John Graves (1) (1920–2013)

I have always heard of this book, but never read it until my 44th year. I lived and worked near the bit of the Brazos, in the early 2000s, that is described here by Graves in 1957/1960. A lot of his views align with mine on the landscape, hunting, fishing, etc. (though I am a cat-fisherman, when I fish, and a rod-and-reel man or trotliner). Graves is a good writer, descriptive and wordy but unpretentious, and a good storyteller, when he reaches back to his stories or retells the stories of show more others. Some modern writers may wince at some of the words and descriptions here, of Black Americans or Amerindians. Graves was a man of his time, but a liberal man of his time too. On the Comanche: yes, they were that terrible. If you cringe and find yourself unbelieving, you've bought into what I call the "hippie Indian" trope. Graves does not shy away from telling of their barbarities. But, he doesn't shy away from the barbarities of the whites who settled this stretch of Brazos River country either. It isn't a bright and shining lie Graves offers here. Seventy years on from this book, what has changed? Let me give you a bit. Only one of the dams and reservoirs that were planned for this stretch of water was built: at DeCordova Bend near Granbury, creating Lake Granbury. Graves mentions how the huge DeCordova Bend was turning in his day from hardscrabble farms and cow pastures into a pecan plantation. Well, DeCordova Bend is now one huge set of subdivisions with cookie-cutter homes called "Pecan Plantation" in the highway and lakehouse sprawl that is Granbury, Texas. Probably only a small minority of the population is descended from the original "Anglo Ams" Graves discussed. The downtown courthouse and square he saw is now a bougie, gentrified collection of high-end shops and stores. Not bad, but not the Texas that Graves saw; that Texas is gone. But, sometimes parts of the land may surprise you as being roughly the same. I too am one of those people who would love to have ten to fifty acres or so on a creek or river in Somervell or Hood County so I can build a big house and chill with the land. It's more like the Central Texas I know, and where I went to college. But, most of Graves' book is a little west of there, in Parker and Palo Pinto Counties. Harder, redder, drier, flatter, more West Texas than Central Texas. I knew those places too, in college and in history class. But, I'm rambling. Let's sum it up: a good bit of philosophy, history, landscape, hunting, fishing, outdooring, a bit in the vein of a less ascetic Thoreau, but Texan too. I was pleased to read it, learned from it, and thought about it. Which is what a book should do. show less

I was, and shit, still am, confused as all hell as to why this book here by a John Graves, some old fart I'd never heard of (surprise surprise), was chosen this year of '07 as the 'core text' of the freshman University Seminar course, a course that makes no sense at all in its recent necessity, at Texas State University. Or whatever. (57 owners, man, are you kidding me? Where did they get this bad boy from?)

It appears to be some forgotten 'classic', a book that was able to achieve quite the show more amount of fame on its release (1960), but over many years lost its impact and hazed out into absolute obscurity, known now only to Larry McMurtry and other literary Texans.

I'm-a gonna say right here, right now, that Goodbye to a River deserves this reputation given to it by few. That Graves, boy, he really knows how to craft a sentence. The writing is beautiful, edging on poetic always. The story: simple, but done right: Graves gives the Brazos one last a-travelin' in the '50s before a number of dams are constructed that, in his view, will ruin it, and along the way he informs the reader of local history surrounding any landmark or non-landmark he spots or looks for. The stories are fascinating...Stories that most every town has, and only the old folk know, stories that can't be found on the Internet, usually dealing with 19th century tales of what spawned from the enmity between Indians ('The People') and the many whites movin' in on their turf, mannn.

Goodbye to a River is chock-full (what does that mean? where does it come from?) of literary references, many to Juan Jiménez, some forgotten-in-a-similar-fashion-to-Graves Andalusian poet punk whose Platero and I I wrote a much more satisfying review in need of less editing and re-writing for last month.

Eighty percent, I sez. Read it.

P.S. Legend has it the fame this book had upon release prevented the construction of all but three of the dams that were at one time planned for the Brazos River. But don't take my word for it, I don't know a damn thing.

P.P.S. I appear to be the only student who enjoyed the work in my class. Even the teacher agreed with the students that Goodbye to a River and, o boy, books in general are boring. Reading is boring....This is, my good man, a beautiful world we live in.

[57 copies at time of review...] show less

How do you classify such a book? I tagged it under "Biography" because I could think of nothing better. It is a biography, of course, but it is also philosophy, history, nature, political commentary, and social commentary. And then it is none of these. It cannot be explained, only experienced. When I read it I felt transported to the Brazos River itself; I longed for something simpler and pure. A month after I read it I read it again, and I hope to find time to read it once more this year. show more It is one of my favorite books, and I cannot recommend it enough. show less

I think this is a truly great book, but am so tied to it through my background that I admit that there is little to no objectivity in my judgement. I grew up on the Brazos myself, but was mostly a disinterested teenager paying more attention to girls and cars and parties. Somehow my surroundings seeped into me though. When I finally read this book it was both familiar (as in family) and a revelation. Graves says it himself towards the end "One scawny, salty bit of river on the edge of West show more Texas seemed at the moment, together with its unsignificantly bloody past and its bypassed present and the kid memories I had of going there, to be maybe less than a noble focus for a man's whole interest." Seems a cinch to me that all central Texans should read it, but I think it holds a much wider appeal than that. show less