Book Review: Legends Of The Fall by Jim Harrison

 As I have written before, I love to watch the movie before reading to book. The book is going to be infinitely better. Legends Of The Fall by Jim Harrison is a primo example. As a go to movie in college, I have become pretty familiar with the themes, plots and emotions attached to the movie, but was absolutely blown away by the novella. 

This is the first fiction I have read by Harrison and I was gob smacked by his ability to tell a story with such intensity in such quick order. In succinct order, you are pulled through love, violence, tasteful sex, loss, pain and joy. And you remain gripped the entire time by realistic plot lines and rich characters. Each of the novellas packaged with Legends are even more earth shattering than the previous though this set starts out with a gut drying tale of love and loss in Mexico, and concludes with a story of sentimentality and the lasting effects of war.

What stuck me most was Harrison's ability to allow his reader to entertain their own vision of the characters by creating the space for them to do so. Even in novellas, authors often try too hard to paint the scene for effect, but not once does Harrison insult the reader's intelligence with lengthy set up and descriptions. A better testament to his ability to craft a story would be hard to find. Still I'll happily read more just to prove my point.

All three of the novellas are worth you time as they are fantastic by themselves. I was enthralled by the powerfulness in Harrison's style while amazed by his subtleness and refinement. Having read a lot of what passes for literary fiction, I would stack Jim Harrison up again anyone and give them a head start.