Review of Dances with Trout by John Gierach
John Gierach is my favorite author of fly fishing essays, and my favorite writer on the subject of outdoor sports in general. He has a way with words that makes me feel like I’m on the stream with him. The first book of his that I read was Trout Bum
The first chapter that really got me laughing was Chapter 3: Fool Hens. Gierach wrote this chapter about one of his favorite game birds, blue grouse. They’re called “fool hens” because they have been known to sit in a tree staring stupidly at you while you plunk them with sticks or rocks or whatever’s handy. This isn’t the only chapter on hunting. In fact, although I haven’t counted the pages, this Gierach book seemed to have more pages devoted to non-fishing topics than any other book of his that I’ve read. Gierach’s humorous transition from thinking of blue grouse as a really stupid animal of which the best that you could say is that you couldn’t “actually bludgeon them to death on the ground and that they tasted better than porcupine” to thinking of them as a genuine sporting bird is classic. Any sportsman could appreciate the story.
The book speaks on everything from fly fishing for trout (obviously) to bass fishing in Texas to salmon fishing in Scotland to helping a friend through the death of his father. The section on Texas has a particularly good recipe for mustard beer batter (I know because I tried it on some crappies my dad captured last spring). I often dislike fly fishing literature about foreign locations because of the arrogant and superfluous language used. I feel little connection to these writers. You know the type, “We had a jolly good time netting a bushel of rather beautiful Salmon salars before trudging back to the lodge for a grand round of exquisite 120 year old brandy for the whole troup.” Gierach managed to avoid that and lend a blue collar feel even to salmon fishing in Scotland. I appreciate that. Makes me see myself doing the same thing sometime.
Perhaps the most brilliant chapter is the fourteenth, A Few Days Before Christmas, in which Gierach tells of a fishing trip of healing for his friend A.K. and himself after A.K.’s father had passed away. Mr. Gierach’s thoughts wander to his relationship with his own father. During these passages he makes one of the most memorable statements I’ve ever read. Referring to men of his father’s generation turning thier backs on the things they loved in life out of a sense of duty, he says:
Dad liked to hunt and fish, but he never did as much of either as he’d have liked. He planned to make up for that after he retired, but he never made it that far. Many of the fathers of my generation did this same thing: They gave up what they thought of as childish things because they thought they were supposed to, and it killed a lot of them.
I see the danger of this statement in my own life, and in the lives of my own generation as a whole, even as young as we are. I’m only 27, but I’ve already become imprisoned in the modern workplace, mainly out of a sense of duty and practicality that I’ve come to believe is almost certainly misplaced. We believe we should be technologically savvy and find a good, high-paying office job and get married and have kids and save up for a good retirement. But what is all that worth if you don’t enjoy it, or at the very least get some fulfillment out of it? I’m certain that God has given me a love for the outdoors and poetry and great literature and art for a reason. The modern workplace (the cubicle, the weekly staff meetings, the endless training courses, etc.) stifles the love for the outdoors, the breathing room of wide open spaces, the fulfillment that comes from change and flexibility of schedule and place. Any way, I’ve digressed, but Gierach is that way. He can craft a fairly simple statement that can keep you thinking for ages. Read his books. I heartily recommend them all.
Tags: books, fly fishing, John Gierach